When You’re Flush

The work’s been long and steady, now the contract’s finished up.

When the pass is hard, it doesn’t pay to rush.

Burning in my moleskin pocket is what I’ve got from it,

And there’s other things you think of, when you’re flush.

So I’ll wind up the stringline I'll put the tools away,

And I’ll turn the old camp-oven upside down.

And in quest of earthly capers I will look around a bit,

And I’ll try the bill of fare in Bunbury town.

Yes, I’ll try the bill of fare in Bunbury town.

By the noon I’d crossed the sandplain and I didn’t raise a sweat

'cause a traveller, that day, was kind to me.

I alighted from his sulky at the Prince of Wales Hotel

And soon afterwards embarked upon a spree

With a lady I befriended, so delightful was her charm

My desire of it was soon to wear me down.

I feted her a fortnight, with all the spice of life -

It was nice, the bill of fare in Bunbury town.

Yes, it was nice, the bill of fare in Bunbury town.

And then a day out at the races, some pennies that I tossed,

Soon relieved me of my remaining dough.

So I shouldered my possessions I whipped the cat a bit,

To the bush I stretched ‘twas time to strike a blow.

Back across the Preston river, and about a mile beyond,

Resting in the shade of Boyle O’Reilley’s tree;

My mind’s eye shaped a picture of him trudging, years before.

In a way it seemed a parallel with me.

In a way it seemed a parallel with me.

Having finished with my dreaming at the junction of the roads

And with thirty mile, or more, still left to tramp.

And past another sunrise, to a gully further on,

I've rested in the refuge of my camp.

Where I've unwound the stringline, I've turkeyed up my axe,

And I hope my daily tallies bring renown.

Cooking in the old camp-oven there's a lovely mutton stew,

And it beats the bill of fare in Bunbury town.

Yes, it beats the bill of fare in Bunbury town.

I’ve been toiling long and steady since the contract started up,

When the pass is hard it doesn’t pay to rush.

I’ll settle up and clean the slate with what I get from it,

And I’ll satisfy my needs when I am flush.

Yes, I’ll satisfy my needs when I am flush.

When You’re Flush: T. Brittain / R. Rummery

Bunbury is a timber port on the south-west coast of Western Australia and where Tom Brittain, who wrote the words to this song, spent his youth.  They depict the cycle of work in the forests of the hinterland, and the spending of well-earned pay in the bright lights of Bunbury Town before heading back to work again.  Tom before he passed away in 1992, was a friend and mentor to many and his knowledge and love of the forest are an on-going legacy.  The adjacent photo is of Tom felling a karri.