Not long ago, and down the Barwon's stream,
The sable swan led forth his graceful fleet.
Not long ago, our hills and valleys green,
Were all untrodden save by savage feet.
No ploughman's song the dawning's stillness broke;
No fowler's gun the woodland echoes woke;
Nor forest monarch bowed beneath the bushman's stroke.
Not long ago, the tawny Native stood
In naked majesty on yonder hill;
All–all was his: the mountain, plain and wood–
The fair green solitude, so calm and still.
No anvil's clang was heard at break of day;
No white wing'd vessels floated on the Bay;
But fresh from God's own hand our lovely country lay.
We came-the pioneers. Fence after fence
Narrow'd the limits of the black man's home.
He saw all vain would be his best defence;
And, scowling, watch'd the living tide roll on.
The Anglo-Saxon wave that drove him back
Mile after mile, till on the foeman's track
He found–a grave– ('tis all we left the black.)
Notes
From Marjorie Pizer's 1953 anthology "Freedom on the Wallaby" p. 41.
Pizer writes:
"Suggested by the commencement of the Geelong and Melbourne Railway, Sept. 20, 1853"
A 2013 search using the National Library of Australia TROVE project revealed the following Argus advertisement:
The Argus Friday 28 August 1857 p. 8.
NOW READY, WATTLE-BLOSSOMS ; Some of the
Grave and Gay Reminiscences of an Old Colonist :
by George Wright.
Contents
Little Things–Dennis O'Brien's Last Spree.
Judgo Willis ; a Tale of 1841.
A Winter Night in Melbourne ; a Tale of 1840.
Old Winter in Geelong. 1843.
The Yarra Yarra Blacks and the Tailor's Wig ; a Tale
of 1830.
May-Day–1844,
Timothy Brown's Expedition to Ballaarat.
Old Chum's Musings on the Commencement of the
Geelong and Melbourne Railway.
Price, 2s. 6d. 1,000 copies will be Issued, and the
nett proceeds will be handed over for the benefit of the
widows and orphans of the two men killed on the
railway. Geo. Robertson, Collins street, Melbourne.
From Gippsland Times Wednesday 7 September 1881 we find the following (more complete or updated?) version
THE OLD CHUM'S MUSINGS.
Not long ago, and down the Gippsland streams
The sable swan led forth his graceful fleet.
Not long ago, our hills and valleys green
Were all untrodden save by savage feet.
No ploughman's song the dawning stillness broke,
No fowler's gun tihe woodland echoes woke,
Nor forest monarch bow'd beneath the bushman's stroke.
Not long ago the tawny native stood
In naked majesty on yonder hill.
All, all, was his ! The mountain, plain, and wood,
The fair green solitude all calm and still.
No anvil's clang was heard at break of day,
No white-winged vessels floated on the bay;
But fresh from God's own hand our lovely country lay.
Be ours a free unfettered Press, the Plough, the Rail.
Ah yes ! The Rail ! Prepare the iron way,
Tear up the rock, and prostrate lay the wood,
Drive through the mountain, and make no stay
For Thomson, M'Allister, or Latrobe.
Let tunnel pierce the hill; arch o'er the stream;
Lay the long rail across the verdant green
And wake to roar and echo of whirling wheels and steam.
Remove the sand bar ! Open Gippsland to the world !
'Tis a 'prayer sincere. Our worthy representatives are doing their best,
And the Honorable Mr Bent has promised to provide refrigerating cars.
Gippsland will yet arouse from its slumbers,
And become the most flourishing spot of Victoria.
We have the land, the beautiful sparkling streams, coupled with a magnificent climate.
It's with God's blessing, &c. What can we want more ?
We came–the Pioneers, and narrowed the limits of the black men's home.
They die away. This Heaven decrees for the sons of toil !
No warlike tribes survive, their fields to spoil.
Heaven bless our country. Inscribe "Gippsland"on the scroll of fame.
Be her's the golden dust, the fleece, the beef, and grain,
May every virtue thrive all vice decrease,
And may we prosper in a land of plenty and of peace.
J. ROGERS.
Greendale, North Gippsland, Sept 5, 1881.
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