Banjo Paterson: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

An Idyll of Dandaloo

Banjo Paterson

“An Idyll of Dandaloo” as printed in The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses (1895).

Banjo Paterson: Collected Lyrics Text 1 1895 · historical text
Public domainBush balladAustralian song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

On Western plains, where shade is not,

'Neath summer skies of cloudless blue,

Where all is dry and all is hot,

There stands the town of Dandaloo—

A township where life's total sum

Is sleep, diversified with rum.

Verse 2

It's grass-grown streets with dust are deep,

'Twere vain endeavour to express

The dreamless silence of its sleep,

Its wide, expansive drunkenness.

The yearly races mostly drew

A lively crowd to Dandaloo.

Verse 3

There came a sportsman from the East,

The eastern land where sportsmen blow,

And brought with him a speedy beast—

A speedy beast as horses go.

He came afar in hope to 'do'

The little town of Dandaloo.

Verse 4

Now this was weak of him, I wot—

Exceeding weak, it seemed to me—

For we in Dandaloo were not

The Jugginses we seemed to be;

In fact, we rather thought we knew

Our book by heart in Dandaloo.

Verse 5

We held a meeting at the bar,

And met the question fair and square—

'We've stumped the country near and far

'To raise the cash for races here;

'We've got a hundred pounds or two—

'Not half so bad for Dandaloo.

Verse 6

'And now, it seems, we have to be

'Cleaned out by this here Sydney bloke,

'With his imported horse; and he

'Will scoop the pool and leave us broke

'Shall we sit still, and make no fuss

'While this chap climbs all over us?'

Verse 7

••••••

Verse 8

The races came to Dandaloo,

And all the cornstalks from the West,

On ev'ry kind of moke and screw,

Came forth in all their glory drest.

The stranger's horse, as hard as nails,

Look'd fit to run for New South Wales.

Verse 9

He won the race by half a length—

Quite half a length, it seemed to me—

But Dandaloo, with all its strength,

Roared out 'Dead heat!' most fervently;

And, after hesitation meet,

The judge's verdict was 'Dead heat!'

Verse 10

And many men there were could tell

What gave the verdict extra force:

The stewards, and the judge as well—

They all had backed the second horse,

For things like this they sometimes do

In larger towns than Dandaloo.

Verse 11

They ran it off; the stranger won,

Hands down, by near a hundred yards

He smiled to think his troubles done;

But Dandaloo held all the cards.

They went to scale and—cruel fate!—

His jockey turned out under-weight.

Verse 12

Perhaps they'd tampered with the scale!

I cannot tell. I only know

It weighed him out all right. I fail

To paint that Sydney sportsman's woe.

He said the stewards were a crew

Of low-lived thieves in Dandaloo.

Verse 13

He lifted up his voice, irate,

And swore till all the air was blue;

So then we rose to vindicate

The dignity of Dandaloo.

'Look here,' said we, 'you must not poke

Such oaths at us poor country folk.'

Verse 14

We rode him softly on a rail,

We shied at him, in careless glee,

Some large tomatoes, rank and stale,

And eggs of great antiquity—

Their wild, unholy fragrance flew

About the town of Dandaloo.

Verse 15

He left the town at break of day,

He led his race-horse through the streets,

And now he tells the tale, they say,

To every racing man he meets.

And Sydney sportsmen all eschew

The atmosphere of Dandaloo.

Credits

Written by Banjo Paterson

Words by Banjo Paterson. Historical text published in The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses (1895); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses (1895), “An Idyll of Dandaloo”

A. B. "Banjo" Paterson (1864-1941) died more than 84 years ago; his works entered the public domain in life-plus-70 jurisdictions in 2012, and the 1895 first edition is in the public domain in the United States. Entries credited to other hands are held unless their author died more than 70 years ago.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

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Retrieved 2026-10-27. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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