Shanty On The Rise

Intro
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Verse
         D                                                 A7
When the caravans of woolteams climbed the ranges from the West,
                                         D       G       D
On a spur among the mountains stood 'The Bullock-drivers' Rest';
       G                                    D
It was built of barks and saplings, and was rather rough inside,
        E                                                 A7
But was good enough for bushmen in the careless days that died
       G                            D               B7
Just a quiet little shanty kept by 'Something-in-Disguise',
       E                  A7                            D
As the bushmen called the landlord of the Shanty on the Rise.

Verse
          D                                               A7
'Twas the bullock driver's haven when his team was on the road,
                                           D        G          D
And the wagon wheels were groaning as they ploughed beneath the load;
    G                                  D
I remember how the teamsters struggled on while it was light,
        E                                         A7
Just to camp within a cooey of the Shanty for the night;
      G                                    D                     B7
And I think the very bullocks raised their heads and fixed their eyes
       E              A7                          D
On the candles in the window of the Shanty on the Rise.

Verse
        G                                    D
And the bullock bells were clanking from the marshes on the flats
      G                               D                 A7
As we hurried to the Shanty, where we hung our dripping hats;
        G                                 D
Then we took a drop of something that was bought at our desire,
      E                                                   A7
As we stood with steaming moleskins in the kitchen by the fire.
       G                              D                   B7
Oh, it roared upon a fireplace of the good, old-fashioned size,
         E                  A7                           D
When the rain came down the chimney of the Shanty on the Rise.

Interlude
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Verse
         D                                        A7
They got up a Christmas party in the Shanty long ago,
                                          D    G     D
While we camped with Jimmy Nowlett on the riverbank below;
         G                              D
Poor old Jim was in his glory — they'd elected him M.C.,
          E                                     A7
For there wasn't such another raving lunatic as he.
     G                            D               B7
'Mr. Dowlett, Mr. Dusty!' shouted Something-in-Disguise,
      E               A7                           D
As we walked into the parlour of the Shanty on the Rise.

Verse
      D                                            A7
Jimmy came to me and whispered, oh I muttered, 'Go along!'
                                  D       G      D
But he shouted, 'Mr. Dusty will oblige us with a song!'
       G                              D
And at first I said I wouldn't, and I shammed a little too,
         E                                                  A7
Till the girls began to whisper, 'We're all waiting now for you!'
     G                                  D               B7
So I sang a song of something 'bout the love that never dies,
        E                A7                           D
And the chorus shook the rafters of the Shanty on the Rise.

Verse
      G                             D
Jimmy burst his concertina, and the bullock drivers went
        G                                  D               A7
For the corpse of Joe the Fiddler, who was sleeping in his tent;
        G                             D
Joe was tired and had lumbago, and he wouldn't come, he said,
        E                                               A7
But the case was very urgent, so they pulled him out of bed;
         G                                      D              B7
And they fetched him, for the bushmen knew that Something-in-Disguise
      E              A7                           D
Had a cure for Joe's lumbago in the Shanty on the Rise.

Interlude
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Verse
     D                                             A7
I suppose the Shanty vanished from the ranges long ago,
                                        D       G       D
And the girls are mostly married to the chaps I used to know;
       G                                     D
My old mates are in the distance — some have crossed the border-line,
       E                                                  A7
But in fancy still their glasses clink against the rim of mine.
      G                          D                  B7
And, upon the very centre of the greenest spot that lies
      E              A7                              D
In my fondest recollection, stands the Shanty on the Rise.

Tag
      E              A7                              D     G    D
In my fondest recollection, stands the Shanty on the Rise.