"The Man from Ironbark"

[gray_marian]

It was the man from Ironbark who struck the Sydney town,
He wandered over street and park, he wandered up and down.
He loitered here, he loitered there, till he was like to drop,
Until at last in sheer despair he sought a barber's shop.
"'Ere! shave my beard and whiskers off, I'll be a man of mark,
I'll go and do the Sydney toff up home in Ironbark."


The barber man was small and flash, as barbers mostly are,
He wore a strike-your-fancy sash, he smoked a huge cigar;
He was a humorist of note and keen at repartee,
He laid the odds and kept a "tote", whatever that may be,
And when he saw our friend arrive, he whispered, "Here's a lark!
Just watch me catch him all alive, this man from Ironbark."


There were some gilded youths that sat along the barber's wall.
Their eyes were dull, their heads were flat, they had no brains at all;
To them the barber passed the wink, his dexter eyelid shut,
"I'll make this bloomin' yokel think his bloomin' throat is cut."
And as he soaped and rubbed it in he made a rude remark:
"I s'pose the flats is pretty green up there in Ironbark."


A grunt was all reply he got; he shaved the bushman's chin,
Then made the water boiling hot and dipped the razor in.
He raised his hand, his brow grew black, he paused awhile to gloat,
Then slashed the red-hot razor-back across his victim's throat:
Upon the newly-shaven skin it made a livid mark -
No doubt it fairly took him in - the man from Ironbark.


He fetched a wild up-country yell might wake the dead to hear,
And though his throat, he knew full well, was cut from ear to ear,
He struggled gamely to his feet, and faced the murd'rous foe:
"You've done for me! you dog, I'm beat! one hit before I go!
I only wish I had a knife, you blessed murdering shark!
But you'll remember all your life the man from Ironbark."


He lifted up his hairy paw, with one tremendous clout
He landed on the barber's jaw, and knocked the barber out.
He set to work with nail and tooth, he made the place a wreck;
He grabbed the nearest gilded youth, and tried to break his neck.
And all the while his throat he held to save his vital spark,
And "Murder! Bloody murder!" yelled the man from Ironbark.


A peeler man who heard the din came in to see the show;
He tried to run the bushman in, but he refused to go.
And when at last the barber spoke, and said "'Twas all in fun—
'Twas just a little harmless joke, a trifle overdone."
"A joke!" he cried, "By George, that's fine; a lively sort of lark;
I'd like to catch that murdering swine some night in Ironbark."


And now while round the shearing floor the list'ning shearers gape,
He tells the story o'er and o'er, and brags of his escape.
"Them barber chaps what keeps a tote, By George, I've had enough,
One tried to cut my bloomin' throat, but thank the Lord it's tough."
And whether he's believed or no, there's one thing to remark,
That flowing beards are all the go way up in Ironbark.

By A.B. "Banjo" Paterson. 1864 - 1941


The Bulletin, 17 December 1892.

[Richard Quartermaine]

Brings a tear to my eye, Marian. We had iron bark trees around our house in East Minto (named after the Scot of that name). They were hardwood trees that blunted axes and built muscles and made a winter's night a joy to be near their bright embers with a long toasting fork.
Richard

[Doc Vernon]

Brings Aches to my Arms Richard!
Bleedin Heavy and as you say very Hard Wood,but will last forever!
Cheers

DSCN0621.jpg

Redwood Iron Bark Table I made ! Whew!

[Richard Quartermaine]

That is a gorgeous slab of timber, Vernon. You have done it proud.
Cheers, Richard

[happy daze john in oz]

There is also a tree the Beatles made famous overseas when they wrote 'Paperbark Writer'

[Louis the Amigo]

Hi Shipmates, a question is "Iron Bark" the same as Iron wood? I picked up a carving done by head hunters years ago , some small island suva? i think cant remember much about it, in Iron wood? very heavy.

[Richard Quartermaine]

Lou, Ironwood appears to apply to many hardwood timbers. ( https://www.facebook.com/TheIronwood...01783999940426 ) I have a very large tanoa (kava Bowl hewn from yakka wood that is reddish brown) I also have some carvings from Indonesia and Sarawak, Borneo of ebony wood which of course is black. Around the tropics hardwood piles last almost indefinitely. Here is another link with images. https://www.google.com.au/search?q=F...0CEMQsAQ&dpr=1
Richard

[Louis the Amigo]

Hi Shipmates, thank you Richard for the information, I have what I think is a spirit plack from a long/ meeting house? it took a long time to make all lines, and carvings of animals snakes and a head hunter holding a head? Not a tourist pice maybe ? I swoped it for a pair of jeans.

[Red Lead Ted]

Best work of art I witnessed at sea, A fellow seaman had a snakes head on his neck you could clearly see its tongue about to lick him under his chin, Met him in the shower room later in the day. The snake started coming out of his butt all the way up his back and onto his shoulder, Terry.

[gray_marian]

Lordy lordy Terry, Wonder if he regrets it now I'm always perplexed when people especially woman have one on their lower back, would need to be a contortionist to view. A female singer from Newcastle has her entire derriere covered in roses.....