The Dying Stockman
A strapping young stockman lay dying,
His saddle supporting his head,
His two mates beside him were crying,
As he rose on his elbow and said.
"Wrap me up with my stockwhip and blanket,
And bury me deep down below,
Where the dingoes and crows won't molest me,
In the shade where the coolibahs grow."
"Oh, had I the flight of the bronzewing,
Far over the plains I would fly,
Straight to the home of my childhood
And there I would lay down and die."
"Wrap me up with my stockwhip and blanket,
And bury me deep down below,
Where the dingoes and crows won't molest me,
In the shade where the coolibahs grow."
"Then cut down a couple of saplings,
Place one at my head and my toe;
Carve on them cross, stockwhip and saddle,
To show there's a stockman below."
"Wrap me up with my stockwhip and blanket,
And bury me deep down below,
Where the dingoes and crows won't molest me,
In the shade where the coolibahs grow."
"Hark ! There's the wail of the dingo,
Watchful and weird - I must go,
For it tolls the death knell of the stockman,
From the gloom of the scrub down below."
"Wrap me up with my stockwhip and blanket,
And bury me deep down below,
Where the dingoes and crows won't molest me,
In the shade where the coolibahs grow."
"There's tea in the old battered billy,
Place the pannikins out in a row,
And we'll drink to the next merry meeting,
In the place where all good fellows go."
"Wrap me up with my stockwhip and blanket,
And bury me deep down below,
Where the dingoes and crows won't molest me,
In the shade where the coolibahs grow."
"And oft in the shades of the twilight,
When the soft winds are whispering low,
And the darkening shadows are falling,
Sometimes, think of the stockman below."
"Wrap me up with my stockwhip and blanket,
And bury me deep down below,
Where the dingoes and crows won't molest me,
In the shade where the coolibahs grow."
The actual origin of this poem/ballad is difficult to prove. There are some references that it was written by a person named Horace Flower, although I cannot substantiate that information.
The only reference I can find to Horace Flower, other than the claim he wrote these words are to the fact that a person of that name took up a parcel of land in Victoria in 1849. However the words and tone of the ballad seems to be orientated to a later time than the early 19th century, and more like the later 19th or early 20th century.
The two volumes that I personally own that contain this ballad simply show it as "Traditional".
For Non Australian Readers
Stockman : Cowboy.
Coolibah : Australian native tree that grows near water courses.
Dingo : Australian native canine, not really a dog or a wolf.
Bronzewing : A type of Australian pigeon.
Sapling : A small or young eucalyptus tree.
Billy : Tin can with wire handle used for boiling water on a campfire.
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"The Dying Stockman"
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