Folk & Traditional Song Lyrics www.traditionalmusic.co.uk Travelling Down the Castlereagh 
Travelling Down the Castlereagh (Banjo Paterson) 

1. 	I'm travellin' down the Castlereagh and I'm a station hand, I'm handy with the ropin' pole, I'm handy with the brand, And I can ride a rowdy colt, or swing an axe all day, But there's no demand for a station hand along the Castlereagh. 

cho: So it's shift, boys, shift, for there isn't the slightest doubt, That we've got to make a shift to the stations further out, With the pack-horse runnin' after, for he follows like a dog, We must strike across the country at the old jig-jog. 

2. 	This old black horse I'm riding - if you'll notice what's his brand, He wears the crooked R, you see, none better in the land, He takes a lot of beatin', the other day we tried For a bit of a joke with a racing bloke, for twenty pound a side. 

cho: It was shift, boys, shift! for there wasn't the slightest doubt! That I had to make him shift, for the money was nearly out: But he cantered home a winner, with the other at the flog He's a red-hot sort to pick up, with his old jig-jog. 

3. 	I asked a cove for shearin' once along the Marthaguy, "We shear non-union here," says he, "I call it scab," says I, I looked along the shearin' floor before I turned to go There were eight or ten non-union men a-shearin' in a row. 

cho: It was shift, boys, shift! for there wasn't the slightest doubt, It was time to make a shift with the leprosy about, So I saddled up my horses and I whistled to my dog, And I left his scabby station at the old jig-jog. 

4. 	I went to Illawarra where me brother's got a farm, He has to ask the landlord's leave before he lifts his arm; The landlord owns the countryside, man, woman, dog and cat, They haven't the cheek to dare to speak without they touch their hat! 

cho: It was shift, boys, shift! for there wasn't the slightest doubt, Their little landlord-god and I would soon have fallen out, Was I to touch me hat to him, was I his bloomin' dog? So I makes for up the country at the old jig-jog. 

5. 	But it's time that I was movin', I've a mighty way to go 

 Till I drink artesian water from a thousand feet below,
 Till I meet the overlanders with the cattle comin' down,
 But I'll work a while, till I make a pile, then have a spree in town. 
cho: So it's shift, boys, shift, for there isn't the slightest doubt
 We've got to make a shift to the stations further out;
 The pack-horse runs behind us, for he follows like a dog,
 And we cross a lot of country at the old jig-jog. 
Note: A.B. "Banjo" Paterson. Original line 2.4: there were eight or ten dashed Chinamen.... [hence "leprosy" in chorus] JB 
JB