We used to eat while reaping for the stringy-bark cockatoo.

Chorus: Oh, the stringy-bark, &c.

When we started to cut the rust and smut was just beginning
to shed,
And all we had to sleep on was a dog and sheep-skin bed.
The bugs and fleas tormented me, they made me scratch and
screw;
I lost my rest while reaping for the stringy-bark cockatoo.

Chorus: Oh, the stringy-bark, &c.

At night when work was over I’d nurse the youngest child,
And when I’d say a joking word, the mother would laugh and
smile.
The old cocky, he grew jealous, and he thumped me black
and blue,
And he drove me off without a rap—the stringy-bark
cockatoo.

Chorus: Oh, the stringy-bark, &c.


[For note on this song, see Introduction.]



THE EUMERELLA SHORE