Brigalow Mick
A dandy old horseman is Brigalow Mick —
Which his name, sir, is Michael O’Dowd—
Whatever he’s riding, when limber is thick,
He is always in front of the crowd.
A few tangled locks that are fast turning white
Crown a physog. the colour of brick,
But as keen as a kestrel’s—as bold and as bright —
Is the blue eye of Brigalow Mick.
He is Martin’s head-stockman, on Black-Cattle Creek —
All the boys there are rare ones to ride —
But Mick is the "daddy;" and far you may seek
Ere you find such an artist in hide.
He’ll turn out a halter, or stockwhip can make,
As you’ve seldom cast eyes on before;
And never the "nugget" was calved that could break
Michael’s whips, which he plaits by the score.
All the lads on the station are handy enough,
Nor are frightened of grafting too hard,
But Mick, if the cattle are rowdy and rough,
Is the pick of ’em all in a yard.
A bad colt to tackle—a mad one to steer
Through thick timber—you’ll hear Martin boast—
Mick yet is unrivalled, there isn’t his peer
Right from Camooweal in to the coast.
Ay! long may it be ere the scrubs are bereft
Of the clearskins that give us the sport,
And long may the station have stock-riders left,
Of the build of old Brigalow's sort.
This work is in the public domain in Australia because it was created in Australia and the term of copyright has expired. According to Australian Copyright Council - Duration of Copyright, the following works are public domain:
- published non-government works whose author died before January 1, 1955,
- anonymous or pseudonymous works and photographs published before January 1, 1955, and
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This work is also in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in Australia on the URAA date (January 1, 1996). This is the combined effect of Australia having joined the Berne Convention in 1928, and of 17 USC 104A with its critical date of January 1, 1996.
Because the Australian copyright term in 1996 was 50 years, the critical date for copyright in the United States under the URAA is January 1, 1946.
This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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