In the first half of the 20th century, packhorse drovers - following in the footsteps of the early overlanders - took on the challenge of moving enormous numbers of cattle many thousands of kilometres across the country, overcoming extraordinary natural hazards and the tyranny of distance that stood between the far-flung stations and the markets. Droving was a harsh job; the men ate rough tucker and slept on the ground in thin swags, but the sounds of hoof beats and stock whips, horse bells and hobbles, were music to a horseman's ears and its was a life most would not swap.
This evocative collection of outback folklore, poetry and true accounts paints a colourful picture of a variety of adventurers, drifters, ne'er-do-well and reckless characters who thrived in an environment where guts and self-reliance were essential for survival. Indeed, fatalities were frequent in the bush. Men, stock and horses were often drowned crossing treacherous waters, while raging floodwaters destroyed buildings and even swept trains from bridges. Horrible deaths - from those who perished from thirst, fire and tragic accidents, to those who were victims of murder or other unsolved mysteries - all are detailed here in the incredible stories in this book. But there are also stories of the lighter side of outback life; drinking sprees at the pub, social dances, tennis and cricket and the thrilling antics of some of the country's best roughriders at local buckjump shows - all illustrated by original photographs from the period.
Bruce Simpson, bushman, storyteller and poet, is the authentic voice of the outback drover; a living legend who recollects life in the bush on horseback, in a time before the sound of motors replaced the music of horse bells. His stories and yarns encompass a range of characters and the trials and tribulations faced by drovers running mobs of cattle, in what were often extremely tough and uncompromising conditions. Bruce's stories and poems offer a window into a way of life that is now a great part of our cultural heritage.
Contents:
Author's Note
Acknowledgements
Foreword
The Packhorse Drover
Night Watch on the Dry River Route
The Early Years
North to the Territory
Alexandria
The Cattle Runs
Paddy Lennie's Brumbies
The Rankine Store
The Shooting of Palmer Brushe
The Rankine Races
Rankine Reverie
Equipment and Dress of the Ringer
Bulls, Pumpers and Min Min Lights
Horse Breakings
Simmo to Breakers
Protocol and Habits of the Camps
Bush Cooks
Looking Glass Joe
Aboriginal Stockmen
Tommy Dodd
Whispering Gums
Assimilation
Skull Hole
The Morstone Team
A Mysterious Fire
Where Leichhardt Lies
Stock Disasters
The Call of the Road
R & R in Normanton
Where the Girls and the City Lights Are
Mulga Corner
Skills of the Ringer
The Muse Aroused
Boss Drover
Back to Camooweal
Drought
Footloose and Free
North-West Monsoon
Packhorse Droving
Life on the Stockroutes
Song of the Wave Hill Track
Downs the River
A Tally of Bullocks
Early Overlanders
Galloping Bullocks and Dry Stages
The Elsey Crossroads
The Stockroutes
The Murranji
Taking Delivery
Song of the Droving Season
Nighthorses and Night Watching
Goodbye Old Chap
Selecting and Setting Up the Camp
Rushes
My First Rush
Gold Star
Boomerang Brady
The Drover's Yarn (or Brady's Ghost)
Tracking Lost Road Bullocks
Horsetailing
Caught in the Wet
An Unexpected Dry Stage
Drovers' Towns
A Tale of Termites
The Drovers' Strike
Bullen Creek
Outback Humour
The End of the Trip
At the Trucks
To the Barmaids
Drovers' Mail
Horse Dealing
A Stitch in Time
Shoeing on the Road
Horse Stealing
Cattle Husbanrdy on the Road
Stockroute Characters
Vale Rusty Reagan
The Stockroute Dips
The Woodstock Hills
Trials and Tribulations
Further In
Cattle Duffing
Galloping Jones
A Letter 'Inside'
Maloney's Luck
Buckjump Shows
Tall Stories in Verse
Duckabrook Dan's Ride
Murranji Mick
The Territory Rouseabout
The Transports Take Over
And Yet Sometimes ...
Travelling Stock - 1969
Pet Food
Death on the Barkly
The Tank
Where the Pelican Builds
Where the Pelican Builds
Rocky Creek
Dangerous Waters
Past Inverway
After Buchanen
The Daylight Watch
The Lament of a Cow and Calf Drover
Trouble with the Cook
The Ballad of Dirty O'Duff
Sam Fuller's Thoroughbrace
Prizes for Riders
A Toast to Same Fuller
The Take Down
Roughriders of the Bush
Mick Casey
Characters and Hard Cases
The Burrows Morning Run
The Dachshund-Pony Cross
The Riding of the Debil
Brumby George in the City
Brisbane of the Bush
The Bushman from the Burke
Ringer's Farewell
Wild Men and Windlasses
The Opal Gouger's Lament
The Red Flash
On the Banks of the Outer Barcoo
Bush Entertainment
The Quartpot Maiden
North to the Gulf
All Among the Wool
Glossary
Bibliography
