[Editor: This poem by W. T. Goodge (using his pseudonym of “The Colonel”) was published in his “Nutshells” column in the Orange Leader, 18 October 1899. This poem was written at the time of the Boer War (South Africa, 1899-1902).]
Army Nurses.
From every quarter still they come,
The girls who volunteer —
There’s more romance than stopping at home
To nurse the swagmen here!
Source:
Orange Leader and Millthorpe Messenger (Orange, NSW), 18 October 1899, p. 1
Editor’s notes:
stop = stay
swagmen = plural of swagman: a roaming labourer who carries his personal belongings in a swag, or bundle, whilst traveling about in search of casual work; especially used to refer to itinerant labourers travelling around the country areas of Australia in the late 1800s to early 1900s (also known as a “swaggie”)
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