- From the book Woodens an Australian Saga
The following Information come from the Simply Australia Website which is the e-zine on Australian folklore. I had originally seen the ballad in a book "Woodens An Australian Saga"
DARGAN'S GREY
When old Lance Skuthorp had his show out Clermont way,
And he and Dick were in their prime and so was Dargan's Grey,
And bushmen bold had heard Lance boast and fling a challenge round
To any man to ride the grey within the show tent ground.
And Barron, on the Broadsound mail, who feared not even hell,
Had heard about the vicious grey and heard the stockman tell,
About the roll of notes Lance offered to put down,
Upon the grey on any night to any man in town,
And Clermont town was all agog when Barron swung his team,
With skillful hands and cunning lash a-gallop through the gleam.
To hear Lance Skuthorp make his boast with backing for the grey,
And tell the crowd he'd ride the horse and put his gear away.
And Jack was vain and loved a fight and loved to go the pace,
And few would dare to fling a taunt or insult in his face.
And bushmen flocked to Cossman's yards to see the Broadsound crack,
As flash as ever man could be astride of Dargan's back.
But Skuthorp, he was confident and agreed to let him use,
His kneepad saddle on the job for he thought he couldn't lose.
And the blindfold on his head and struggling like a lion,
Barron grabbed his nearside ear with a grip of iron, And once aboard the whitling grey and all pretence had fled,
Barron vowed to stay aboard nor give the grey his head.
But Skuthorp cursed and fumed and swore and made a hostile show.
Both Barron's arms were bands of steel and never let him go.
And that is thirty years ago, Ah yes but bushmen still relate
How Barron rode that fearful grey but rode him with his weight.
But Jack is dead long since poor chap, but it is often said,
He never would have sat the grey if he'd given him his head.
On 11th March 1898 the following advertisement appeared
in The Lithgow Mercury:
CHALLENGE
We are willing to BACK THE GREY HORSE (Dargin's Grey) TO THROW ANY MAN for any amount up to 15 pounds, and plenty more, if required, from outsiders.
Full particulars and conditions from H. SMITH. Lithgow Street, Lithgow.
According to Bill Wannan, who confirmed the horse's status as a folk icon by including him in his Dictionary of Australian Folklore, Dargin's Grey was bred in the 1880s at Capertee near Lithgow. Purchased by Arthur Dargin in the early 1890s, he was exhibited at the Lithgow Show and soon acquired a reputation as a bit of an equine prodigy, testing the skills of many noted horsemen. A. G. Stephens wrote of him in The Bulletin in 1906, stating that “though some have tamed [him], none has ever broken his rebellious spirit.” Harry 'Breaker' Morant was one of the horsemen who managed to stay on board. Another, Jack Prendergast, said: “I believe that if the grey was lying down at his last gasp and anyone got on him, he'd get up and buck himself to death.”
in The Lithgow Mercury:
CHALLENGE
We are willing to BACK THE GREY HORSE (Dargin's Grey) TO THROW ANY MAN for any amount up to 15 pounds, and plenty more, if required, from outsiders.
Full particulars and conditions from H. SMITH. Lithgow Street, Lithgow.
According to Bill Wannan, who confirmed the horse's status as a folk icon by including him in his Dictionary of Australian Folklore, Dargin's Grey was bred in the 1880s at Capertee near Lithgow. Purchased by Arthur Dargin in the early 1890s, he was exhibited at the Lithgow Show and soon acquired a reputation as a bit of an equine prodigy, testing the skills of many noted horsemen. A. G. Stephens wrote of him in The Bulletin in 1906, stating that “though some have tamed [him], none has ever broken his rebellious spirit.” Harry 'Breaker' Morant was one of the horsemen who managed to stay on board. Another, Jack Prendergast, said: “I believe that if the grey was lying down at his last gasp and anyone got on him, he'd get up and buck himself to death.”
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