Freedom on the Wallaby
Freedom on the Wallaby (German: "Freedom for the Wallaby ") is a song known in Australia that Henry Lawson wrote for the sheep shearers strike (1891) in Queensland . The text was first published by William Lane on May 16, 1891 in the workers 'newspaper Worker (German: "Arbeiter") in Brisbane , which was published by the Australian Labor Federation (German: "Australian Workers' Association").
The last two paragraphs were written by Frederick Brentnall, a member of the Queensland Legislative Council, on July 1, 1891, during the so-called Vote of Thanks in Parliament about the use of the armed police to crack down on the sheep-shearers strike camp in Barcaldine . During the vote, there were calls in the House of Representatives for Lawson's arrest on charges of conspiracy. Lawson later wrote a bitter response to Brentnall's lyrics as The Vote of Thanks Debate .
The rhyme of the song, the Rebel flag , means the Eureka flag, which was first shown at the Eureka Stockade in 1854 and which waved over the strike camp as well as at the first May demonstration of Australia in Barcaldine on May 1, 1891.
The song stands for the end of an era in the construction of Australia, which was characterized by almost 50 years of prosperity and formed the first economic crisis in Australia. During this time the first gold rush and the seemingly unlimited expansion of farmland as well as the successful and profitable sheep breeding took place.
text
Australia's a big country
An 'Freedom's humping bluey,
An' Freedom's on the wallaby
Oh! don't you hear 'he cooey?
She's just begun to boomerang,
She'll knock the tyrants silly,
She's goin 'to light another fire
And boil another billy.
Our fathers toiled for bitter bread
While loafers thrived beside 'em,
But food to eat and clothes to wear,
Their native land denied' em.
An 'so they left their native land
In spite of their devotion,
An' so they came, or if they stole,
Were sent across the ocean.
Then Freedom couldn't stand the glare
O 'Royalty's regalia,
She left the loafers where they were,
An' came out to Australia.
But now across the mighty main
The chains have come ter bind her -
She little thought to see again
The wrongs she left behind her.
Our parents toil'd to make a home -
Hard grubbin 'twas an' clearin '-
They wasn't crowded much with lords
When they was pioneering.
But now that we have made the land
A garden full of promise,
Old Greed must crook 'is dirty hand
And come ter take it from us.
So we must fly a rebel flag,
As others did before us,
And we must sing a rebel song
And join in rebel chorus.
We'll make the tyrants feel the sting
O 'those that they would throttle;
They needn't say the fault is ours
If blood should stain the wattle!
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Australian Folklore Unit of Warran Fahey on warrenfahey.com ( Memento of 29 August 2007 at the Internet Archive ), accessed on 5 March 2010