“Old Comrade” is the traditional Australian song but the composer of the song was unknown.
What the words mean
- mimosa ~ tropical shrub with small ball-shaped flowers
- brig’low ~ brigalow is a Queensland acacia, forming dense scrub
- gum tree ~ eucalyptus tree. There are more gum trees than any other kind of tree in Australia. Gum tree leaves are the favourite thing for koalas to eat.
How oft have I watched the Mimosa
In summer its soft waters flow,
Many lands have I travelled you know sir,
Yet none like old Redcliffe I know,
Ay, ’tis there ‘neath the tall growing gum trees
I’ve laid my old stockhorse to rest,
And as memory recalls my old favourites,
I think that old Comrade was best.
Farewell my old horse you have fallen
By death at the end of the strife,
Farewell my old horse you have fallen,
For the first and last time in your life.
How oft through the brig’low we’ve paced it
Neck and neck with the scrubbers and stags,
Whether brig’low or brushwood he faced it
Though I ended my journey in rags.
A horse which never has tarried,
Through scrublands, o’er holes, or all that,
He was one, only one, who has carried
Me safely o’er Cullender Flat.
Farewell my old horse you have fallen
By death at the end of the strife,
Farewell my old horse you have fallen,
For the first and last time in your life.
‘Twas the last gallant ride that he took me
From the rear to the gray brumby’s side
Dear me! when he fell how he shook me
As he struggling rolled over and died.
Cruel death of a friend has bereft me,
For none was as true as himself,
And I feel that a comrade has left me.
Since his bones have been laid on the shelf.