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NEW ZEALAND FOLK * SONG |
McKenzie
& His Dog Traditional |
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John McKenzie stood in the Mataura store, And looked at the yokes and chains. 'Twas not too dear - good bullocking gear For transporting across the plains 2. When the storeman took up the golden coins And bit at them with his teeth, A sale was made and the money was paid And John walked out to the street. 3. As the storeman pulled on the string of his pouch And entered all in his log, He looked to see the Scottish man leave, At his heels, a collie dog. 4. The pleasant season had already begun And the winter passed away. The sumrner sun ,shone brightly down As John was heard to say: 5, "Go on, boy, Wait for me, Down at the hitching rail." Then John walked off to harness his team And the collie wagged his tail. 6. Now all who've suffered the rising of dust. And known the smell of sheep, Must know of the line of the station-runs Northward to the Loburn Keep, 7. Though many a bullocky's carried supplies To the stations, it does seem strange That only McKenzie discovered the land Far west of the Kirkliston range; 8, Where green grass blew for forty miles In strong high-country weather, And reminded John of the days long gone At home in the Highland heather, 9. The shearing gangs were moving up north When the word was passed around, How flocks could vanish during one night From their usual grazing ground. 10. Up on Levels run, on the second of May, Tired riders brought the news: A thousand sheep just couldn't be found And all hell had broken loose. 11. The curses flew as the billy-bell rang And horses were saddled and then The overseer, Sidebottom by name, Selected two of his men. 12. While musterers swept the boundary hills, Sidebottom kept watching the grass, Criss-crossing and back, and tracking until They reached a mountain pass. 13. To their great surprise, when topping a rise They viewed a virgin land, And down from the steep they could see all the sheep And knew they had found their man. 14. As thunder rolled it was growing quite dark But they took John down at the stream. Sidebottom could swear he'd heard a dog bark, But maybe that was a dream. 15. The wind blew up and down came the rain And, in the gathering storm, None of the riders knew who to blame When John McKenzie was gone. 16. John McKenzie was caught in Lyttleton Port And convicted of sheep stealing. It was said at the time 'twas a difficult crime For one man to do the dealing. 17, But the men of the stations knowingly grin When they talk of John and his folly, And they've given a name to the McKenzie Plain, In honour of the man, and his collie. |
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McKenzie's Ghost, by Kath Tait, 1973
The Old Mackenzie Trail, by Bob Edwards, 1950s
A letter in the "Otago Witness" by Mr. L. Langlands, Highfield, Burke's Pass, 1880s
Article in "Canterbury, Old and New" by Mr. E.W. Seager, Inspector of Police, 1900
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