SpecialEdition

Night Camp

THE STORY SO FAR

At night, the droving team sings to the cattle to keep them calm.

INSPIRED BY THESE HISTORICAL EVENTS

Singing the cattle

For the first few weeks after taking delivery of the cattle two Aboriginal stockmen would circle the mob from opposite directions all through the night. The 'watch' would change every two hours. At night, the men on watch would ride slowly around the resting mob, about twenty metres out from them. They would sing to the cattle to keep them calm and sometimes recite verse. This was done to prevent a cattle rush. (Source: The Drovers by Keith Willey)

DIG DEEPER

The Overlanders by Dora Birtles

Raparapa by Paul Marshall

The Drovers by Keith Willey

Kings in Grass Castles and Sons in the Saddle by Mary Durack

The Way It Was by Ray Macnamara

Hell West and Crooked by Tom Cole


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