CUBBAROO SCHOOL poem by IAN SLACK-SMITH

[Duncan Williams]

(Cubbaroo) Hailed by many as a second Banjo Paterson, Ian Slack-Smith was born at Narrabri in 1946. he was educated at Cubbaroo provisional School and at The Kings School, Parramatta.
He then returned to the bush, where he now lives with his wife and family. billed as 'The Bush Balladeer', Ian has appeared on Sydney and local television channels, as well as making a number of appearances for various charities. and was also the Member for Barwon.



CUBBAROO SCHOOL

We had no education,
Us kids from Cubbaroo,
The masters could not teach us,
And the tale i tell is true.
The uniform we use to wear,
Was rough by any means,
While other schools had had shorts and shirts,
We had cowboy hats and jeans.

We rode our horses every day,
In the dry and wet,
Those nags were tough as hobnail boots,
They would kill a flamin' vet.
And some masters were a crooked bunch,
They couldn't lie straight in bed,
They had the choice of Cubbaroo,
Or get the sack instead.

The Hamiltons use to ride to school,
Vic, Marie, Woc and Dave,
With a sack of flamin' rabbit traps,
And crows heads they use to save.
They'd set their traps up every morn,
And check em every night,
They'd skin their pray at dinner time,
It was a bloody sight.

The Radfords were always very late,
Stephanie, Craig and Mark,
They'd hit school at eleven every day,
And get home after dark.
The teacher use to gripe a lot,
And express his point of views,
"Gawd," sez mark "We couldn't come-
We were chasin Kangaroos."

Keith Constable had a coursing dog,
He got it on the cheap,
It did not kill a flamin thing,
Except the neighbours sheep!
And Robert Church from Boola came,
On horses always new,
He was the oldest protestant,
And him and I made too.

Religion played a major part,
When men of cloth they came,
We use to pray it was the other mob,
So we could go and have a game.
And the sports we always use to play,
Bushrangers and the likes,
Was picked the good old Christian way:
With proddos vers the Tykes!

Cubbaroo closed some time back now,
I can't remember dates,
But there's still one thing I'm very proud,
We are still the best of mates.
And mates are things which are very dear,
For everyone- me and you,
And the mates I had are mates I've got,
Those kids from Cubbaroo.



Ian Slack-Smith. (Cubbaroo)

[mummsie]

Thank you for sharing Duncan, I love verse that tells a story, especially the ''Good Old Days'' type, sets your mind to thinking what would school have been like in those days, compared to now, rather tough I suspect.
Sue