MRS ELIZABETH HAWKINS
The dogs bark, the men swear,
A brand new day begins,
The bullocks bellow as the carts pass by,
Each day these weary travellers
Push further to the West,
Their fears renewed but still their hopes held high.
Chorus:
Mrs Elizabeth Hawkins is far away from home
On a tremendous journey in a land that few have known,
Heading for the western plains, with Sydney far behind,
In Bathurst, a new home she will find.
The climb into the mountains
Was one she'd not forget,
As she said farewell to all she'd known before.
That night with fires ablazing 'round,
Under a southern sky,
She said goodbye to England forever more.
And down the pass that Cox had built
Just seven years before,
With logs chained to the drays to break their speed,
With aching and with trembling limbs
The valley safely won,
Her progress now these mountains can't impede.
This pioneering lady,
A babe still in her arms,
Heading for the West with visions grand.
And those who soon would follow her
Would find it not as hard,
For her pioneering spirit made the land.
© Jim Low
