The Days Of Gold
Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2019 11:32 pm
This is an early poem of mine that tells the true story of our early days of prospecting for gold.
There is possibly a version of this on the old forum – I have gone over this to sort out the odd problems earlier versions may have had. I’ve also made a few slight changes to hopefully improve it a little.
THE DAYS OF GOLD – The Detector Rush
Do you recall those heady days and times we had old son?
gold fever touched us all back then with dreams of fortunes won.
Remember too those lonely camps at Stockwhip and the Blue,
and all the other camps we made from Kal to east of Cue.
Then nights around the campfire after days spent in the sun,
for you and I were there old mate Just as the rush begun.
Think back to how the flame was lit with slugs of gold at Quin’s,
picked up by sharp eyed women from among the rocks and tins.
And then they whispered secrets of a likely spot they’d seen,
way back on Banya Station, somewhere near the Mulga Queen.
It’s there we found success at last out by the Famous Blue,
where lady luck had smiled old friend, and so a dream came true.
We thought that it would never end back in those early days,
when rumours of the latest finds had set the bush ablaze.
Excitement rippled through the towns and in the cities too,
and people rushed to have a go out with the lucky few.
But we were tramping well ahead to try and be the first,
to find forgotten patches where once old blokes toiled and cursed.
We were the pioneers’ old mate; the leaders of this rush,
and learnt to keep our mouths shut and our where a-bouts hush, hush.
But gold was big and plentiful just waiting to be found,
with countless golden nuggets buried deep within the ground.
We toiled away together even when our luck was out,
and quickly learnt the lesson of what mateship’s all about.
We blazed a trail to long lost spots and found new ones as well,
and struck good gold at Ryan’s old patch, and also at Sweet Nell.
Then caught the floods at Darlow missing out on Yandal gold,
but made amends at Youanmi*, if all the truth were told.
There were so many places that we combed from end to end,
the outback was a second home, for you and I old friend.
For thirty years or more now we’ve been out here chasing dreams,
still looking for the next patch in this land of harsh extremes.
We’ve seen the miles of break-a-ways and climbed the many peaks,
and shared those countless campfires and have crossed a thousand creeks.
We find it’s hard to leave this life, not that we really try,
it somehow gets into your blood; it’s hard to reason why.
And though the pace has slackened now, excitement is still there -
perhaps a little more relaxed – there’s time to be aware
of beauty that surrounds us in this land of rolling hills,
with endless plains of saltbush; hear the songs of creaking mills.
Then listen to the silence as each day draws to a close,
and feel that sense of freedom that the outback bushman knows.
******
*Youanmi ? You – and – Me / old town named after the original gold mine there
There is possibly a version of this on the old forum – I have gone over this to sort out the odd problems earlier versions may have had. I’ve also made a few slight changes to hopefully improve it a little.
THE DAYS OF GOLD – The Detector Rush
Do you recall those heady days and times we had old son?
gold fever touched us all back then with dreams of fortunes won.
Remember too those lonely camps at Stockwhip and the Blue,
and all the other camps we made from Kal to east of Cue.
Then nights around the campfire after days spent in the sun,
for you and I were there old mate Just as the rush begun.
Think back to how the flame was lit with slugs of gold at Quin’s,
picked up by sharp eyed women from among the rocks and tins.
And then they whispered secrets of a likely spot they’d seen,
way back on Banya Station, somewhere near the Mulga Queen.
It’s there we found success at last out by the Famous Blue,
where lady luck had smiled old friend, and so a dream came true.
We thought that it would never end back in those early days,
when rumours of the latest finds had set the bush ablaze.
Excitement rippled through the towns and in the cities too,
and people rushed to have a go out with the lucky few.
But we were tramping well ahead to try and be the first,
to find forgotten patches where once old blokes toiled and cursed.
We were the pioneers’ old mate; the leaders of this rush,
and learnt to keep our mouths shut and our where a-bouts hush, hush.
But gold was big and plentiful just waiting to be found,
with countless golden nuggets buried deep within the ground.
We toiled away together even when our luck was out,
and quickly learnt the lesson of what mateship’s all about.
We blazed a trail to long lost spots and found new ones as well,
and struck good gold at Ryan’s old patch, and also at Sweet Nell.
Then caught the floods at Darlow missing out on Yandal gold,
but made amends at Youanmi*, if all the truth were told.
There were so many places that we combed from end to end,
the outback was a second home, for you and I old friend.
For thirty years or more now we’ve been out here chasing dreams,
still looking for the next patch in this land of harsh extremes.
We’ve seen the miles of break-a-ways and climbed the many peaks,
and shared those countless campfires and have crossed a thousand creeks.
We find it’s hard to leave this life, not that we really try,
it somehow gets into your blood; it’s hard to reason why.
And though the pace has slackened now, excitement is still there -
perhaps a little more relaxed – there’s time to be aware
of beauty that surrounds us in this land of rolling hills,
with endless plains of saltbush; hear the songs of creaking mills.
Then listen to the silence as each day draws to a close,
and feel that sense of freedom that the outback bushman knows.
******
*Youanmi ? You – and – Me / old town named after the original gold mine there