ONCE mighty roast beef was the Englishman' s food.
It has now grown so dear that 'tis nearly tabooed.
But Australian beef, potted, is cheap and is good.
O, the boiled beef of Australia!
And O, the boiled beef, &c.
It is capital cold; it is excellent hot;
And, if a large number of children you've got,
'Twill greatly assist you in boiling the pot.
O, the boiled beef, &c.
First-rate is Australian mutton, likewise,
For curries, and rissoles, and puddings, and pies.
The thrifty good housewife no butcher's meat buys.
O, the boiled beef, &c.
It will make you a hash that is fit for a king;
And the young ones all like it, and that's a great thing.
So Paterfamilias it causes to sing
O, the boiled beef, &c.
For the small boys and girls eat the fat with the lean,
Don't leave underdone, but their plates nicely clean
Where pigs are not kept which helps make all serene.
bsp; O, the boiled beef, &c.
Australian meat from the bone being free,
The more economical needs must it be.
As there are no joints there's no carving, you see.
&bsp; O, the boiled beef, &c.
The flesh pots of Egypt were once in high fame;
Australian fleshpots have more than the same.
Old England's roast beef is now rivalled in name.
&bsp; O, the boiled beef, &c.
The privileged victims, who Income-tax pay,
Whose earnings precarious are taken away,
While ceasing to deal with a Butcher, can say
O, the boiled beef, &c.
'Tis true that your servants, fastidious and fine,
Australian meat in their folly decline.
On skilligolee they hereafter may dine.
O, the boiled beef, &c.
Now pour out the wine which we could not afford
Except for Antipodes' meat on the board.
Its inventor's good health! - whilst my helping's encored.
O, the boiled beef, &c.
Compare this quatrain from June 1872:
Beef from Botany Bay
SIXPENCE preserved Australian meat per pound!
If good, in preference one would always buy it;
But done to rags, as 'tis too often found,
What is it more than vegetable diet?
Bibliography
“Beef from Botany Bay.” Punch, or the London charivari (1 June 1872): 233. HathiTrust online version of a copy in the University of California Library. Web. 15 March 2O22.
“The Sirloin Superseded.” Punch, or the London charivari (24 August 1872): 78. HathiTrust online version of a copy in the University of California Library. Web. 15 March 2O22.