Taromeo Photos - Anne Infante and Mary Brettell Contact - Mary Brettell Mary@folkrag.org Pics...

In 1972 Anne Infante, and friends undertook a research trip to trace the old stock route mentioned in the song known alternatively as ‘Brisbane Ladies’ (one end of the stock rourte) and ‘Augathella Station’ (the ‘other’ end).

This led to a friendship between the then owners of ‘Taromeo’ station and the folkies. Many a weekend was spent camping and singing, swimming, stumbling about in the dark (Dale Riddle still has the scars) and mushroom picking. (Taromeo had an abundance of a particular type of mushroom, which grew out of the droppings of the bovine inhabitants)

The following pages are a few scenes from these carefree days…

BRISBANE LADIES/AUGATHELLA STATION

Farewell and adieu to you Brisbane Ladies,
Farewell and adieu to you girls of Toowong
For we’ve sold all our cattle and cannot now linger
But we hope we shall see you again before long

CHORUS:
And we’ll rant and we’ll roar like true Queensland drovers
We’ll rant as we’ll roar as onwards we push
Until we return to the Augathella Station
For it’s flamin’ dry going through the old Queensland bush.

The first camp we make we will call it the ‘Quart Pot’
Caboolture and Kilcoy and Collinton’s Hut
Then on to the Stone House, Bob Williamson’s paddock
Then early next morning we’ll cross the Blackbutt.

Then it’s on to Taromeo and Yarraman Creek boys,
It’s there we will make our next camp for the day
Where the water and grass are both plenty and sweet boys
And maybe we’ll butcher a fat little stray

Then on to Nanango that hard-bitten township
Where the out of work station hands sit in the dust
And the shearers get shawn by old Timms the contractor
I wouldn’t go near there but I flamin’-well must

The girls of Toomancey they look so entrancing
Those young bawling heifers are out for their fun
With the waltz and the polka and all kinds of dances
To the rickety old banjo of Henry Dunn
(or Bob Anderson - or various other rhyming names)

So fill up your glasses and drink to the lasses
We’ll drink this town dry then farewell them all
And when we return to the Augathella Station
We hope you’ll drop by there and pay us a call

---o0o---

Pics...