The Moods of Ginger Mick | Page 6

over 'ere -
Blokes an' coves I sort o' snouted over there.?Yes, I loafed aroun' me country; an' I never knoo 'er then; But the reel, ribuck Australia's 'ere, among the fightin' men.
"We've slung the swank fer good an' all; it don't fit in our plan;
To skite uv birth an' boodle is a crime.?A man wiv us, why, 'e's a man becos 'e is a man,
An' a reel red-'ot Australian ev'ry time.?Fer dawg an' side an' snobbery is down an' out fer keeps.?It's grit an' reel good fellership that gits yeh friends in 'caps.
"There's a bloke 'oo shipped when I did; 'e wus lately frum 'is ma.
'Oo 'ad filled 'im full uv notions uv 'is birth;?An' 'e overworked 'is aitches till 'e got the loud 'Ha-ha'
Frum the fellers, but 'e wouldn't come to earth.?I bumped 'is lordship, name o' Keith, an' 'ad a little row, An' 'e lost some chunks uv beauty; but 'e's good Australian now.
"There is Privit Snifty Thompson, 'oo wus once a Sydney rat,
An' 'e 'ung around the Rocks when 'e wus young.?There's little Smith uv Collin'wood, wiv fags stuck in 'is 'at,
An' a string uv dirty insults on 'is tongue.?A corperil took them in 'and - a lad frum Lameroo.?Now both is nearly gentlemen, an' good Australians too.
"There's one, 'e doesn't tork a lot, 'e sez 'is name is Trent,
Jist a privit, but 'e knows 'is drill a treat;?A stand-orf bloke, but reel good pals wiv fellers in 'is tent,
But 'is 'ome an' 'istoree 'as got 'em beat.?They reckon when 'e starts to bleed 'e'll stain 'is Kharki blue; An' 'is lingo smells uv Oxford - but 'e's good Australian too.
"Then there's Lofty Craig uv Queensland, 'oo's a special pal uv mine;
Slow an' shy, an' kind o' nervous uv 'is height;?An' Jupp, 'oo owns a copper show, an' arsts us out to dine
When we're doo fer leave in Cairo uv a night.?An' there's Bills an' Jims an' Bennos, an' there's Roys an' 'Arolds too, An' they're cobbers, an' they're brothers, an' Australians thro' an' thro'.
"There is farmers frum the Mallec, there is bushmen down frum Bourke,
There's college men wiv letters to their name;?There is grafters, an' there's blokes 'oo never done a 'ard day's work
Till they tumbled, wiv the rest, into the game -?An' they're drillin' 'ere together, men uv ev'ry creed an' kind It's Australia! Solid! Dinkum! that 'as left the land be'ind.
"An' if yeh want a slushy, or a station overseer,
Or a tinker, or a tailor, or a snob,?Or a 'andy bloke wiv 'orses, or a minin' ingineer,
Why, we've got the very man to do yer job.?Butcher, baker, undertaker, or a Caf' de Pary chef,?'E is waitin', keen an' ready, in the little A.I.F.
"An' they've drilled us. Strike me lucky! but they've drilled us fer a cert!
We 'ave trod around ole Egyp's burnin' sand?Till I tells meself at evenin', when I'm wringin' out me shirt,
That we're built uv wire an' green-'ide in our land.?Strike! I thort I knoo 'ard yakker, w'ish I've tackled many ways, But uv late I've took a tumble I bin dozin' orl me days.
"It's a game, lad," writes ole Ginger, "it's a game I'm likin' grand,
An' I'm tryin' fer a stripe to fill in time;?I 'ave took a pull on shicker fer the honour uv me land,
An' I'm umpty round the chest an' feelin' prime.?Yeh kin tell Rose, if yeh see 'er, I serloots 'er o'er the foam, An' we'll 'ave a cray fer supper when I comes a'marchin' 'ome."
So ole Ginger sends a letter, an' 'is letter's good to read,
Fer the things 'e sez, an' some things 'e leaves out;?An' when a bloke like 'im wakes up an' starts to take a 'eed,
Well, it's sort o' worth the writin' 'ome about.?'E's one uv many little things Australia chanced to find?She never knoo she 'ad around till bugles cleared 'er mind.
Becos ole Europe lost 'er block an' started 'eavin' bricks,
Becos the bugles wailed a song uv war,?We found reel gold down in the 'earts uv orl our Ginger Micks
We never thort worth minin' fer before.?An' so, I'm tippin' we will pray, before our win is scored: "Thank God for Mick, an' Bill an' Jim, an' little brother Clord."
V. THE BATTLE OF THE WAZZIR
If ole Pharaoh, King of Egyp', 'ad been gazin' on the scene
'E'd' ave give the A.I.F. a narsty name?When they done their little best to scrub 'is dirty Kingdom clean,
An' to shift 'is ancient 'eap uv sin an' shame.?An' I'm tippin' they'd 'ave phenyled 'im, an' rubbed it in 'is 'ead. But old Pharaoh, King uv Egyp', 'e is dead.
So yeh don't 'ear much about it; an' it isn't meant yeh should,
Since 'is Kingship wasn't there to go orf pop;?An' this mishunery effort fer to make the 'eathen good
Wus a contract that the fellers 'ad to drop.?There wus other