The Freehold On The Plain
By Banjo Paterson (Andrew Barton)
(Air: The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane.)
Im a broken-down old squatter, my cash it is all gone,
Of troubles and bad seasons I complain;
My cattle are all mortgaged, of horses I have none,
And Ive lost that little freehold on the plain.
Chorus
The stockyards broken down, and the woolsheds tumbling in;
Ive written to the mortgagees in vain;
My wool it is all damaged and it is not worth a pin,
And Ive lost that little freehold on the plain.
I commenced life as a squatter some twenty years ago,
When fortune followed in my train;
But I speculated heavy and Id have you all to know
That Ive lost that little freehold on the plain.
Chorus: The stockyards broken down, &c.
I built myself a mansion, and chose myself a wife;
Of her I have no reason to complain;
For I thought I had sufficient to last me all my life,
But Ive lost that little freehold on the plain.
Chorus: The stockyards broken down, &c.
And now I am compelled to take a drovers life,
To drive cattle through the sunshine and the rain,
And to leave her behind me, my own dear loving wife
We were happy on that freehold on the plain.
Chorus: The stockyards broken down, &c.