A Departing Dirge Poem by Harry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant

Girls in town and boys out back,
I've rolled up my little pack,
And on june's chill wintry gales
Sail from pleasant New South Wales.
Ere I go - a doggerel song
To bid the whole caboose 'So-long!'


Saddle-gear and horses sold -
Fetched but scanty stock of gold -
Scanty!! yet the whole lot
Publicans and Flossies got.
Since I in this country landed
Ne'er before was I so 'stranded'.


Now I'm leaving Sydney's shore
Harder up than e'er before;
A keen appetite I feel
To taste a bit o' British veal;
And let's trust, across the foam
They have a fatted calf at home.


From duns and debts (once safe on board)
Pray deliver me, oh Lord!
Here's the burden of my song:
'Good-bye, old girl! Old chap, So-long!'
Hardest loss of all I find
To leave the good old horse behind.
So-long, 'Cavalier!'