"The Geebung Polo Club" 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 Antipodean'' in 1893. It was also included in his first anthology of bush poetry ''

The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses ''The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses'' (1895) is the first collection of poems by Australian poet Banjo Paterson. It was released in hardback by Angus and Robertson in 1895, and features the poet's widely anthologised poems " The Man from ...

'' in 1895. It is one of Paterson's best-known poems and combines several of the most frequently recurring characteristics of his poetry - humour, tragedy and horses. The poem's unnamed narrator clearly admires the rough and ready "Geebung Polo Club", who are contrasted with their wealthy city opponents - "The Cuff and Collar Team". The only geographic reference in the poem is of the

Campaspe River The Campaspe River, an inland intermittent river of the northcentral catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the lower Riverina bioregion and Central Highlands and Wimmera regions of the Australian state of Victoria. The h ...

, which flows north through central

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

to the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...

. Scottish-Australian bush poet, and acquaintance of Paterson, Will H. Ogilvie penned ''For the honor of Old England and the glory of the game'' in 1897. Although similar in nature to Paterson's earlier-written ''The Geebung Polo Club'', Ogilvie's work was written after an actual polo competition in

Parkes, New South Wales Parkes is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the main settlement in the local government area of Parkes Shire. Parkes had a population of 11,224 as at 30 June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2 ...

, involving Harry 'Breaker' Morant and Ogilvie.

Use in popular culture

There is a

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

hotel in Hawthorn, Victoria that was called ''The Geebung Polo Club'' for many years. Hawthorn is an affluent suburb in the inner city of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. There is an annual Geebung polo match held near

Dinner Plain Dinner Plain is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Great Alpine Road, 13 kilometres from Mount Hotham Alpine Resort, and 375 kilometres from Melbourne. At the , Dinner Plain had a population of 230, yet has over 200 lodges and chalets ...

in the

Victorian Alps The Victorian Alps, also known locally as the High Country, is a large mountain system in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria. Occupying the majority of eastern Victoria, it is the southwestern half of the Australian Alps (the other ...

. The teams are the Geebung Polo Club and Cuff N’ Collar. Between the 1980s and the early 2000s there was also a hotel of this name in the inner Sydney suburb of Redfern on the corner of George and Redfern Streets, which was initially run by Wilton Morley, son of the British actor

Robert Morley Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE (26 May 1908 – 3 June 1992) was an English actor who enjoyed a lengthy career in both Britain and the United States. He was frequently cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment, of ...

. Today the Hotel trades as ''The Redfern''. In an unrelated link to the poem there is a suburb in Brisbane, Queensland called Geebung (postcode 4034). There is a rugby league team in Broken Hill,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

called the Geebungs."Geebungs in the big one" by Ethan James, ''Barrier Daily Truth'', 1 September 2014
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External links

- The Poem.

- Youtube: Ron Woodward performs the public domain poem.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geebung Polo Club 1893 poems Poetry by Banjo Paterson Works originally published in The Antipodean