The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses [by A. B. Paterson, 1895]

[Editor: This book of poetry, written by Andrew Barton (“Banjo”) Paterson, was first published in 1895.]

The Man from

Snowy River

and Other Verses

By

A. B. Paterson

Contents

Preface

Prelude
I have gathered these stories afar,

The Man from Snowy River
There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around

Old Pardon, the Son of Reprieve
You never heard tell of the story?

Clancy of The Overflow
I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better,

Conroy’s Gap
This was the way of it, don’t you know—

Our New Horse
The boys had come back from the races

An Idyll of Dandaloo
On Western plains, where shade is not,

The Geebung Polo Club
It was somewhere up the country, in a land of rock and scrub,

The Travelling Post Office
The roving breezes come and go, the reed beds sweep and sway,

Saltbush Bill
Now this is the law of the Overland that all in the West obey.

A Mountain Station
I bought a run a while ago,

Been There Before
There came a stranger to Walgett town,

The Man Who Was Away
The widow sought the lawyer’s room with children three in tow

The Man from Ironbark
It was the man from Ironbark who struck the Sydney town,

The Open Steeplechase
I had ridden over hurdles up the country once or twice,

The Amateur Rider
Him going to ride for us! Him — with the pants and the eyeglass and all.

On Kiley’s Run
The roving breezes come and go

Fryingpan’s Theology
Scene: On Monaro.

The Two Devines
It was shearing-time at the Myall Lake,

In the Droving Days
‘Only a pound,’ said the auctioneer,

Lost
‘He ought to be home,’ said the old man, without there’s something amiss.

Over the Range
Little bush maiden, wondering-eyed,

Only a Jockey
Out in the grey cheerless chill of the morning light,

How McGinnis went Missing
Let us cease our idle chatter,

A Voice from the Town
I thought, in the days of the droving,

A Bunch of Roses
Roses ruddy and roses white,

Black Swans
As I lie at rest on a patch of clover

The All Right ’Un
He came from ‘further out,’

The Boss of the Admiral Lynch
Did you ever hear tell of Chili? I was readin’ the other day

A Bushman’s Song
I’m travelling down the Castlereagh, and I’m a station hand,

How Gilbert Died
There’s never a stone at the sleeper’s head,

The Flying Gang
I served my time, in the days gone by,

Shearing at Castlereagh
The bell is set a-ringing, and the engine gives a toot,

The Wind’s Message
There came a whisper down the Bland between the dawn and dark,

Johnson’s Antidote
Down along the Snakebite River, where the overlanders camp,

Ambition and Art
I am the maid of the lustrous eyes

The Daylight is Dying
The daylight is dying

In Defence of the Bush
So you’re back from up the country, Mister Townsman, where you went,

Last Week
Oh, the new-chum went to the back block run,

Those Names
The shearers sat in the firelight, hearty and hale and strong,

A Bush Christening
On the outer Barcoo where the churches are few,

How the Favourite Beat Us
‘Aye,’ said the boozer, ‘I tell you it’s true, sir,

The Great Calamity
MacFierce’un came to Whiskeyhurst

Come-by-Chance
As I pondered very weary o’er a volume long and dreary—

Under the Shadow of Kiley’s Hill
This is the place where they all were bred;

Jim Carew
Born of a thoroughbred English race,

The Swagman’s Rest
We buried old Bob where the bloodwoods wave

London
Macmillan and Co., Ltd.
Sydney: Angus & Robertson
1896

Source:
A. B. Paterson, The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses, London: Macmillan and Co., 1896 [January 1896 reprint of the October 1895 edition]

Editor’s notes:
The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses was first published in 1895 and was reprinted many times thereafter.

The Queenslander of 7 December 1895 says that the first publication date was on 16 October 1895, as does the January 1896 edition of the book; however, the October 1908 edition and the September 1919 edition give the book’s first publication date as 17 October 1895, as does the The Brisbane Courier of 1 October 1898. Either the later publications are in error, or they corrected a mistake made in 1895.

The first edition was published in Sydney (October 1895), as was the second edition (November 1902) “from new type with slight corrections”, although many of the reprints were published in London (especially during 1902-1919). Earlier copies of the book list each separate reprinting as new editions, although later copies simply record them as reprints or “impressions”, not as distinct editions.

References:
“Reviewer”, The Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld.), 7 December 1895, p. 1075
A. B. Paterson, The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses (January 1896 edition), London: Macmillan and Co., 1896, p. iv (verso page) [this was the 4th edition, or rather — according to later editions, such as the September 1919 edition — it was the 4th impression of the first edition]
A. B. Paterson, The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses (17 October 1908 edition), Sydney: Angus & Robertson, Macmillan and Co., London, 1908, p. iv (verso page)
A. B. Paterson, The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses (8 September 1919 edition), London: Macmillan and Co., 1919, p. iv (verso page)
“Publications received”, The Brisbane Courier (Brisbane, Qld.), 1 October 1898, p. 4