[Editor: This poem by Barcroft Boake was published in Where the Dead Men Lie and Other Poems (1897).]
The Demon Snow-Shoes
The snow lies deep on hill and dale,
In rocky gulch and grassy vale:
The tiny, trickling, tumbling falls
Are frozen ’twixt their rocky walls
That grey and brown look silent down
Upon Kiandra’s shrouded town.
The Eucumbene itself lies dead,
Fast frozen in its narrow bed;
And distant sounds ring out quite near,
The crystal air is froze so clear;
While to and fro the people go
In silent swiftness o’er the snow.
And, like a mighty gallows-frame,
The derrick in the New Chum claim
Hangs over where, despite the cold,
Strong miners seek the hidden gold,
And stiff and blue, half-frozen through,
The fickle dame of Fortune woo.
Far out, along a snow-capped range,
There rose a sound which echoed strange:
Where snow-emburthen’d branches hang,
And flashing icicles, there rang
A gay refrain, as towards the plain
Sped swiftly downward Carl the Dane.
His long, lithe snow-shoes sped along
In easy rhythm to his song;
Now slowly circling round the hill,
Now speeding downward with a will;
The crystals crash and blaze and flash
As o’er the frozen crust they dash.
Among the hills the first he shone
Of all who buckled snow-shoe on;
For though the mountain lads were fleet,
But one bold rival dare compete,
To veer and steer, devoid of fear,
Beside this strong-limbed mountaineer.
’Twas Davy Eccleston who dared
To cast the challenge: If Carl cared
On shoes to try their mutual pace,
Then let him enter for the race,
Which might be run by anyone —
A would-be champion. Carl said ‘Done!’
But not alone in point of speed
They sought to gain an equal meed;
For in the narrow lists of love
Dave Eccleston had cast the glove:
Though both had prayed, the blushing maid
As yet no preference betrayed,
But played them off, as women will,
One ’gainst the other one, until —
A day when she was sorely pressed —
To loving neither youth confessed;
But did exclaim — the wily dame! —
‘Who wins this race, I’ll bear his name!’
Her words were ringing through Carl’s head
As o’er the frozen crust he sped,
But suddenly became aware
That not alone he travelled there:
He sudden spied, with swinging stride,
A stranger gliding by his side:
The breezes o’er each shoulder tossed
His beard, bediamonded with frost;
His eyes flashed strangely, bushy-browed;
His breath hung round him like a shroud;
He never spoke, nor silence broke,
But by the Dane sped stroke for stroke.
‘Old man! I do not know your name,
Nor what you are, nor whence you came —
But this: if I but had your shoes
This champion race I ne’er could lose.
To call them mine, those shoes divine,
I’ll gladly pay should you incline.’
The stranger merely bowed his head —
‘The shoes are yours,’ he gruffly said.
‘I change with you, though at a loss;
And in return I ask that cross
Which, while she sung, your mother hung
Around your neck when you were young.’
Carl hesitated when he heard
The price, but not for long demurred,
And gave the cross. With trembling haste
The shoes upon his feet were laced —
So long, yet light and polished bright —
His heart beat gladly at the sight.
Now, on the morning of the race,
Expectancy on every face,
They come the programme to fulfil
Upon the slope of Township Hill.
With silent feet the people meet,
While youths and maidens laughing greet.
High-piled the flashing snowdrifts lie,
And laugh to scorn the sun’s dull eye,
That, glistening feebly, seems to say:
‘When Summer comes you’ll melt away!
You’ll change your song when I grow strong:
I think so, though I may be wrong.’
The pistol flashed, and off they went
Like lightning on the steep descent.
Resistlessly down-swooping, swift
O’er the smooth face of polished drift
The racers strain with might and main;
But in the lead flies Carl the Dane.
Behind him Davy did his best,
With hopeless eye and lip compressed:
Beat by a snow-shoe length at most,
They flash and pass the winning-post.
The maiden said, ‘I’ll gladly wed
The youth who in this race has led.’
But where was he? Still speeding fast,
Over the frozen stream he passed.
They watched his flying form until
They lost it over Sawyers’ Hill;
Nor saw it more: the people swore
The like they’d never seen before.
The way he scaled that steep ascent
Was quite against all precedent;
While others said he could but choose
To do it on those demon shoes.
They talked in vain, for Carl the Dane
Was never seen in flesh again.
But now the lonely diggers say
That sometimes at the close of day,
They see a misty wraith flash by,
With the faint echo of a cry.
It may be true; perhaps they do:
I doubt it much; but what say you?
Source:
Barcroft Boake, Where the Dead Men Lie and Other Poems, Sydney (NSW): Angus and Robertson, 1897, pp. 29-34
Also published in:
The Bulletin (Sydney, NSW), 10 October 1891, p. 18, column 2 [entitled “The Demon Snow-Shoes (A Legend of Kiandra)”; by “Surcingle”]
Relevant notes from the “Notes to poems” section in this book:
7. THE DEMON SNOW SHOES, p. 29. — Printed in The Bulletin, October 10, 1891. Signed ‘Surcingle.’ There was a sub-title — ‘A Legend of Kiandra.’
Editor’s notes:
On page 29 the poem title is given as “The Demon Snow-Shoes” (with a hyphen); however, in the Contents list and in the “Notes to poems” section, the title is given as “The Demon Snow Shoes” (without a hyphen). When the poem was originally published in The Bulletin (10 October 1891), the title included a hyphen.
bear his name = for a woman to marry a man, and to subsequently to take her husband’s surname as her own surname (e.g. when John Citizen marries Jane Smith, she then becomes Jane Citizen)
bediamonded = (in the context of frost or snow) something which has specks of frost or snow on it, which can thereby be said to look as though it has been decorated with diamonds; wearing a diamond or diamonds; featuring a diamond or diamonds
cast the glove = throw down a glove (to the ground), throw down a gauntlet, lay down a challenge; derived from someone casting a glove down (i.e. throwing a glove down) in front of another person in order to challenge that person to a duel (to accept the duel, the respondent would pick up the challenger’s glove)
See: 1) Vicki Pritchard, “A matter of honour: The duelling tradition”, West Devon Swords
2) George H. Powell, “Duelling Stories of the Sixteenth Century”, London: A. H. Bullen, 1904, p. 35
3) “Duel”, Wikipedia
dale = a small valley, dell, or glen, especially one with many trees; a secluded wooded hollow
dame = (archaic) a lady, a woman of significant social standing; (American slang) a woman; “Dame” (capitalised) is an honorific title bestowed upon a woman who has been appointed to certain orders of chivalry (e.g. the Order of the British Empire), and is also the legal title of the wife or widow of a knight or baronet
Dave = a diminutive form of the name “David” (diminutive forms of “David” include: Dave, Davie, Davey, Davo, and Davy)
Davy = a diminutive form of the name “David” (diminutive forms of “David” include: Dave, Davie, Davey, Davo, and Davy)
emburthen’d = (archaic) emburthened (burdened)
Eucumbene = the Eucumbene River, a river located in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales
See: “Eucumbene River”, Wikipedia
fleet = fast, rapid, swift; to move quickly in a nimble manner, to be fast and light of foot
’gainst = (vernacular) against
gay = happy, joyous, carefree; well-decorated, bright, attractive (in modern times it may especially refer to a homosexual, especially a male homosexual; can also refer to something which is no good, pathetic, useless)
gulch = (primarily an American term) a long deep narrow ravine with steep sides which has been created by the eroding flow of a water course (e.g. created by a fast-flowing stream)
Kiandra = an abandoned gold mining town (incidentally, said to be the birthplace of Australian skiing), situated in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales; mining in the area ended around 1905 and Kiandra was abandoned (what remains of it is situated within the Kosciuszko National Park)
See: “Kiandra, New South Wales”, Wikipedia
lithe = flexible, limber, supple; graceful; thin, athletic; someone who is young, graceful, healthy-looking, and thin
meed = (archaic) a fitting recompense; an appropriate amount of praise, honour, or reward; a payment or reward given for work done or services rendered
ne’er = (vernacular) an archaic contraction of “never”
o’er = (archaic) over (pronounced the same as “oar”, “or”, and “ore”)
resistlessly = to not object, oppose, or resist an action, idea, plan, or proposal; to act in an unresisting manner; without resistance (not dealing with or facing any resistance)
’twas = (archaic) a contraction of “it was”
’twixt = (vernacular) a contraction of “betwixt” (i.e. between) (can be spelt with or without an apostrophe: ’twixt, twixt)
vale = valley
wraith = something insubstantial, shadowy, or vaporous; an apparition or ghostlike image of someone, especially one that appears shortly before someone’s death; a ghost
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