William Thomas Goodge

Here you will find the Poem Daley's Dorg 'Wattle' of poet William Thomas Goodge

Daley's Dorg 'Wattle'

"You can talk about yer sheep dorgs," said the man from Allan's Creek,
 "But I know a dorg that simply knocked 'em bandy! -
Do whatever you would show him, and you'd hardly need to speak;
 Owned by Daley, drover cove in Jackandandy.

"We was talkin'in the parlour, me and Daley, quiet like,
 When a blow-fly starts a-buzzin'round the ceilin',
Up gets Daley, and he says to me, 'You wait a minute, Mike,
 And I'll show you what a dorg he is at heelin'.'

"And an empty pickle-bottle was a-standin'on the shelf,
 Daley takes it down and puts it on the table,
And he bets me drinks that blinded dorg would do it by himself -
 And I didn't think as how as he was able!

"Well, he shows the dorg the bottle, and he points up to the fly,
 And he shuts the door, and says to him - 'Now Wattle!'
And in less than fifteen seconds, spare me days, it ain't a lie,
 That there dorg had got that insect in the bottle."