"Brisbane Ladies" is an Australian
folksong
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
and is one of many
adaptations of the traditional British naval song "
Spanish Ladies". The version given below is the most commonly sung, but the original mentions
Nanango
Nanango is a rural town and locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Nanango had a population of 3,599 people.
Geography
Nanango is situated north-west of the state capital, Brisbane, at the junc ...
favorably as "that jolly old township". The song is also known as "Augathella Station".
History
The lyric dates back to at least the 1880s and is credited to a
jackaroo-turned-shopkeeper named
Saul Mendelsohn
Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tr ...
, who lived near Nanango. The place names used in the song were part of the route that
cattle drovers used when returning from
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
to the cattle station at
Augathella
Augathella is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Murweh, Queensland, Australia.
Geography
Augathella lies on the Matilda Highway, is north of the town of Charleville, west of Roma and west of Brisbane (Queensland's capital). The ...
in west-central
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
.
Folk Songs and Ballads of Australia
/ref> Those place names include Toowong
Toowong is a riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Toowong had a population of 10,830 people.
Geography
Toowong is situated between Mount Coot-tha and the Brisbane River and is made up of rolling hills ...
, Augathella, Caboolture, Kilcoy
Kilcoy is a rural town and locality in the Somerset Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Kilcoy had a population of 1,898 people.
Geography
The township is on the D'Aguilar Highway, north west of the state capital, Brisbane, ...
, Collington's Hut, Blackbutt, Bob Williamson's paddock, Taromeo, Yarraman Creek, Nanango and Toomancie.
Lyrics
Farewell and adieu to you, Brisbane ladies
Farewell and adieu, you maids of Toowong
We've sold all our cattle and we have to get a movin'
But we hope we shall see you again before long.
Chorus:
We'll rant and we'll roar like true Queensland drovers
We'll rant and we'll roar as onward we push
Until we return to the Augathella station
Oh, it's flamin' dry goin' through the old Queensland bush.
The first camp we make, we shall call it the Quart Pot,
Caboolture, then Kilcoy, and Colinton's Hut,
We'll pull up at the Stone House, Bob Williamson's paddock,
And early next morning we cross the Blackbutt.
Chorus
Then on to Taromeo and Yarraman Creek, lads,
It's there we shall make our next camp for the day
Where the water and grass are both plenty and sweet, lads,
And maybe we'll butcher a fat little stray.
Chorus
Then on to Nanango, that hard-bitten township
Where the out-of-work station-hands sit in the dust,
Where the shearers get shorn by old Tim, the contractor
Oh, I wouldn't go near there, but I flaming well must!
Chorus
The girls of Toomancie they look so entrancing
Like bawling young heifers they're out for their fun
With the waltz and the polka and all kinds of dancing
To the rackety old banjo of Bob Anderson.
Chorus
Then fill up your glasses, and drink to the lasses,
We'll drink this town dry, then farewell to them all
And when we've got back to the Augathella Station,
We hope you'll come by there and pay us a call.
Artists that have performed "Brisbane Ladies"
"Brisbane Ladies" has been performed and recorded by a number of various Australian artists, including bush band
A bush band is a group of musicians that play Australian bush ballads. A similar bush band tradition is also found in New Zealand.
Instruments
In addition to vocals, instruments featured in bush bands may include fiddle, accordion, guitar, ...
s.
Snake Gully Bush Band
John Greenway on the 1959 album "Australian Folksongs and Ballads"
* ttp://folkstream.com/reviews/chris/new_theatre.html Various Artists at the 2004 "Chris Kempster Tribute Concert"* The Bushwackers
The Bushwhackers are a professional wrestling tag team who competed first as the New Zealand Kiwis and then as The Sheepherders during their 36-year career as a tag team. They wrestled in the WWE, World Wrestling Federation, Jim Crockett Promoti ...
, under the title of "Augathella Station" on the album "Murrumbidgee"
* Hoyt Axton recorded Brisbane Ladies on his album "Greenback Dollar, Live at the Trubadour"
References
{{reflist
External links
http://folkstream.com/013.html
http://www.ibiblio.org/jimmy/folkden-wp/?p=6962
Australian folk songs
History of Brisbane