HARRI WEBB

Rampage & Revel

The Drover's Farewell

When I set out a-droving

My father said, You're mad,

Wy leave the farm, why come to harm

And go for a droving lad?

But I saw the wide world beckon

Beyond the roads I knew,

And beyond the town of Brecon

Fresh fields and pastures new.

        Haip-trw-ho, haip-trw-ho!

        And a droving we will go.

Upon my sturdy pony

My saddle I did throw,

I whistled to my corgi-dog

And off we both did go,

I had a young man's longing

For new cities and new sins

So I set out a-droving

And that's how life begins.

        Haip-trw-ho, haip trw-ho!

        And a-droving we will go.

Once past the Bwlch, they told me,

No Welshman ever comes back,

But my homeland could not hold me

And I took the droving track.

To taverns called The Feathers,

Welsh Harp and Prince of Wales

I rode through England's weathers

And drank deep of England's ales.

        Haip-trw-ho, haip-trw-ho!

        And a droving we will go.

Great herds I drove to market

From many an upland farm,

I stored up many a sovereign

And I never came to harm.

I stood my ground, I stood my ground,

Drank deep of many a glass,

And many a broad-beamed Saxon wench

I pleasured in the grass.

        Haip-trw-ho, haip-trw-ho!

        And a droving we will go.

But now the railway's coming,

I see a cloud of steam,

I hear the rails a-humming,

I hear the whistle scream,

Its message to the drover

Is carried loud and clear,

It says, Your days are over

And the cattle trucks are here.

        Haip-trw-ho, haip-trw-ho!

        And a droving I shall go.

I'm setting sail tomorrow

At the rising of the sun

And I'm going off to Texas,

Though they say I'll need a gun,

And I'll drive the Yankee long horns

Through lands that once were Spain's

As I drove the small black cattle

Through our green and narrow lanes.

        Haip-trw-ho, haip-trw-ho!

        And a droving I will go.