1. There was movement at the station tor the word had passed around,
that the colt from Old Regret had got away,
and had joined the wild bush horses, he was worth a thousand pound,
and all the cracks had gathered to the fray.
All the tried and noted riders from the stations near and far
mustered at the homestead overnight,
for the bushmen love hard riding where the wild bush horses are,
and the stock-horse snuffs the battle with delight.
2. There was Harrison who made his pile when Pardon won the cup
the old man with his hair as white as snow,
but few could ride beside him when his blood was fairly up,
he would go wherever horse and man could go.
And Clancy of the overflow came down to lend a hand,
no better horseman ever held the reins,
for never horse could throw him while the saddle-girths would stand,
he'd learned to ride while droving on the plains.
3. When they reached the mountain summit even Clancy took a pull,
it well might make the boldest hold their breath,
for the wild hop scrub grew thickly and the hidden ground was full,
of wombat holes and any slip was death.
But the man from Snowy River let the pony have his head,
and he swung his stockwhip 'round and gave a cheer,
and he raced them down the mountain like a torrent in its bed,
while the others stood and watched in very fear.
4. He ran them single-handed till their sides were white with foam,
he followed like a blood-hound on their track,
'tiIl they halted cowed and beaten and he tumed their heads for home,
and alone and unassisted brought them back.
But his hardy mountain pony he could scarcely raise a trot,
he was blood from hip to shoulder from the spur,
but his courage was undaunted and his pluck was fiery hot,
for never yet was mountain horse a cur.
5. And down by Kosciusko where the pine-clad ridges raise
their torn and rugged battlements on high,
where the air is clear as crystal and the white stars fairly blaze,
at midnight in the cold and frosty skies.
And where around the overflow the reed beds sweep and sway,
to the breezes, and the rolling plains are wide,
the man from Snowy River is a household word today,
and the stockmen tell the story of his ride. (Banjo Patterson)