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The Freehold On The Plain

(Air: 'The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane.')

I'm a broken-down old squatter, my cash it is all gone,

Of troubles and bad seasons I complain;

My cattle are all mortgaged, of horses I have none,

And I've lost that little freehold on the plain.

Chorus

The stockyard's broken down, and the woolshed's tumbling in;

I've written to the mortgagees in vain;

My wool it is all damaged and it is not worth a pin,

And I've lost that little freehold on the plain.

I commenced life as a squatter some twenty years ago,

When fortune followed in my train;

But I speculated heavy and I'd have you all to know

That I've lost that little freehold on the plain.

Chorus: The stockyard's broken down, &c.

I built myself a mansion, and chose myself a wife;

Of her I have no reason to complain;

For I thought I had sufficient to last me all my life,

But I've lost that little freehold on the plain.

Chorus: The stockyard's broken down, &c.

And now I am compelled to take a drover's life,

To drive cattle through the sunshine and the rain,

And to leave her behind me, my own dear loving wife'

We were happy on that freehold on the plain.

Chorus: The stockyard's broken down, &c.