Now
I was born and reared beside the wild old Mullineaux
Where father helped himself to stock and land
A gentleman by nature with a stern religious view
And during Lent we only sold the beef that wore our brand
My old man's photo once adorned a tree at Morgan's Ford
A much sought after man, that's true enough
Cos written underneath it was five hundred
quid reward And furthermore said wanted bad
From Auckland to the bluff
Beneath that tall and shady pine
The old man faced his trial He stood before the judge securely bound
The jury men decided to suspend him for a while
That's what they did,
suspended him With both feet off the ground
In later years the silver pine was called our family tree
But perhaps our popularity was done Cos
when my picture hung there it was worded
differently Said not wanted here or anywhere by us or
anyone
Now I recall a lullaby me mother sang to me
You are your daddy's joy and mummy's pride
While squatters lie in slumber,
pahs decreasing rapidly
The herds that roam the mountain runs along the Clutha side
The Tewi's song at early dawn will call you out to play
Beneath our family tree you'll learn to swing
And when you grow up bigger you'll remodel
brands someday How innocent those lullabies that mother used
to sing
Sweet lullabies of bygone days that mother used to sing