[Editor: This poem, by T. C. Luke, was published in The Shearers’ and General Laborers’ Record (Newport, Vic.), 15 March 1893.]
The Snagger’s Lament.
I thought I would tackle the game;
I reckoned some fast man would show me
The path that should lead me to fame.
I wanted to be a great “ringer,”
And turn out my hundred a day.
The fickle jade, Fortune, to win her
I knew not how dear I should pay.
They told me that learners were wanted,
The squatters would never give in,
And so of success I had vaunted,
And longed for the time to begin.
I booked with my mate on a station,
No matter the name that it bore.
We planned to go out on probation
[And work hard on the shearing floor.]*
’Tis very well planning or thinking
Of what in the future may be,
But oftimes we may be found shrinking
When into that future we see.
We longed for the time to be starting —
Bad luck to the day that we went;
Too soon came the time for departing,
To follow our foolish intent.
We each had a pair of old “daggers,”
The life in their bows was long dead;
But bargaining to be among snaggers
We soon thought to reign o’er the shed.
Alas! we were sadly mistaken;
Good shearers were there by the score,
And I to my senses did waken
Re that which I ne’er knew before.
When trusting to rumor unfounded,
And thinking to choose the right way,
Our hopes in the end are all grounded,
And fool’s advice leads us astray.
Non-union and union were mixed up,
Good shearers and bad all alike;
Yet matters were easily fixed up,
Without the least hint of a strike.
Agreements were signed without trouble,
All differences quickly arranged.
Our long-talked-of dream was a bubble,
For not a cross word was exchanged.
And glory for me found an ending,
Ambition took wings and went free,
To find the “boss” over me bending
And saying, “You can’t shear for me.”
* * * * *
I rolled up my “bluey” and travelled,
’Twas little against my own will,
And now the whole thing is unravelled,
And I am a snagger here still.
Camperdown.
T. C. LUKE.
Source:
The Shearers’ and General Laborers’ Record (Newport, Vic.), 15 March 1893, p. 4 (column 6)
Editor’s notes:
It appears that there is a line missing in the published version of this poem. There should be a fourth line in the second stanza, which rhymes with “bore”, between the published third and fourth lines of that stanza (i.e. after “We planned to go out on probation”). Unfortunately, another copy of this poem cannot be located. A scan of the poem has been uploaded, so that readers can see the poem in its published format.
* To make the poem complete, a fourth line in the second stanza has been added. The section “We planned to go out on probation.” has now been changed to “We planned to go out on probation [And work hard on the shearing floor.]*” The added line is entirely of our own creation; adding a line to a historical document is not something that would normally be done (this is the first time that it has occurred on this site), but the addition enables the poem to flow, in lieu of the missing line. It would be nice if the original manuscript of the poem was to turn up one day, but it seems that such an occurrence is highly unlikely.
bluey = a blanket; also may refer to a swagman’s bundle (a “swag”, being a number of items rolled up in a blanket, such blankets often being blue in colour)
ne’er = (vernacular) never
o’er = (archaic) over (pronounced the same as “oar”, “or”, and “ore”)
oftimes = an alternative spelling of “ofttimes”: oftentimes, often, on many occasions; frequently, repeatedly (from Old English, “oft” meaning “often” or “frequently”)
re = (rē) Latin, meaning “[in the] matter [of]” (from Latin, “re” translates as “circumstance”, “matter”, or “thing”); concerning, in reference to, regarding; used in the Latin phrase “in re”, meaning “in the matter [of]” (in modern usage, “re.”, with a full stop, functions as an abbreviation of “regarding”, being used in a similar manner to “re”)
ringer = the fastest shearer in a shearing shed
snagger = a shearer who rushes, shearing the sheep roughly, often leaving tufts (snags) of wool on the sheep
station = a large rural holding for raising sheep or cattle; the term “property” is used for smaller holdings
’tis = (archaic) a contraction of “it is”
’twas = (archaic) a contraction of “it was”
Hello again Ed. Thank you for your nice responses to my previous submissions.
Here is a thought on this one.
It seems to my reading, that in the 2nd stanza, a rhyming line might be missing.
Also, when I count the number of lines in the 1st stanza, I find 12;
whereas I count only 11 lines in the 2nd stanza.
This emboldens me in support of my ‘observation’.
Here is the relevant portion copied from above:
“…
I booked with my mate on a station,
No matter the name that it bore.
We planned to go out on probation.
…????
’Tis very well planning or thinking
Of what in the future may be, …”
(I have interposed the line with the dots and question marks).
Kind regards. Raymond.
Thank you for your astute observation.
Your reasoning makes sense. It does indeed appear that there is a line missing in the second stanza – the fourth line should rhyme with “bore” (meaning, of course, that the current fourth line should be the fifth line).
The source has been checked again, and (unfortunately) the line is missing in the original.
A search for this poem on the internet brings up no results, so unless another copy can be found elsewhere, or unless the original is held in the publishers’ files archived somewhere, then it may be that we will never know what the missing words were.
The missing line could be almost anything.
Perhaps “And find some sheep to be shore.”
Or “And work hard on the shearing floor.”
How annoying that another copy of the poem can’t be located.
Nonetheless, well done on spotting the missing line.
Thank you dear Ed for another lovely reply. Compliments of the coming season to you and all of your readers on here. Best wishes to all!