Poem by Andrew Barton Paterson

When Dacey rode the Mule

’TWAS to a small, up-country town, 
When we were boys at school, 
There came a circus with a clown, 
Likewise a bucking mule. 
The clown announced a scheme they had 
Spectators for to bring— 
They’d give a crown to any lad 
Who’d ride him round the ring. 

And, gentle reader, do not scoff 
Nor think a man a fool— 
To buck a porous-plaster off 
Was pastime to that mule. 
The boys got on he bucked like sin; 
He threw them in the dirt. 
What time the clown would raise a grin 
By asking, “Are you hurt?” 
But Johnny Dacey came one night, 
The crack of all the school; 
Said he, “I’ll win the crown all right; 
Bring in your bucking mule.” 


The elephant went off his trunk, 
The monkey played the fool, 
And all the band got blazing drunk 
When Dacey rode the mule. 
But soon there rose a galling shout 
Of laughter, for the clown 
From somewhere in his pants drew out 
A little paper crown. 
He placed the crown on Dacey’s head 
While Dacey looked a fool; 
“Now, there’s your crown, my lad,” he said, 
“For riding of the mule!” 

The band struck up with “Killaloe”, 
And “Rule Britannia, Rule”, 
And “Young Man from the Country”, too, 
When Dacey rode the mule. 

Then Dacey, in a furious rage, 
For vengeance on the show 
Ascended to the monkeys’ cage 
And let the monkeys go; 
The blue-tailed ape and the chimpanzee 
He turned abroad to roam; 
Good faith! It was a sight to see 
The people step for home. 


For big baboons with canine snout 
Are spiteful, as a rule— 
The people didn’t sit it out, 
When Dacey rode the mule. 
And from the beasts he let escape, 
The bushmen all declare, 
Were born some creatures partly ape 
And partly native-bear. 
They’re rather few and far between, 
The race is nearly spent; 
But some of them may still be seen 
In Sydney Parliament. 


And when those legislators fight, 
And drink, and act the fool, 
Just blame it on that torrid night 
When Dacey rode the mule.

1. A Grain of Desert Sand
2. That Half-Crown Sweep
3. Under the Shadow of Kiley’s Hill
4. Song of the Artesian Water
5. The Two Devines

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