The Drover's Boy

"The Drover's Boy" is a song by Ted Egan, copyright 1993 by Ted Egan Enterprises.

CD

The song was included in Ted's 2002 album "The Drover's Boy - A Celebration of Australian Women", proceeds of which were earmarked for the projected feature film. The text on the CD sleeve reads:

"Up to around 1940 much of the work on frontier cattle stations in northern Australia was performed by Aboriginal women. They did most of the domestic work, but many of them also worked as "stockmen" as they called themselves, and they made a marvelous contribution to the pastoral industry. Some worked as drovers, taking cattle on long trips interstate.

Because there had been so much ill-treatment and exploitation of Aboriginals, laws were passed preventing non-Aboriginal men from 'being in the company of Aboriginal women'. Marriage or association was only possible if permission was given by the Chief Protector of Aboriginals. Often Aboriginal women were dressed as 'boys' to defy these laws. More often than not this was implemented by ruthless men or companies who virtually enslaved the women, exploiting them sexually and economically. But sometimes, in a union based on love, the women were happy to participate in the masquerade"

Songs on the album (all composed by Ted Egan):

Book

Ted wrote a book based on the story of the song; The Drover's Boy (2000) ISBN 0-85091-840-5

The jacket description reads:

"Based on a song of the same name and set in the 1920's, The Drover's Boy recalls the time when it was illegal for Caucasians and Aborigines to marry, and the death of an Aborigine went unnoticed by the white community. This popular and moving Australian folk song comes from a true story about a Caucasian drover (the Australian name for a cowboy or sheep herder) who is forced to pass off his Aboriginal wife as his "drover's boy". Ted Egan wrote this song as a tribute to the Aboriginal stockwomen, in the hope that one day their enormous contribution to the Australian pastoral industry might be recognized and honored. Ages 11+."

Compilations and cover versions

• Poole, Reg (1980), Women of the west, Selection Records, retrieved 21 January 2015  The Drover's Boy (Ted Egan singer) was one track on this compilation album.
• John Williamson performed The Drover's Boy on his 1989 album Warragul. This track won for him the 'Heritage Award' at the Country Music Awards of Australia in 1990.^[1]

Bibliography

The Drover's Boy has been collected in:

• Newton, Dobe; Corbett, Roger; Bushwackers (Musical group) (1983), The Second Bushwackers Australian song book, A. O'Donovan, ISBN 978-0-908476-12-1 
• Egan, Ted; Forrest, Peter, 1941-; Egan, Ted (1984), The Overlanders songbook, Greenhouse Publications, ISBN 978-0-909104-74-0  (text by Peter Forrest ; foreword by Dame Mary Durack; musical notation by Erik Kowarski ; cover illustration, Bill Gwydir on the Birdsville Track, by Robert Wettenhall, 1983.)

and inspired a series of paintings:

• Marchant, Bob; Evans, Nerys; Egan, Ted, 1932-. Drover's boy (1995), "The Drover's Boy" series of paintings, B. Marchant, ISBN 978-0-646-24821-9  Bob Marchant was winner of Sir John Sulman Prize in 1988 and joint winner in 1987.

and a stage production:

• The Drover's Boy, Athenaeum Theatre Two, Melbourne, VIC, 29 July 1998 [Event description], 1998, retrieved 21 January 2015 

Movie

Ted saw a potential movie in the story of The Drover's Boy and commissioned Cinevest Limited to find potential backers. A prospectus was issued in 1995^[2] The funds raised by Cinevest and Ted Egan personally, after pre-production costs were sufficient to capture extensive footage of outback cattle movements on high quality film, but insufficient to guarantee completion of the full-length movie, so the project was abandoned.

References

External links

• Ted Egan singing the song on youtube