1. Paul Metser's "Shotover River" is sung in Western Australia as "Pilbara Desert".

   Pilbara desert, your gold it is waning,
   It's weeks since the colour I've seen....
   ....But Jimmy the prospector he was another,
   For the plains around Roebourne was bound.

   true false

   
   

2. The Banks of the Condamine, known in many versions throughout Australia, is sung in New Zealand as The Banks of the Waikato

   Oh hark the dogs are barking, my love I must away
   The men are all a-waiting, and no longer can I stay.
   For I am bound for camp my love- 'tis many a mile to go
   To meet my fellow bushmen on the banks of the Waikato.

   true false

   
   

3. Although Davy Lowston is called a "New Zealand" song, it was probably written in Sydney, in about 1814.

   true false

   
   

4. Pokarekare Ana usually describes whatever rippling waters are most significant in the singer's local area.
   Hence it is now sung by some Australian Maori as

   Pokarekare ana
   Nga wai a Murrumbigee

   true false

   
   

5. Taumarunui is known in Oz as
   Cootamundra On The Main Trunk Line.

   Y' kin gedder job in Seedney or gedder job up north
   But y'kentin Cootamundra though y'try fer all yer worth...

   true false

   
   

6. When Martin Curtis sings in Australia, he is sometimes asked if Gin and Raspberry
   is his variant of this well-known Wongawilli song...

   ...Oh but it's hard, cruel and cold
   Searching Kiandra for nuggets of gold
   An ounce to the bucket and we'll all sell our souls
   For a taste of the Rum and Raspberry

   true false

   
   

7. When Eric Bogle sings in NZ, he is sometimes asked if "The Band played Waltzing Matilda" is his variant of this well-known Split Enz song

   And the band played Now Is The Hour
   As our bus pulled away from the kerb...

   true false

   
   

8. The Road to Gundigai is derived from a poem written in 1907 by Arawata Bill (William O'Leary), a recluse who lived by the Arawata River south of Haast in South Westland, near Jackson's Bay.

   There's a track winding back
   To my nikau-covered shack
   Along the road to Jackson's Bay.
   Where the rimu trees are growing,
   The Arawata's flowing
   On every rainy day.

   true false

   
   

9. The Shanty by the Way, well-known to NZ folksingers, originated in Australia in 1865 as the Public by the Way .

   It's a first-rate business section
   Where four bush roads cross and meet
   It stands in a neat and quiet direction
   To rest the weary traveller's feet

   true false

   
   

10. Moreton Bay is a Queensland variant of this old NZ colonial ballad, Poverty Bay

    One Sunday morning as I went walking
    By Gisborne waters I chanced to stray
    I heard a farmer his fate lamenting
    As in the rainy dipping tank he lay:
    "I am a native of old New Zealand
    And covered now in my native mud
    I'll find that bloody ram that pushed me
    And when I do you will see some blood." *

    true false

    
    * "Poverty Bay" was recently rediscovered by Richard Mills in his family's archives. Thanks Richard.

    
    

BONUS QUESTION
The Beer with no Pub, known in NZ as The Day The Pub Burned Down, was written by Slim Dusty during the Big Dry of 1963, after the Jindarindi pub, in which he was performing at at time, burnt down in a fire when a sudden wind overturned the publican's tinnie barbie.

There'd been a drought for weeks and weeks:
the wells and tanks were dry.
No water flowed along the creeks,
we had no town-supply.
The blazing sun, without relent,
turned all the green to brown -
Imagine our predicament,
when the Jindarindi pub burned down.

true false

---

For further reference, read NZ Folk Songs in Australia

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Spo'cha mate!

John Archer




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