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The Snagger’s Lament [poem by T. C. Luke, 15 March 1893]

26 June 2020 · 3 Comments

[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.

“The Snagger’s Lament”, The Shearers’ and General Laborers’ Record, 15 March 1893
I’m only a snagger, you know me,
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.
’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 the second stanza, rhyming 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.

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”

Filed Under: poetry Tagged With: poem, publication The Shearers’ and General Laborers’ Record, shearers, SourceQldUni, year1893

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Raymond says

    26 October 2020 at 23:00

    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.

    Reply
    • IAC says

      30 November 2020 at 23:35

      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.

      Reply
      • Raymond says

        30 November 2020 at 23:52

        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!

        Reply

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