Ownerless

[Neville Briggs]

I saw a poem recently called Ownerless, it's about a horse called Darkie that waits for his owner who is never going to return from Gallipoli.
The internet gives the author as John Shaw Neilson, the internet also gives John O'Brien ( Patrick Hartigan ) as the author of this poem.

Does anyone know any information that could establish the true authorship of this poem.

I haven't seen it in any published work of either of these poets and stylistically, the poem sounds more like Neilson than O'Brien, but I don't know.

[manfredvijars]

G'day Nev, on the 'net there are a lot of sites attributing John Shaw as the author but I suspect that it's not his.

In, John Shaw Neilson - The Collected Verse A Variorum Edition
Edited by Margaret Roberts ISBN 0 7317 0381 2
Australian Scholarly Editions Centre UNSW at ADFA Canberra 2003
In over twelve hundred pages of his works, "Ownerless" is not listed ...

_____________________________


Ownerless

He comes when the gullies are wrapped in the gloaming
And limelights are trained on the tops of the gums,
To stand at the sliprails, awaiting the homing
Of one who marched off to the beat of the drums.

So handsome he looked in the putties and khaki,
Light-hearted he went like a youngster to play;
But why comes he never to speak to his Darkie,
Around at the rails at the close of the day?

And why have the neighbours foregathered so gently,
Their horses a-doze at the fence in a row?
And what are they talkin' of, softly, intently?
And why are the women-folk lingering so?

One hand, soft and small, that so often caressed him,
Was trembling just now as it fondled his head;
But what was that trickling warm drop that distressed him?
And what were those heart-broken words that she said?

Ne'er brighter the paddocks that bushmen remember
The green and the gold and the pink have displayed,
When Spring weaves a wreath for the brows of September,
Enrobed like a queen, and a-blush like a maid.

The gums are a-shoot and the wattles a-cluster,
The cattle are roaming the ranges astray;
But why are they late with the hunt and the muster?
And why is the black horse unsaddled to-day?

Hard by at the station the training commences,
In circles they're schooling the hacks for the shows;
The high-mettled hunters are sent at the fences,
And satins and dapples the brushes disclose.

Sound-winded and fit and quite ready is Darkie,
Impatient to strip for the sprint and the flight;
But what can he keeping the rider in khaki?
And why does the silence hang heavy to-night?

Ah, surely he'll come, when the waiting is ended,
To fly the stiff fences and take him in hand,
Blue-ribboned once more, and three-quarters extended,
Hard-held for the cheers from the fence and the stand.


Still there can the cross-beam the saddle hangs idle.
The cobweb around the loose stirrup is spun;
The rust's on the spurs, and the dust on the bridle,
And gathering mould on the badges he won.

We'll take the old horse to the paddocks tomorrow,
Where grasses are waving breast-high on the plain;
And there with the clean-skins we'll turn him in sorrow
And muster him never, ah, never, again.

The bush bird will sing when the shadows are creeping
A sweet plaintive note, soft and clear as a bell's -
Oh, would it might ring where the bush boy is sleeping,
And colour his dreams by the far Dardanelles.

[Neville Briggs]

Thanks Manfred. Is it listed in any of John O'Brien's published collections I wonder.

[Maureen K Clifford]

What a beautiful and sad poem this is - I can see that horse waiting, wondering why his Mate is a no show.

Thanks for posting it Mannie

[David Campbell]

Hi Neville

It's an O'Brien poem. It's in my edition (1957) of Around the Boree Log. Not sure why it's attributed to Neilson so often.

Cheers
David

[manfredvijars]

Thanks David, I checked 'Boree Log and couldn't find it ...
(what page??)

Might have to go on a mission to correct those errors ...

[David Campbell]

Mine's the 30th edition, Manfred...page 134. For those interested in John Shaw Neilson, there's a new book (Collected Verse of John Shaw Neilson) being released on August 1st. It's reportedly the first full collection of his poetry and is edited by Margaret Roberts, published by the University of Western Australia Publishing (UWAP). There's a launch (organised by the JSN Society) here in Melbourne on September 9th at the Bluestone Church on the corner of Hyde and Napier Streets, Footscray at 2pm.

Cheers
David

[manfredvijars]

Thanks David .... Yes (Neilson) ... over 1200 pages ...

[Neville Briggs]

Thanks for that David, Patrick Hartigan died in 1952 so I guess there was plenty of opportunity for his relatives or publishers to correct any wrong attribution.

That's a very curious aberration in the bush poetry world.

I will look up that book. I'm interested in John Shaw Neilson. I can't make it to Melbourne for the book launch.

[Vic Jefferies]

This poem is known as both "Ownerless" and "The Riderless Horse" and was written by John O'Brien. I always knew it as the latter until I heard Chloe and Jason Roweth sing the poem as a song which they entitled Ownerless.
Since then I have seen "Ownerless" attributed to Shaw Neilson but that is totally incorrect.