Taylors Lakes and Caroline Springs

[Stephen Whiteside]

I've recently started a new job at Taylors Lakes. Nearby is Caroline Springs. Both of these outer Melbourne suburbs were developed about twenty years ago. I don't know their history, so decided to fill in a few of the gaps myself…


Taylors Lakes and Caroline Springs

At Taylors Lakes and Caroline Springs,
One heart aches, while another heart sings,
For one found love that would soak to the bone,
While the other was left to sorrow alone.

But let us return to the story’s start
To explain these affairs of the weeping heart,
And the glad heart, too, and a tortured kiss.
For tales like these, we should never dismiss.

Taylor came to a patch of land
Long, long ago, and his dreams were grand.
He fatted some sheep, he took a young wife,
And embarked on a happy and satisfied life.

Kids came along, as they’re bound to do.
First there was one, then there were two.
Still they kept coming. The house was full,
And their hopes stayed high – like the price of wool.

The oldest, Jack, was as strong as an ox.
He could ride bare-back. He could fence and box.
He was broad of shoulder, and square of jaw,
A figure demanding respect and awe.

A short ride south on a well-shod horse
The water adopted a different course.
It sprung from the ground like a magic show,
And enriched the earth with its generous flow.

McMaster encountered this patch of land
And turned it to meet his ambitions so grand
Around when Taylor had done the same,
For the two were playing a similar game.

Like Taylor, he married, and sprouted kids,
But his journey diverted. He hit the skids,
For he was a violent man, and weak,
And oft from his cabin was heard a shriek

As, loaded with rum, he would strike out hard,
Driving children and animals out in the yard,
While his wife, besieged by a rain of blows,
Suffered as only a woman knows.

Caroline was their middle child.
Her beauty was raw. She was wiry and wild.
On a horse’s back, she could match any man,
For she rode as only a bush child can.

Riding one day on an outer track,
As a matter of chance, she encountered Jack.
She matched his riding, and held his gaze,
And Jack rode him in a drunken daze.

Caroline, too, was affected. No doubt.
Her horse walked in, though it cantered out.
She asked her ma of this curious lad,
And her ma’s eyes shone, and her heart was glad.

Beneath a glade of sheltering trees
The two met often. In small degrees
Their young love grew. Although they were missed,
They would not be diverted. At last they kissed.

And here, at this point that you might expect
Their love would fly, in fact it was wrecked,
For Caroline sensed, at their lips’ first brush,
That his amorous hopes, she was bound to crush.

The reason is simple. It goes like this.
All of Jack’s life had been simple bliss,
While Caroline’s years had been filled with pain,
And upon her heart it had left a stain.

How could this boy, with his whips and spurs,
Comprehend sorrow the likes of hers?
Besides, this bush could not be her home,
For she knew for sure she was bound to roam.

So Caroline left for the bright city lights,
Where she slept through the days, and laughed through the nights,
And encountered the widest assortment of lads,
Some of them honest, but most of them cads.

Till at last she met one with a warm, soft glow
In the gaze of his eyes that seemed to show
That he understood, that he’d been there too,
And he’d do all he could to deliver her through.

And his heart was true, and his mind was clear,
And she held him close, and she called him dear.
He was never a husband, she never a wife,
But they built there together the happiest life.

So poor old Jack, he was left to pine
On his station there at the end of the line.
For the train was built, but arrived too late
To save poor Jack from his lonely fate.

And Caroline’s parents were also left –
Deserted by daughter - doubly bereft,
For their love for each other had long since fled.
There is no more now that needs to be said,

Bar this. That the neighbours from far and near
Agreed that the thing that they held most dear
Was the memory of Caroline. Bright it still rings,
For they named the area “Caroline Springs”.

© Stephen Whiteside 08.05.2015

[Heather]

Whatever the real history of Caroline Springs, I like your version better Stephen. I really enjoyed this.

Heather

[Stephen Whiteside]

Thanks, Heather.