Part 14 (1/2)

Whither go ye, Lancers gay, With your bold reveille?

O'er the ocean far away From your sunny southern home, Over leagues of trackless foam, In a foreign land to roam With your bold reveille.

When we hear our brethren call, Sound a clear reveille.

Then we answer, one and all, Answer that the world may see, ”Of the English stock are we, At their side we still will be”-- That's our bold reveille.

[End of original text.]

[Original Advertis.e.m.e.nt]

Pocket Editions for the Trenches

Price, 4/--each (postage, per volume: within the Commonwealth, 1d.; to New Zealand, 2d.; Abroad, 5d.)

Saltbush Bill, J.P. By Major A. B. Paterson (”The Banjo”) The Moods of Ginger Mick. By C. J. Dennis The Australian, and other Verses. By Will H. Ogilvie Songs of a Sentimental Bloke. By C. J. Dennis The Man from Snowy River. By Major A. B. Paterson Rio Grande, and other Verses. By Major A. B. Paterson

Over 30,000 volumes of these Editions for the Trenches have been sold during the last five months. They are ill.u.s.trated in colour by Norman Lindsay, Hal Gye and Lionel Lindsay, and are obtainable from all Booksellers, Bookstalls and Newsagents in Australia and New Zealand.

[End Original Advertis.e.m.e.nt]

About the author:

Andrew Barton Paterson was born on 17 February 1864 at Narambla, New South Wales. He lived at Illalong station until he was ten, when he went to Sydney to attend school. He trained as a solicitor (a type of lawyer) but also contributed some verse to the Sydney ”Bulletin” under the pseudonym of ”The Banjo”, taken from the name of a horse. His first book, ”The Man from Snowy River”, was published in 1895, and has sold more copies than any other book of Australian poetry. He later gave up law to become a journalist, and went to South Africa to report on the Boer War. When World War I broke out he sought work as a war correspondent, but failed to get it. He then went to work driving an ambulance in France, and later became a Remount Officer with the Australian forces then in Egypt. After returning to Australia in 1919 he continued as a writer, and died in Sydney on 5 February 1941.

Paterson's most famous work is ”Waltzing Matilda”, written in 1895, and now an unofficial anthem of Australia. ”The Man from Snowy River” has since become the inspiration for a well-known movie of the same name, and even a series on a cable television network. ”Clancy of the Overflow” is similarly well known.

An incomplete Glossary of Australasian and obscure terms:

Billabong: A waterhole that dries up during the dry season.

Billy: A kettle used for camp cooking, especially to boil water for tea.

Box: When referring to plants, it can be any of a number of trees and shrubs, especially those of genus Buxus or genus Eucalyptus.

c.o.c.ky/c.o.c.katoo: A small-time farmer.

Coolabah: (more often Coolibah) Eucalyptus microtheca. The leaves of the Eucalyptus hang sideways, with the narrow edge to the sun, as an adaptation to drought. Hence they are famous for not providing shade.

Edward Rex: (Rex = King) Edward VII, 1841-1910, King of the United Kingdom (and therefore nominal head of state in Australia) from 1901 to 1910.

Fi. fa.: fieri facias--a legal paper authorising the seizure of a debtor's goods.

Flash: Ostentatious; fake; (obsolete) relating to shady characters.

Gully-raker: A person who musters unbranded cattle (or horses).