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Celebrating The Things That Make Australia Unique
Traditional
The Banks of the Condamine is sung as a duet between a man eager to go shearing and his beloved Nancy who wants to go with him.
There are different versions of this popular song. In some versions, the man is going to join his mates at a horse-breaking camp instead of a shearing shed. It was also published in 1894 as The Banks of the Riverine with Condamine changed to Riverine.
As with some other songs, the reason for the differences is because no one wrote the song down when it was first written. So we don't know the author or how it was originally written. One thing that's agreed upon is that the song is loosely based on the British ballad The Banks of the Nile.
O hark the dogs are barking, love, I can no longer stay;
The men are all gone mustering, and it is nearly day.
And I must be off by morning light before the sun does shine,
To meet the Roma shearers on the banks of the Condamine.
O Willy, dearest Willy, O let me go with you!
I'll cut off all my auburn fringe, and be a shearer too.
I'll cook and count your tally, love, while ringer-o you shine,
And I'll wash your greasy moleskins on the banks of the Condamine.
O Nancy, dearest Nancy, with me you cannot go!
The squatters have given orders, love, no woman should do so.
And your delicate constitution is not equal unto mine,
To withstand the constant tigering on the banks of the Condamine.
O Willy, dearest Willy, then stay at home with me;
We'll take up a selection, and a farmer's wife I'll be.
I'll help you husk the corn, love, and cook your meals so fine
You'll forget the ran-stag mutton on the banks of the Condamine.
O Nancy, dearest Nancy, pray do not hold me back!
Down there the boys are waiting, and I must be on the track.
So here's a goodbye kiss, love; back home I will incline
When we've shore the last of the jumbucks on the banks of the Condamine.
. . . another version . . .
Hark, hark, the dogs are barking, I can no longer stay;
The boys have all gone shearing, I heard the publican say.
And I must be off by morning light before the sun do shine,
To meet the Roma shearers on the banks of the Condamine.
Oh, Willie, dearest Willy, Don't leave me hear to mourn,
Don't make me curse and rue the day that ever I was born.
For parting with you Willie is like parting with my life,
So stay and be a selector love and I will be your wife.
Oh, Nancy, dearest Nancy, you know that I must go!
The squatters are expecting me their shearing for to do.
And when I'm on the board, my love, I'll think of you with pride,
And my shears they will go freely when I'm on the whipping side.
Oh, I'll cut off my yellow hair and go along with you,
I'll dress myself in men's attire and be a shearer too.
I'll cook and count your tally love whilst ringer-o you shine,
And I'll wash your greasy moleskins on the banks of the Condamine.
Oh, Nancy, dearest Nancy, you know you cannot go,
The boss has given his orders, no woman may do so.
And your delicate constitution isn't equal unto mine,
To eat the ramstag mutton on the banks of the Condamine.
But when the shearing's over, I'll make of you my wife,
I'll get a boundary riding job and settle down for life.
And when the days' work's done, my love, and the evening it is fine,
I'll tell them of sandy cobblers on the banks of the Condamine.
More information
- Boundary riding job - looking after all the fences surrounding a large station.
- Condamine - a southern Queensland river.
- Moleskins - pants of heavy, closely-woven cotton cloth worn mostly by stockmen to protect them from the weather and harsh outback conditions.
- Ran-stag mutton - tough, unsavory meat. Also ramstag mutton.
- Roma - southern Queensland town
- Sandy cobblers - "sandy" refers to the last sheep to be shorn in a pen were often hard to shear because of the sand and dirt in their wool. Shoemakers were once called "cobblers". The foot shaped block of wood the cobblers fixed shoes on are called a "last". So in a play on words, the last sheep shorn were called "sandy cobblers".
- Selector - a man who farms the land with the plan to own it. Also means small farmer.
- Squatters - in the time when this song was sung, it meant large station owners.
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