Folk and Traditional Song Lyrics:
As the Black Billy Boils

As the Black Billy Boils

As the Black Billy Boils

As the black billy boils
At the end of the whare,
I remember the time
When I liv'd in a hurry.
With my hand on a line,
Tied to a bundle of money
And I was a very young new-chum!

As the black billy boils
At the end of the whare,
I look back on the days
And how they seem so very funny.
Now I've mended my ways
And I never have a worry
And it's thanks to the Kauri gum!
New-chum = newcomer, tenderfoot
Whare = house, hut, pronounced here to rhyme with "Sorry"
Kauri gum = amber-like solidified sap of the Kauri tree.
  Gum-digging, like rabbit-shooting and gold prospecting
  was a solitary subsistence occupation, in the North of
  the North Island of New Zealand

MG
oct99