"Clancy of the Overflow" is a poem by
Banjo Paterson
Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, (17 February 18645 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the ...
, first published in ''
The Bulletin'', an Australian news magazine, on 21 December
1889
Events
January–March
* January 1
** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada.
** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in t ...
. The poem is typical of Paterson, offering a romantic view of rural life, and is one of his best-known works.
The poem is written in eight
stanzas of four lines, lines one and three in a two-
feet
The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...
anapaest
An anapaest (; also spelled anapæst or anapest, also called antidactylus) is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. In classical quantitative meters it consists of two short syllables followed by a long one; in accentual stress meters it consist ...
with a
feminine internal rhyme In poetry, internal rhyme, or middle rhyme, is rhyme that occurs within a single line of verse, or between internal phrases across multiple lines. By contrast, rhyme between line endings is known as end rhyme.
Internal rhyme schemes can be denoted ...
, and lines two and four in
trochaic octameter Trochaic octameter is a poetic meter with eight trochaic metrical feet per line. Each foot has one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable. Trochaic octameter is a rarely used meter.
Description and uses
The best known work in trocha ...
with
masculine rhyme
Masculine ending and feminine ending are terms used in prosody, the study of verse form. "Masculine ending" refers to a line ending in a stressed syllable. "Feminine ending" is its opposite, describing a line ending in a stressless syllable. T ...
s: AA–B–CC–B.
History
The poem is written from the point of view of a city-dweller who once met the title character, a
shearer and
drover, and now envies the imagined pleasures of Clancy's lifestyle, which he compares favourably to life in "the dusty, dirty city" and "the round eternal of the cashbook and the journal".
And the bush hath friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him
In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,
And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended,
And at night the wond'rous glory of the everlasting stars.
The poem is possibly based on Paterson's own experience.
The introduction to ''Banjo Paterson's Images of Australia'' by Douglas Baglin quotes Paterson as saying that he was working as a lawyer when someone asked him to send a letter to a man named Thomas Gerald Clancy, asking for a payment that had not been received. Paterson sent the letter to "The Overflow", a
sheep station
A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...
100 kilometres south-west of
Nyngan
Nyngan () is a town in the centre of New South Wales, Australia, in the Bogan Shire local government area within the Orana Region of central New South Wales. At the 2016 census, Nyngan had a population of 1,988 people. Nyngan is situated on th ...
, and received a reply that read:
Clancy's gone to Queensland droving, and we don't know where he are.
The letter looked as though it had been written with a thumbnail dipped in tar and it is from this that Banjo Paterson found the inspiration for the poem, along with the meter.
The poem was well-received and raised much curiosity about the identity of "The Banjo". Soon after its publication,
Rolf Boldrewood
Thomas Alexander Browne (born Brown, 6 August 1826 – 11 March 1915) was an Australian author who published many of his works under the pseudonym Rolf Boldrewood. He is best known for his 1882 bushranging novel '' Robbery Under Arms''.
Biog ...
, author of ''
Robbery Under Arms
''Robbery Under Arms'' is a bushranger novel by Thomas Alexander Browne, published under his pen name Rolf Boldrewood. It was first published in serialised form by ''The Sydney Mail'' between July 1882 and August 1883, then in three volumes i ...
'' (1882), wrote in his literary column for ''
The Australasian
The ''Australasian Post'', commonly called the ''Aussie Post'', was Australia's longest-running weekly picture magazine.
History and profile
Its origins are traceable to Saturday, 3 January 1857, when the first issue of ''Bell's Life in Victoria ...
'' that "Clancy of the Overflow" was "the best bush ballad since
Gordon
Gordon may refer to:
People
* Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters
* Gordon (surname), the surname
* Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War
* Clan Gordon, ...
".
Clancy makes a
cameo appearance
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...
in another popular Banjo Paterson poem, "
The Man from Snowy River The Man from Snowy River may refer to:
* "The Man from Snowy River" (poem), an 1890 Australian poem by Banjo Paterson.
* '' The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses'' an 1895 poetry collection by Banjo Paterson (including the above)
* ''The Man ...
", which was first published the following year.
There are claims that Clancy was based on a man called Thomas Michael MacNamara, who described the ride with the "Man from Snowy River" (his brother in law Jim Troy) in an article in ''
The Courier-Mail
''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northe ...
'' in 1938
In 1897, Thomas Gerald Clancy wrote a poem in reply to "Clancy of the Overflow", entitled "Clancy's Reply", which paints a far less romantic picture of the life of a drover.
There had also been a parody in 1892, "
The Overflow of Clancy".
In other media
Clancy was portrayed by
Jack Thompson Jack Thompson may refer to:
Sports
* Jack Thompson (footballer, born 1892) (1892–1969), English footballer who played for Sheffield United and Bristol City
* Jack Thompson (1920s footballer), English footballer who played for Aston Villa and Brig ...
in the movie ''
The Man from Snowy River The Man from Snowy River may refer to:
* "The Man from Snowy River" (poem), an 1890 Australian poem by Banjo Paterson.
* '' The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses'' an 1895 poetry collection by Banjo Paterson (including the above)
* ''The Man ...
'', and Clancy is mentioned in the
musical theatre production ''
The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular'' – during the recitation of the poem, Clancy is mentioned by
Steve Bisley
Steve Bisley (born 26 December 1951) is an Australian writer, film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the films '' Mad Max'' and ''The Great Gatsby''. On TV, some of his better-known roles include Detective Sergeant Jack C ...
in his role of Banjo Paterson while the poem is being re-enacted in the show.
Contemporary recordings of the poem include Jack Thompson's recitation on ''Jack Thompson, The Bush Poems of A.B. (Banjo) Paterson'' (2008) and ''Jack Thompson, Favourite Australian Poems, Fine Poets Collection'', volume 5 (2010).
The poem "Clancy of the Overflow" has also been set to music and recorded several times, including:
*
John Cameron's recording of
Albert Arlen's setting, with an orchestra conducted by George S. English (1955);
*
Peter Dawson's recording of the same setting, with the
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...
conducted by
Charles Mackerras
Mackerras in 2005
Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; 1925 2010) was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with the Engli ...
(4 May 1955);
* In 1974
Slim Dusty
Slim Dusty, AO MBE (born David Gordon Kirkpatrick; 13 June 1927 – 19 September 2003) was an Australian country music singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He was an Australian cultural icon and one of the country's most awarded stars ...
released a song version on LP.
* In 1980 the Australian folk group ''Wallis and Matilda'' recorded a popular song version of the poem, eventually peaking at 30 on the
ARIA
In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...
charts;
*
John Schumann
John Lewis Schumann (born 18 May 1953) is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist from Adelaide. He is best known as the lead singer for the folk group Redgum, with their chart-topping hit " I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green)", a s ...
of
Redgum
Redgum were an Australian folk and political music group formed in Adelaide in 1975 by singer-songwriter John Schumann, Michael Atkinson on guitars/vocals, Verity Truman on flute/vocals; they were later joined by Hugh McDonald on fiddle and Ch ...
recorded it on his 1993 album ''
True Believers'';
* ''Tenor Australis'' included a musical arrangement of the poem on their 1999 album ''Under an Australian Sky'';
* Comedian
Adam Hills
Adam Christopher Hills (born 10 July 1970) is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter. In Australia, he hosted the music quiz show '' Spicks and Specks'' from 2005 to 2011, and again in 2021 onwards, and the talk show ''Adam Hi ...
performed it on his
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
show ''
Adam Hills Tonight'' in July 2013 as a
mashup with
Ali McGregor
Ali McGregor is an Australian soprano opera singer, actress and cabaret performer. She has performed in operas in the United Kingdom, in Australia and in New Zealand. Her cabaret performances have been seen at festivals in the United Kingdom, Ire ...
singing
The Church hit "
Under the Milky Way
"Under the Milky Way" is a single by Australian alternative rock band The Church, released on 15 February 1988, and appears on their fifth studio album ''Starfish''. The song was written by bass guitarist and lead vocalist Steve Kilbey and h ...
".
* Melbourne-based production company Yut Art produced a contemporary version in 2013.
Proposed film
In 2004, there were plans to make a movie of "Clancy of the Overflow", a sequel to the 1982 film ''The Man from Snowy River'', but this fell through due to financial reasons. The director was to have been
Simon Wincer
Simon may refer to:
People
* Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon
* Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon
* Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
, who was a co-producer for ''The Man from Snowy River''.
Bruce Rowland (who composed the music for both the 1982 film ''The Man from Snowy River'' and its 1988 sequel film ''
The Man from Snowy River II'', as well as composing music for ''
The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular'', was to compose the music for the film. The film was to have been funded by private investors, but the A$22 million minimum investment was not met by the deadline of June 2004, and the film has been shelved indefinitely.
"Clancy film falls at first hurdle"
by Philippa Hawker, ''The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...
'' (1 July 2004)
See also
* Bulletin Debate
The "''Bulletin'' Debate" was a well-publicised dispute in '' The Bulletin'' magazine between two of Australia's best known writers and poets, Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson. The debate took place via a series of poems about the merits of livi ...
References
External links
"Clancy of the Overflow"
text, middlemiss.org
''The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'' (1 June 2004)
"clancy@theoverflow"
a 21st-century Clancy
{{Banjo Paterson
1889 poems
Poetry by Banjo Paterson
Australian folklore
Australian country music songs
Works originally published in The Bulletin (Australian periodical)