The Man From Snowy River and Other Verses

Been There Before

Andrew Barton ‘Banjo’ Paterson


THERE came a stranger to Walgett town,
    To Walgett town when the sun was low,
And he carried a thirst that was worth a crown,
    Yet how to quench it he did not know;
But he thought he might take those yokels down,
The guileless yokels of Walgett town.

They made him a bet in a private bar,
    In a private bar when the talk was high,
And they bet him some pounds no matter how far
    He could pelt a stone, yet he could not shy
A stone right over the river so brown,
The Darling river at Walgett town.

He knew that the river from bank to bank
    Was fifty yards, and he smiled a smile
As he trundled down, but his hopes they sank
    For there wasn’t a stone within fifty mile;
For the saltbush plain and the open down
Produce no quarries in Walgett town.

The yokels laughed at his hopes o’erthrown,
    And he stood awhile like a man in a dream;
Then out of his pocket he fetched a stone,
    And pelted it over the silent stream—
He had been there before: he had wandered down
On a previous visit to Walgett town.


Back    |     Words Home    |     Paterson Home    |    Site Info.    |    Feedback