Saltbush Bill JP and Other Verses

By: A. B. Paterson

Narrated by: Denis Daly

Saltbush Bill J.P. and Other Poems

By A. B. "Banjo" Paterson

Narrated by Denis Daly

First published in the Bulletin in the nineties, Paterson's verse has enjoyed enduring success throughout Australian literary history. Paterson had an intimate knowledge of life in the outback: he knew bushmen and he knew horses. His boundary riders and shearers, his buckjumpers and station hands, are real characters—the first realistic portraits of Australians in the bush at work and play to appear in verse. Many of the characters he created have so imprinted themselves on the public imagination that they have become part of Australian folklore.

One of his most memorable characters is Saltbush Bill, a tough and shrewd drover, who, in his retirement, is appointed a Justice of the Peace (magistrate.)

This collection of 43 poems contains Waltzing Matilda, which has become something of an unofficial national anthem.

Public Domain (P)2024 Voices of Today