(c) MrsMyth
Translations
Tilldah - A search, or quest.
Oolgumma - An respectful invitation to participate
Wallsingmah - Justice (particularly of the social kind).
Wittmee - Teamwork, co-operative group-work.
Ahling - Chanting, gutteral singing, particularly for ceremonies, corroborees.
Mardd - Dances and/or dancing.
Once a semi-nomad camped by a sacred place.
Under the shade of a dreamtime formation.
And he sang as was custom to drive off bad spirits there.
Who'll come a corroborating this corroboree.
"Oolgumma wallsingmah tilldah mardd ahling"
(Who'll come a singing and dancing with me.)
And he sang as was custom to drive off bad spirits there.
Who'll come a corroborating this corroboree.
Down came a jumbuck to drink at the waterhole.
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with ... the speed and efficiency of a semi-nomadic hunter and gatherer, who's blood pumped with the generations of some tens of thousands of years of survival instinct from living off the land, and was quite clearly very excited at seeing such an exotic beast; that is to say he had heard stories of a new dreamtime creature that had been sighted in the district, little did he realise that it was an introduced species which was soon to drastically alter the environmental balance of the country he loved so deeply: but never-the- less his excitement could be described as nothing less than ... glee!
And he sang as he began the ceremonial celebrations of gratitude to the spirits,
Who'll come a sharing my tucker with me?
"Oolgumma wallsingmah tilldah mardd ahling"
(Who'll come a singing and dancing with me.)
And he sang to the spirits as thanks for such a tucker treat.
Who'll come a sharing in this corroboree.
Down came a white fella
Riding on another introduced species.
Down came more white men
In overwhelmingly disproportionate, and overbearing numbers,
And without so much as a friendly greeting, or an aknowledgement of his social dignity and right to choose his own way of life, these un-invited weapons bearing, standover-men, uniformed symbols of an oppressive regime, gate-crashed the corroboree, completely destroying the peaceful tranquility and solitude that prevailed, and began their aggressive and unrelenting tirade of bullying and harassment tactics, starting with a hostile line of questioning, a presumption of guilt without any solid evidence (possibly based on racial and/or socio-economic status stereotyping), most likely coupled with an aggressive attitude, tone, demeanour, body language, intimdating numbers, plus the presence of riot horses ...
...then moving on to threatening remarks, regarding what they were about to do to him and inflict on him against his own wishes, beliefs and long-standing way of life.
"Whoose that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker-bag?
You'll come a 'Wallsingmah tilldah' with me."
'Wallsingmah tilldah'. 'Wallsingmah tilldah'
You'll come a 'Wallsingmah tilldah' with me."
They persisted with their verbal threats and derogatory taunting of his language,
"You'll come a 'Wallsingmah tilldah' with me."
Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the waterhole,
He'd heard of the many deaths in custody, and for many like him a life of an injust imprisonment in a gaol, was worse than death, so he vocalised his belief system, and demonstrated absolute, unwavering commitment to it.
"You'll never catch me alive!", said he.
And his legacy is a spirit that lives on for those who come along later,
"Oolgumma wallsingmah tilldah wittmee"!!
(Who'll come and join me in the quest for a more just society?")
