‘Chain Bluey Loose’

My very good friend Rudy Manz of Laidley, retired farmer, button accordian enthusiast and terrific yarnteller has the following great tale:  ‘I vos out in der paddock vorking and I haff a spell so I sits me downs unter the shades of de barbed vire fence’ and den I sees dis pig pleck schnake comes valk me py. So I sings out to mudder, ‘komm chain bluey loose’. Vell I gets me axe and I chops dat pig pleck schnake into tree halves!’

(According to Rudy this is a true story from Black Snake Creek, near Marburg – and there is a Black Snake Creek just outside Marburg. I have no reason to doubt the authenticity of the story).

A slightly different version of this (same?) story was given to me a number of years ago by the late Les Moreland of Kenilworth, whose forebears, the Zillmanns, hailed from the Hattonvale area, located in the heartland of the Lockyer Valley. His story goes as follows:

‘Yes, like old man Beutel when his son came into the yard – “I called out to Mutter I said, ‘Chain me bluey [blue cattle dog] loose’. Well, that’s what you say in German, you know, ‘untie me dog (chain me Bluey loose) and “I him mit d’ stick hit”. “I him in tree halves cut”, he said. We always used to think that was good, us kids: “Him in tree halves cut”. Ah, he said, “He lives up our place tree miles about past.”