"Click Go the
Shears" is a traditional Australian
folk song. The song details a day's work for a sheep shearer in
the days before machine shears. The enduring
popularity of this song reflects the traditional role that the wool industry has played in
Australian life. The song describes the various roles in the shearing shed,
including the "ringer", the "boss of the board", the
"colonial experience man" and the "tar boy". After the
day's shearing, the "old shearer" takes his cheque and heads to the
local pub for a
drinking session.
The tune is an
adaptation of the American Civil War song ”Ring the Bell Watchman” by Henry
Clay Work and the first verse follows closely, in parody, Work's lyrics as
well.
The second verse in
the original 19th century song is as follows:
Click goes his shears; click, click,
click.
Wide are the blows, and his hand is
moving quick,
The ringer looks round, for he lost it
by a blow,
And he curses that old shearer with the
bare belled ewe.
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