Tar and Feathers
Oh! the circus swooped downOn the Narrabri town,For the Narrabri populace moneyed are;And the showman he smiledAt the folk he beguiledTo come all the distance from Gunnedah.
But a juvenile smart,Who objected to ‘part’,Went in ‘on the nod’, and to do it heCrawled in through a crackIn the tent at the back,For the boy had no slight ingenuity.
And says he with a grin,‘That’s the way to get in;But I reckon I’d better be quiet orThey’ll spiflicate me,’And he chuckled, for heHad the loan of the circus proprietor.
But the showman astuteOn that wily galootSoon dropped, and you’ll say that he leathered him—Not he; with a grimSort of humorous whim,He took him and tarred him and feathered him.
Says he, ‘You can goRound the world with a show,And knock every Injun and Arab wry;With your name and your trade,On the posters displayed,The feathered what-is-it from Narrabri.’
Next day for his freak,By a Narrabri beak,He was jawed with a deal of verbosity;For his only appealWas ‘professional zeal’—He wanted another monstrosity.
Said his worship, ‘Begob!You are fined forty bob,And six shillin’s costs to the clurk!’ he says.And the Narrabri joy,Half bird and half boy,Has a ‘down’ on himself and on circuses.