2. Click go the shears
• Click go the shears is a traditional old
Australian bush ballad, dating back to the
19th century when shearing was un-
mechanised and shearers used hand shears,
sometimes referred to as 'the tongs', which
resemble garden secateurs. Some of the
words heard in the song are still valid today,
while others have "gone out with the blades"
– an Aussie bush expression that is doubly
relevant in this instance.
3. Chorus
Click go the shears boys, click, click, click,
Wide is his blow and his hands move quick,
The ringer looks around and is beaten by a blow,
And he curses the old snagger with the bare-bellied
joe.
This chorus is about a
Shearer who is shearing his sheep.
A ringer is the fastest
Shearer in the shed
4. First verse
Out on the board the old shearer stands
Grasping his shears in his long bony hands
Fixed is his gaze on a bare-bellied "Joe"
Glory if he gets her, won't he make the
ringer go
This verse is about an old shearer
holding his shears with his hands
he has his eyes on a sheep
stomach and a ringer is the fastest
person to shear a sheep
5. Second verse
In the middle of the floor in his cane-bottomed
chair Is the boss of the board, with eyes
everywhere Notes well each fleece as it comes
to the screen Paying strict attention if it's taken
off clean
According to James parson
There is a supervisor, possibly the shed contractor, who
oversees the work. "The Board" is the length of shed where
the shearers are lined up working. the "screen" is another
term for the skirting table, where the finished fleece is thrown
and the scrappy bits taken off the edges.
6. Third verse
The tar boy is there, awaiting his
demand With his blackened tar pot
in his tarry hand,Notes one old
sheep with a cut upon her back,
Here is what he's waiting for – it's
"Tar here, Jack!“
The tar boy was assigned to a task to
watch the shearer shear the sheep
and help him when he needs
anything
7. Verse 4
Now the shearing is all over, we've all got our cheques,
So roll up your swags and it's off down the trace,
The first pub we come to it's there we'll have a spree,
And everyone that comes along it's 'Have a drink on me.'
• According to James parson Most shearers in the early
days of the colony were itinerant workers who
walked between sheds, carrying a bedroll or "swag".
Often, with little else to do, shearers would spend
most of their earnings in the pub (bar) in a drinking
spree. The most famous swagman song is, of course,
Waltzing Matildas.
