Wallaby Brigade, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer boasts of the life of the swagman. He gives advice for finding (or not finding) work, and surviving the travelling life. "When the shearing's at an end we'll go fishing in the bend, Then hurrah for the Wallaby Brigade."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Paterson, _Old Bush Songs_)
KEYWORDS: work sheep Australia rambling
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Fahey-Eureka-SongsThatMadeAustralia, pp. 186-187, "The Wallaby Brigade" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal-OldBushSongs-CentenaryEdition, pp. 288-290, "The Wallaby Brigade" (1 text)
Stewart/Keesing-FavoriteAustralianBallads, pp. 37-38, "The Wallaby Brigade" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Matthew Richardson, _Once a Jolly Swagman: The Ballad of Waltzing Matilda_, Melbourne University Press, 2006, pp. 47-48, "The Wallaby Brigade" (1 text)
Roud #27797
ALTERNATE TITLES:
cf. "Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!" (tune)
NOTES [46 words]: According to Gwenda Beed Davey and Graham Seal, A Guide to Australian Folklore, Kangaroo Press, 2003, p. 264, "The Wallaby Brigade" is a "Term for itinerant bush workers carrying their swags in search of work." They believe this song dates from the nineteenth century. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.1
File: FaE186

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