THE BREAKER MORANT WALTZ (C) Words written by the late Roy Wheeler, music written
by Dave Wheeler, sung on youtube by Raymond Crooke.
This song can also be heard on the following embedded youtube link in which it is sung by Dennis "Spud"Murphy, with the late Roy Wheeler playing the organ.
When young Edwin Murrant arrived on our shore
Australia was not yet a nation.
He was keen to discover what Fate had in store
And he worked on a North Queensland station.
A young Irish girl was the governess there
And her charms he was quick to admire.
He wooed her and won her, their lives they would share,
And he married sweet Daisy O’Dwyer
But the marriage was doomed for Daisy soon learned
That she had been hasty and rash,
For what Edwin borrowed he never returned
And he wasn’t too honest with cash.
He saddled his horse and rode off down the track,
For his marriage with Daisy was over,
To his young Irish love he would never go back
And he followed the life of a drover.
It was then he decided to alter his name
And he called himself Harry Morant,
But this was the start of a confidence game
Which he played when his money was scant.
"I’m the prodigal son of an old English knight",
He said as his creditors sighed,
"My father, Sir Digby, will set your bill right."
But Sir Digby, he never replied.
So Daisy moved on and the record relates
That her next marriage too was a failure.
She lived with the tribes, and was called Daisy Bates,
In the vastness of Western Australia
Now Harry was great at the rough-riding game,
The sort of bloke stockmen admire,
It was skill with the horses that soon brought him fame
And his deeds were retold round the fire.
In the calm of the night on a far distant track,
To the music of horse-bells soft chimes,
He’d dash off some verses about the outback.
He was handy with words and with rhymes.
He signed himself "Breaker" because he broke horses,
Was published with Banjo and Lawson
And out where the rivers run down their slow courses
Was known as poet and horseman.
He wrote of the stars shining bright on a camp
By the banks of the far Castlereagh.
He wrote of the nights that were dewy and damp
And of girls he had met on the way.
He remembered a horse that was wilful and strong,
But could wheel a wild steer or a cow.
We’ve heard of that horse in the ballad and song
"Who’s riding Old Harlequin now?"
Then came the Boer War and he answered the call.
He was sent where the fighting was hot.
With orders unclear he saw his mates fall
And somehow some prisoners were shot.
He was sentenced to death by a kangaroo court,
Together with Handcock, his mate.
He said his last words, as game as he fought,
"Come on you bastards, shoot straight."
Because of injustice his spirit won’t rest
And he’s back in Australia of course.
He’s haunting the stock routes he followed out west
And he rides on the ghost of his horse.
I reckon I’ve seen them as morning mists lift
From the bank of the Darling, I vow.
Then into the coolibahs silent they drift
And he’s riding Old Harlequin now.
(C) Written by Roy Wheeler/Dave Wheeler.
To listen on youtube sung by Raymond Crooke
visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN-wl2Duwro
Another song which can be heard on youtube which was written by Roy and Dave Wheeler is "By the Banks of the Berembed Weir:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoEnxkREkLQ
Another is "The Perfect Marigold."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIClj1HVC3w
"Goanna Oil" can also be heard by pushing the appropriate button on the home page of this site.
