>>> YOU ARE VIEWING A 200 LINE SAMPLE OF EBOOK# E02768 <<< TITLE: JOE WILSON AND HIS MATES AUTHOR: HENRY LAWSON EBOOK: E02768 (O'Briens Book Cellar) Joe Wilson and his mates, by Henry Lawson [Note on text: Italicized words or phrases are capitalized. Some obvious errors may have been corrected.] ============================================================================== An incomplete glossary of Australian, British, or antique terms and concepts which may prove helpful to understanding this book: "A house where they took in cards on a tray" (from Joe Wilson's Courtship): An upper class house, with servants who would take a visitor's card (on a tray) to announce their presence, or, if the family was out, to keep a record of the visit. Anniversary Day: Mentioned in the text, is now known as Australia Day. It commemorates the establishment of the first English settlement in Australia, at Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), on 26 January 1788. Gin: An obvious abbreviation of "aborigine", it only refers to *female* aborigines, and is now considered derogatory. It was not considered derogatory at the time Lawson wrote. Jackaroo: At the time Lawson wrote, a Jackaroo was a "new chum" or newcomer to Australia, who sought work on a station to gain experience. The term now applies to any young man working as a station hand. A female station hand is a Jillaroo. Variant: Jackeroo. Old-fashioned child: A child that acts old for their age. Americans would say `Precocious'. 'Possum: In Australia, a class of marsupials that were originally mistaken for possums. They are not especially related to the possums of North and South America, other than both being marsupials. Public/Pub.: The traditional pub. in Australia was a hotel with a "public" bar -- hence the name. The modern pub has often (not always) dispensed with the lodging, and concentrated on the bar. Tea: In addition to the regular meaning, Tea can also mean a light snack or a meal (i.e., where Tea is served). In particular, Morning Tea (about 10 AM) and Afternoon Tea (about 3 PM) are nothing more than a snack, but Evening Tea (about 6 PM) is a meal. When just "Tea" is used, it usually means the evening meal. Variant: Tea-time. Tucker: Food. Shout: In addition to the regular meaning, it also refers to buying drinks for all the members of a group, etc. The use of this term can be confusing, so the first instance is footnoted in the text. Sly-grog-shop: An unlicensed bar or liquor-store. Station: A farm or ranch, especially one devoted to cattle or sheep. Store Bullock: Lawson makes several references to these. A bullock is a castrated bull. Bullocks were used in Australia for work that was too heavy for horses. `Store' may refer to those cattle, and their descendants, brought to Australia by the British government, and sold to settlers from the `Store' -- hence, the standard draft animal. Also: a hint with the seasons -- remember that the seasons are reversed from those in the northern hemisphere, hence June may be hot, but December is even hotter. Australia is at a lower latitude than the United States, so the winters are not harsh by US standards, and are not even mild in the north. In fact, large parts of Australia are governed more by "dry" versus "wet" than by Spring-Summer-Fall-Winter. -- A. L. Joe Wilson and his mates JOE WILSON AND HIS MATES By Henry Lawson Author of "While the Billy Boils", "On the Track and Over the Sliprails", "When the World was Wide, and other verses", "Verses, Popular and Humorous", "Children of the Bush", "When I was King, and other verses", etc. The Author's Farewell to the Bushmen. Some carry their swags in the Great North-West Where the bravest battle and die, And a few have gone to their last long rest, And a few have said "Good-bye!" The coast grows dim, and it may be long Ere the Gums again I see; So I put my soul in a farewell song To the chaps who barracked for me. Their days are hard at the best of times, And their dreams are dreams of care -- God bless them all for their big soft hearts, And the brave, brave grins they wear! God keep me straight as a man can go, And true as a man may be! For the sake of the hearts that were always so, Of the men who had faith in me! And a ship-side word I would say, you chaps Of the blood of the Don't-give-in! The world will call it a boast, perhaps -- But I'll win, if a man can win! And not for gold nor the world's applause -- Though ways to the end they be -- I'll win, if a man might win, because Of the men who believed in me. Contents. Prefatory Verses -- The Author's Farewell to the Bushmen. Part I. Joe Wilson's Courtship. Brighten's Sister-In-Law. `Water Them Geraniums'. I. A Lonely Track. II. `Past Carin''. A Double Buggy at Lahey's Creek. I. Spuds, and a Woman's Obstinacy. II. Joe Wilson's Luck. III. The Ghost of Mary's Sacrifice. IV. The Buggy Comes Home. Part II. The Golden Graveyard. The Chinaman's Ghost. The Loaded Dog. Poisonous Jimmy Gets Left. I. Dave Regan's Yarn. II. Told by One of the Other Drovers. The Ghostly Door. A Wild Irishman. The Babies in the Bush. A Bush Dance. The Buck-Jumper. Jimmy Grimshaw's Wooing. At Dead Dingo. Telling Mrs Baker. A Hero in Dingo-Scrubs. The Little World Left Behind. Concluding Verses -- The Never-Never Country. ------------------------ JOE WILSON AND HIS MATES ------------------------ Part I. Joe Wilson's Courtship. There are many times in this world when a healthy boy is happy. When he is put into knickerbockers, for instance, and `comes a man to-day,' as my little Jim used to say. When they're cooking something at home that he likes. When the `sandy-blight' or measles breaks out amongst the children, or the teacher or his wife falls dangerously ill -- or dies, it doesn't matter which -- `and there ain't no school.' When a boy is naked and in his natural state for a warm climate like Australia, with three or four of his schoolmates, under the shade of the creek-oaks in the bend where there's a good clear pool with a sandy bottom. When his father buys him a gun, and he starts out after kangaroos or 'possums. When he gets a horse, saddle, and bridle, of his own. When he has his arm in splints or a stitch in his head -- he's proud then, the proudest boy in the district. I wasn't a healthy-minded, average boy: I reckon I was born for a poet by mistake, and grew up to be a Bushman, and didn't know what was the matter with me -- or the world -- but that's got nothing to do with it. There are times when a man is happy. When he finds out that the girl loves him. When he's just married. When he's a lawful father for the first time, and everything is going on all right: some men make fools of themselves then -- I know I did. I'm happy to-night because I'm out of debt and can see clear ahead, and because I haven't been easy for a long time. But I think that the happiest time in a man's life is when he's courting a girl and finds out for sure that she loves him and hasn't a thought for any one else. Make the most of your courting days, you young chaps, and keep them clean, for they're about the only days when there's a chance of poetry and beauty coming into this life. Make the best of them and you'll never regret it the longest day you live. They're the days that the wife will look back to, anyway, in the brightest of times as well as in the blackest, and there shouldn't be anything in those days that might hurt her when she looks back. Make the most of your courting days, you young chaps, for they will never come again. A married man knows all about it -- after a while: he sees the woman world <<< END OF SAMPLE... (THE FULL EBOOK HAS 458357 TOTAL CHARACTERS) >>>