Coming Down the Flat

Words: Unknown
Tune: Traditional (Coming Through the Rye)



if a body meets a body
coming down the flat
Should a body, "Joe" a body
For having on a hat
Some wear caps, some wideawakes
But I prefer a hat
But everybody cries out "Joe"
Coming down the flat

The squatter loves his cabbage-tree
With streamers hanging down
He wears it always in the bush
And even in the town
The cabbage-tree may be his choice
But i prefer a hat
But everybody cries out "Joe"
Coming down the flat

The digger wears his "wideawake"
Wherever he may go
At the wing, when washing-up
And also down below
The "wide-awake" may suit him well
But i prefer a hat
But everybody cries out "Joe"
Coming down the flat

The peeler has his leather cap
About two pounds in weight
In pelting rain or boiling sun
To wear it is his fate
The leather cap won't do for me
For i prefer a hat
But everybody cries out "Joe"
Coming down the flat


From the singing of Mike Jackson on While the Billy Boils ~ a Panorama of Australian Folklore


The illustrations are (in turn) a cabbage-tree hat, a wideawake or Quaker's hat, and a peelers cap.