Brendon Walmsley – Buckalong Charles lyrics

They have cleared them ?ills down Jarvis way, where the great tall gum-trees grew;
An? where there was forests of she-oak once, you'll find but a scanty few.
Wire fences runs ?longside o? the roads where once there was posts and rails;
An? the old slab cottage ?as tumbled down an? so ?as the old cow bails.
The blacksmith's forge on the Ad'laide road ?as been gone this many a year;
An? they've closed the pub McGonnigal kep?, where we useter stop for a beer.

But when I was young at Buckalong,
When first I come ter Buckalong,
There wasn't much in life we missed,
Nor many girls we hadn't kissed,
An? the best man there had the hardest fist,
When first I come ter Buckalong!

I've galloped all over them ?ills meself, after emu and kangaroo,
On Sundays, after we'd been ter church - an? the parson, ?e come too.
An? the Trooper come, an? the Doctor come, an? some o? the gals as well;
We reckoned as how us coves could ride, but them gals could ride like Hell!
We used no dogs fer runnin? ?em down, just rode ?em to a stand.
An? the cove as got ahead o? them gals was the proudest cove in the land!

They was bushmen then at Buckalong,
When I was a lad at Buckalong,
We didn't squat in motorcars
An? swap blue yarns an? green cigars,
An? we never let down the slip-rail bars, In them early days at Buckalong!

Now the roads is like some city street, all bitcherman and tar!
They don't make tracks fer the horseman now, only the motor car.
A team o? Bullicks would bust themselves a-tryin? ter keep their feet,
An? there ain't no shade by the long wayside where a cove can spell in the heat.
The creeks is dry an? the paddicks bare, an? there ain't a patch o? scrub;
An? all yer can find is a petrol pump, when what yer want is a pub!

But when first I come ter Buckalong,
When we were boys at Buckalong,
The bush WAS bush, an? the birds could sing,
An? a man could ride, an? an axe could ring,
An? yer life-blood flowed like a golden spring!,
When I was a lad...at Buckalong!