“The Castlereagh River”
Description
"I'm travelling down the Castlereigh, and I'm a stationhand...." The singer mentions all the stops he's made, and all his reasons for leaving (non-union Chinese workers, an arrogant boss, etc.). He advises, "So shift, boys, shift...."
Notes
Paterson's title for this was "A Bushman's Song" -- but it is perhaps noteworthy that few traditional singers knew it by that title.... Joe Cashmere, when he supplied a version of the song to John Meredith, believed he learned it before Paterson published the song. But, as Paterson/Fahey/Seal note, it's hard to prove it predated Paterson. - RBW
Recordings
- John Greenway, "The Castlereagh River" (on JGreenway01)
References
- Meredith/Anderson, pp. 45-46, 83-84, "The Old Jig-Jog"; p. 57, "Travelling Down the Castlereagh; pp. 210-211, "A Bushman's Song" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
- Fahey-Eureka, pp. 132-133, "Travelling Down the Castlereigh" (1 text, 1 tune)
- Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 290-293, "A Bushman's Song" (1 text)
- Manifold-PASB, pp. 158-159, "Travelling Down the Castlereigh" (1 text, 1 tune)
- DT, CSTLREAG
- Roud #8399
- BI, MA045