| NEW ZEALAND FOLK*SONG |
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This happened in the hills of inland Taranaki in 1948, and was set to music at the Tahora folk festival in 1978.
It was up the Mangapapa in the Amalgamated shed Where a chap named Tommy Marshall went completely off his head. He was shearing as beginners do with hands and feet and teeth Making a tough go of it amongst the froth and heat. Chorus Up the Mangapapa where it rains all day Up the Mangapapa amongst the fern and the clay. 'Bout half past four in the afternoon, as the day was drawing on Tommy starting racing for the catch when everything went wrong. "You'll ruin yourself" the others cried "Unless you take a break" "I do" yelled Tom, "Three times a day, and it's more than I can take." Chorus A sheep had kicked and lashed and squirmed and finally made a mess Which upset poor old Tommy and caused him much distress With that he raised his hand-piece six feet above his head And brought it down a crashing blow and killed the poor sheep dead. Chorus And at this critical moment amongst the froth and fray In walked Harold Wilkinson to take more sheep away. "What goes on!" he loudly roared, as the blood-stained corpse he saw: "You'll pay for this! By God you will! Two pound ten or more!" Chorus Then his old heart softened as poor Tommy he espied Over in the corner with blood stains on his hide; Big round tears were rolling down his cheeks onto the floor It was easily seen that Tommy meant to go that way no more. Up the Mangapapa where it rains all day Up the Mangapapa amongst the fern and the clay. Up the Mangapapa where it rains all day Up the Mangapapa amongst the fern and the clay. |
Sheila Ramsey says amalgamated sheds are shearing sheds which are used by the community rather than only by the landowner on whose property they are. Sometimes they are on public land rather than private. There can be a lot of local politics involved.
In later years, farms were also amalgamated, like Siemonek's farm up the Manganui-o-te-Ao.
"The New Zealand Government once enticed the ex-servicemen of World War I into this remote region with cheap rehab loans. The ex-soldiers cleared the land, and brought in sheep. In the 1920s the price of wool slumped and many amongst those first small-holders walked off. Farming here was too hard, too lonely. . . Don and Velma had amalgamated four ex-servicemen blocks to get a sustainable farm. They'd begun 20 years before, when no phone lines existed and electricity was erratic."Two pound ten (not Two pounds ten) was two pounds, ten shillings, and no pence. It was written £2/10/-
A ten shilling note in 1948 was equivalent in buying power to a twenty dollar note in NZ in 2002. "Two pound ten or more!" (fifty shillings or more) was a full day's pay he was going to be docked.
The Tahora folkies have set it to a great tune which would well as a bush band's dance tune, if played with a more up-beat tempo than Mike's concert version.
You could also try reciting it. ( You can recite The Day the Pub Burned Down and also The Eel in the same way.) You get a completely different audience response than what you get from the sung versions. For each recitation, teach the audience the words of the refrain, and get the to recite them for you.
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Posted on the web, May 10, 2000