The Man From Snowy River

The Man from Snowy River is one of the most famous - if not themost famous - Australian poems of all time.

It was written by Banjo Paterson and first published in The Bulletin, an Australian news magazine, on 26th April 1890.

Paterson set the ride described in the poem in the area around what is now Burrinjuck Dam, north-west of Canberra. Apparently Paterson helped round up brumbies there as a child and later owned property in this region so he knew the country well. 

Who Was The Real 'Man From Snowy River'?

There seem to be two possibilities.

A small town called Corryong claims a stockman named Jack Riley (1841–1914) as the inspiration for the character. 

Charlie was only 17 years old but was already known as an exceptional and fearless rider when he performed a dangerous riding feat in the Snowy River region.

There is also said to be a letter written by McKeahnie's sister in which she discusses the ride and Paterson's knowledge of it. 

McKeahnie was killed in a riding accident near Bredbo in 1895. He's buried in the Old Adaminaby cemetery, on the shores of Lake Eucumbene.

I guess we'll never know for sure which man inspired Paterson to write The Man from Snowy River but writers will tell you that their characters are usually a mixture of various people they've met over the years.

Perhaps the truth is that Paterson did meet and talk with both Riley and McKeahnie and that he used both their stories to create his own Man from Snowy River.

Charlie McKeahnie's grave

The Man from Snowy River

There was movement at the station, for 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, 
So all the cracks had gathered to the fray. 
All the tried and noted riders from the stations near and far 
Had mustered at the homestead overnight, 
For the bushmen love hard riding where the wild bush horses are, 
And the stockhorse snuffs the battle with delight. 

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 learnt to ride while droving on the plains. 

And one was there, a stripling on a small and weedy beast, 
He was something like a racehorse undersized, 
With a touch of Timor pony - three parts thoroughbred at least - 
And such as are by mountain horsemen prized. 
He was hard and tough and wiry - just the sort that won't say die - 
There was courage in his quick impatient tread; 
And he bore the badge of gameness in his bright and fiery eye, 
And the proud and lofty carriage of his head. 

But still so slight and weedy, one would doubt his power to stay, 
And the old man said, "That horse will never do 
For a long a tiring gallop - lad, you'd better stop away, 
Those hills are far too rough for such as you." 
So he waited sad and wistful - only Clancy stood his friend - 
"I think we ought to let him come," he said; 
"I warrant he'll be with us when he's wanted at the end, 
For both his horse and he are mountain bred. 

"He hails from Snowy River, up by Kosciusko's side, 
Where the hills are twice as steep and twice as rough, 
Where a horse's hoofs strike firelight from the flint stones every stride, 
The man that holds his own is good enough. 
And the Snowy River riders on the mountains make their home, 
Where the river runs those giant hills between; 
I have seen full many horsemen since I first commenced to roam, 
But nowhere yet such horsemen have I seen." 

So he went - they found the horses by the big mimosa clump - 
They raced away towards the mountain's brow, 
And the old man gave his orders, "Boys, go at them from the jump, 
No use to try for fancy riding now. 
And, Clancy, you must wheel them, try and wheel them to the right. 
Ride boldly, lad, and never fear the spills, 
For never yet was rider that could keep the mob in sight, 
If once they gain the shelter of those hills." 

So Clancy rode to wheel them - he was racing on the wing 
Where the best and boldest riders take their place, 
And he raced his stockhorse past them, and he made the ranges ring
With the stockwhip, as he met them face to face. 
Then they halted for a moment, while he swung the dreaded lash, 
But they saw their well-loved mountain full in view, 
And they charged beneath the stockwhip with a sharp and sudden dash, 
And off into the mountain scrub they flew. 

Then fast the horsemen followed, where the gorges deep and black 
Resounded to the thunder of their tread, 
And the stockwhips woke the echoes, and they fiercely answered back 
From cliffs and crags that beetled overhead. 
And upward, ever upward, the wild horses held their way, 
Where mountain ash and kurrajong grew wide; 
And the old man muttered fiercely, "We may bid the mob good day, 
No man can hold them down the other side." 

When they reached the mountain's summit, even Clancy took a pull, 
It well might make the boldest hold their breath, 
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 him down the mountain like a torrent down its bed, 
While the others stood and watched in very fear. 

He sent the flint stones flying, but the pony kept his feet, 
He cleared the fallen timber in his stride, 
And the man from Snowy River never shifted in his seat - 
It was grand to see that mountain horseman ride. 
Through the stringybarks and saplings, on the rough and broken ground, 
Down the hillside at a racing pace he went; 
And he never drew the bridle till he landed safe and sound, 
At the bottom of that terrible descent. 

He was right among the horses as they climbed the further hill, 
And the watchers on the mountain standing mute, 
Saw him ply the stockwhip fiercely, he was right among them still, 
As he raced across the clearing in pursuit. 
Then they lost him for a moment, where two mountain gullies met 
In the ranges, but a final glimpse reveals 
On a dim and distant hillside the wild horses racing yet, 
With the man from Snowy River at their heels. 

And he ran them single-handed till their sides were white with foam. 
He followed like a bloodhound on their track, 
Till they halted cowed and beaten, then he turned 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 pluck was still undaunted, and his courage fiery hot, 
For never yet was mountain horse a cur. 

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 sky, 
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.

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