Will H Ogilvie Poem by Francis Duggan

He left his home near Kelso in Scotland in his twentieth year
And he travelled by ship to Australia in the Southern Hemisphere
And back in the eighteen eighties when he was in his prime
He became known throughout Australia as a gifted man of rhyme.

He worked for twelve years in Australia as a drover, horse breaker and jackeroo
And to say that he lived his verses would be obviously true
He slept out in the open and he lived rough and worked hard
And life back then not easy for a wandering bush bard.

In the outback of New South Wales and Queensland he travelled far and wide
And in his early thirties he returned home to Scotland where he lived until he died
But Will H Ogilvie did not stop writing poetry that to him came naturally
And as a rhyming wordsmith few if any good as he.

His book of verse 'Grey Horses And Fair Ladies' was his passport to fame
And all lovers of poetry would have heard of him by name
And the reams of verses written by him are still widely read today
And suppose such things of beauty will never go into decay.

His marvellous poems and ballads have withstood the test of time
And it truly can be said of him that he was a prince of rhyme
The great W H Ogilvie who in his twentieth year
Left his old home near Kelso for the Southern Hemisphere.