[Editor: This poem by Barcroft Boake was published in Where the Dead Men Lie and Other Poems (1897).]
Kitty McCrae
The western sun, ere he sought his lair,
Skimmed the treetops, and, glancing thence,
Rested awhile on the curling hair
Of Kitty McCrae, by the boundary fence:
Her eyes looked anxious; her cheeks were pale;
For father was two hours late with the mail.
Never before had he been so late;
And Kitty wondered and wished him back,
Leaning athwart the big swing gate
That opens out on the bridle-track —
A tortuous path that sidles down
From the single street of a mining town.
With her raven curls and her saucy smile —
Dark eyes that glow with a changeful light,
Tenderly trembling all the while
Like a brace of stars on the breast of Night —
Where could you find in the light of day
A bonnier lass than Kitty McCrae?
Born in the saddle, this girl could ride
Like the fearless Queen of the silver bow;
And nothing that ever was lapped in hide
Could frighten Kitty McCrae, I trow.
She would wheel a mob in the hour of need
If the Devil himself were in the lead.
But now, in the shadows’ deepening
When the last sun-spark has ceased to burn,
Afar she catches the sullen ring
Of horse-hoofs swinging around the turn;
Then painfully down the narrow trail
Comes Alec McCrae with the Greytown mail.
‘The fever-and-ague, my girl,’ he said —
‘’Twas all I got on that northern trip:
When it left me then I was well-nigh dead —
Has got me fast in its iron grip;
And I’d rather rot in the nearest gaol
Than ride to-night with the Greytown mail.
‘At Golden Gully they heard to-day —
’Twas a common topic about the town —
That the Mulligan Gang were around this way.
They wouldn’t despatch the gold-dust down;
And Brown, the manager, said he thought
’Twere wise to wait for a strong escort.
‘I rode the leaders; the other nags
I left with the coach at the ‘Travellers’ Rest.’
Kitty, my lass, you must take the bags —
Postboy, I reckon’s about the best;
’Tis dark, I know, but he’ll never fail
To take you down with the Greytown mail.’
It needed no further voice to urge
This dutiful daughter to eager haste;
She donned the habit of rough blue serge
That draped itself from her slender waist;
And Postboy stood by the stockyard rail
While she mounted behind the Greytown mail.
Dark points, the rest of him iron-grey,
Boasting no strain of expensive blood,
Down steepest hill he could pick his way,
And never was baulked by a winter flood —
Strong as a lion, hard as a nail,
Was the horse that carried the Greytown mail.
A nag that really seemed to be
Fit for a hundred miles at a push:
With the old Monaro pedigree —
By ‘Furious Riding,’ out of ‘The Bush’;
For he was run from a mountain mob
By Brian O’Flynn and Dusty Bob.
And Postboy’s bosom was filled with pride
As he felt the form of his mistress sway,
In its easy grace, to his swinging stride
As he dashed along down the narrow way.
No prettier Mercury, I’ll go bail,
Than Kitty e’er carried a Government mail.
Leaving the slope of O’Connor’s Hill,
They merrily scattered the drops of dew
In the spanning of many a tiny rill
Whose bubbling waters were hid from view:
In quick-beat time to the curlew’s wail
Rode Kitty McCrae, with the Greytown mail.
Sidling the Range by a narrow path
Where towering mountain-ash trees grow,
And a slip meant more than an icy bath
In the tumbling waters that foamed below;
Through the white fog filling each silent vale
Rode Kitty McCrae with the Greytown mail.
The forest shadows became less dense:
They fairly flew down the river fall:
When out from the shade of an old brush-fence
Stepped three armed men with a sudden call.
Sharp and stern came the well-known hail:
‘Stand! for we want the Greytown mail!’
Postboy swerved with a mighty bound
As an outlaw clung to his bridle rein:
A hoof-stroke flattened him to the ground
With a curse that was half a cry of pain;
While Kitty, trembling and rather pale,
Rode for life and the Greytown mail.
To save the bags was her only thought
As she bent to the whistle of angry lead
That followed the flash and the sharp report;
But, ‘Oh, you cowards!’ was all she said.
Fast through the storm of leaden hail
Kitty rode on with the Greytown mail.
Safe? Ah, no! for a tiny stream
On Postboy’s coat left its crimson mark.
She still rode on; but ’twas in a dream,
Through lands where shadows fell drear and dark:
Like a wounded sea-bird before the gale
Fled Kitty McCrae with the Greytown mail.
For every hoof-stroke a drop of blood —
From feeble fingers the bridle slips
As down the Warrigal Flat they scud;
And just where the Redbank workings lie
She reels and falls with a feeble cry.
The old horse slackened his racing pace
When he found the saddle his only load,
And laid his nose to the pretty face
White upturned in the dusty road;
Like a gathered rose in the heat of day,
So drooped and faded Kitty McCrae.
Did Postboy stay by the dead girl’s side?
Not he! relieved of her feather-weight,
He woke the echoes with measured stride,
Galloping up to the postal gate —
Blood, dust, and sweat from head to tail,
A riderless horse with the Greytown mail!
In ceaseless sorrow above the grave
Down on the flat where Kitty sleeps,
Hushed by the river’s lapping wave —
That ever tells to the trees the tale
Of how she rode with the Greytown mail.
Source:
Barcroft Boake, Where the Dead Men Lie and Other Poems, Sydney (NSW): Angus and Robertson, 1897, pp. 74-79
Also published in:
The Bulletin (Sydney, NSW), 19 December 1891, p. 11, columns 1-2 [by “Surcingle”]
Relevant notes from the “Notes to poems” section in this book:
17. KITTY McCRAE, p. 74. — Printed in The Bulletin, December 19, 1891. Signed ‘Surcingle.’ There was a sub-title — ‘A Galloping Rhyme.’
Editor’s notes:
Two of the images for this poem were sourced from its original appearance in The Bulletin (19 December 1891).
athwart = across
bag = (in the context of mail) a mail bag (a container for letters and postal items)
bail = guarantee, surety (can also refer to: an amount of money paid to secure the release of a person charged by police, to give a guarantee or surety that the charged person will appear in court when summonsed)
baulk = (also spelt “balk”) to obstruct, thwart, foil, prevent (the more common usage is: to hesitate or recoil from something, to stop short, to refuse to undertake an action)
Bob = a diminutive form of the name “Robert”
bonnie = (also spelt: bonny) attractive, beautiful, fair, pretty; handsome; excellent, fine, good, pleasant, pleasing; cheerful, happy, merry; frolicsome, lively; healthy-looking, plump (especially regarding a baby); a form of address for a baby or a loved one; a considerable or sizeable amount (e.g. “it costs a bonnie sum”), a lot
bonnier = prettier, etc. [see: bonnie]
born in the saddle = a reference to someone who has been riding horses since a very young age
The Bush = bushland (areas in the country which have lots of bushes and trees; an area which is predominantly untamed wilderness)
crimson life-stream = blood
crimson mark = a blood mark
curlew = any of a group of nine species of shorebirds in the genus Numenius, of the family Scolopacidae, characterised by their long slender down-curved bills, long legs, and brown-streaked plumage; a stone curlew, any of a group of ten species of shorebirds, of the family Burhinidae (stone curlews are so-named as they are commonly found in stony habitats, and they resemble curlews)
See: 1) “Curlew”, Wikipedia
2) “Stone-curlew”, Wikipedia
drear = dismal, dreary, or gloomy
e’er = (vernacular) an archaic contraction of “ever”
ere = (archaic) before (from the Middle English “er”, itself from the Old English “aer”, meaning early or soon)
escort = gold escort; the policemen or troopers who guarded the transportation of gold shipments
feather-weight = very light; comparatively light (can also mean: someone or something which is considered to be of low importance; inconsequential, trifling, unimportant; a boxer in a low weight category)
furious riding = a legal phrase regarding a criminal offence for endangering others or causing harm to others whilst in charge of a horse, including riding a horse and driving a horse-drawn-vehicle (for automobiles, there is a similar offence, known as “furious driving”)
See: “Opinion Number. 1361”, Legal Opinions, Australian Government Solicitor [legal opinion written by Robert Randolph Garran, 28 November 1924]
2) “Crimes Act 1900 – Sect 53 Injuries by furious driving etc”, Australasian Legal Information Institute
3) “Furious Driving”, Armstrong Legal
gaol = an alternative spelling of “jail” (prison)
habit = a long loose article of clothing (e.g. a nun’s habit, a riding habit); (archaic) attire, dress; (archaic) to clothe, to dress (verb)
hide = the skin of an animal (especially used regarding hunted animals and large animals, e.g. rabbits, foxes, lions, tigers, cattle, horses); the skin of a human (such as used in the phrase “to save his own hide”)
Kitty = a diminutive form of Katherine, Kate, and similar names
lapped = covered, enfolded, enclosed, enveloped, surrounded, wrapped
lapped in hide = covered by skin (a reference to animals, especially used regarding hunted animals and large animals, e.g. rabbits, foxes, lions, tigers, cattle, horses)
lass = girl, young woman
leaden hail = lots of bullets being fired through the air; a large amount of bullets or balls (i.e. balls of lead, used in old-style firearms) being shot from pistols, rifles, or other firearms
leader = the best animal (especially the best animal of a team, group, or mob); the leading animal of a team, group, or mob
Mercury = in Roman mythology, the god of messages, communication (including divination), shopkeepers, merchants, travellers, transporters of goods, thieves, tricksters, commerce, financial gain, and luck; he was regarded as the messenger of the gods, and acted as the guide for souls going to the underworld
See: 1) “ Mercury: Roman god”, Encyclopaedia Britannica
2) “Mercury (mythology)”, Wikipedia
mob = a large group of animals, especially used when referring to cattle, horses, kangaroos, and sheep; also used to refer to a group of people, sometimes — although definitely not always — used in a negative or derogatory sense (possibly as an allusion to a group of dumb or wild animals), but also used in a positive sense (e.g. “they’re my mob”), especially amongst Australian Aborigines
Monaro = a region in the south of New South Wales
See: “Monaro (New South Wales)”, Wikipedia
nag = (slang) horse; can also have a negative meaning, referring to a horse which is regarded as inferior or worthless
Queen of the silver bow = a reference to the goddess Artemis, who was, in ancient Greek mythology, the goddess of the hunt; in Greek classical art Artemis is often depicted as carrying either a golden bow or a silver bow
See: “Artemis”, Wikipedia
report = a sharp sudden loud noise or sound, especially regarding the noise made by a firearm when a bullet is fired (e.g. the loud crack of a rifle being fired)
rill = a very small brook, creek, or stream (a rivulet)
sleeps = a euphemism for being dead (e.g. “She sleeps the sleep of death”, “He sleeps the sleep of the blest”, “He sleeps the sleep of a sinless soul”)
stand = come to a halt, stand still; used in the phrase “stand and deliver”
’tis = (archaic) a contraction of “it is”
trow = (archaic) think; believe, suppose
’twas = (archaic) a contraction of “it was”
’twere = (archaic) a contraction of “it were”
wheel = turn around; spin around; turn to the left or right in a circular motion; a revolution, rotation, or turn of something
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