Editing Clancy of the Overflow

{{Short description|Poem written by Andrew Barton Paterson}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Infobox poem
|name                = Clancy of the Overflow

|image               = <!-- Image (prefer 1st edition - where permitted)
                            Use the Image Filename (eg: Example.png)    -->
|image_size          = <!-- custom size for image (defaults to 220px)   -->
|caption             = <!-- Image caption
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|subtitle            = <!-- Subtitle or descriptor                      -->
|author              = [[Banjo Paterson]]
|written             = 1889
|first               = ''[[The Bulletin (Australian periodical)|The Bulletin]]''
|country             = Australia
|language            = English
|series              = <!-- Series (if any)                             -->
|subject             = <!-- Subject(/s)                                 -->
|genre               = <!-- Genre(/s) (only use for fiction)            -->
|form                = [[Quatrain]]
|meter               = [[Trochaic octameter]]
|rhyme               = AA–B–CC–B
|publisher           = <!-- Publisher of main publication
                            (prefer 1st edition)                        -->
|publication_date    = 21 December 1889
|media_type          = <!-- MMedia type (paperback, hardback)           -->
|lines               = 32
|preceded_by         = <!-- Preceded By
                            Title of prior poem in series               -->
|followed_by         = <!-- Followed By
                            Title of subsequent poem in series          -->
|wikisource          = Clancy of the Overflow
}}

"'''Clancy of the Overflow'''" is a famous Australian poem written by [[Banjo Paterson]] and first published in ''[[The Bulletin (Australian periodical)|The Bulletin]]'', an Australian news magazine, on 21 December [[1889 in poetry|1889]].<ref name="Bulletin">{{cite web |last=Paterson |first=Banjo |date=21 December 1889 |title="Clancy of the Overflow" |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-488931510 |access-date=13 May 2024 |publisher=The Bulletin |page=17}}</ref> The poem is typical of Paterson, offering a romantic view of rural life, and is one of his best-known works.

The poem is written in eight [[stanza]]s of four lines, lines one and three in a two-[[Foot (prosody)|feet]] [[anapaest]] with a [[feminine rhyme|feminine]] [[internal rhyme]], and lines two and four in [[trochaic octameter]] with [[masculine rhyme]]s: AA–B–CC–B.

==History==
The poem is written from the point of view of a city-dweller who once met the title character, a [[Sheep shearer|shearer]] and [[Drover (Australian)|drover]], and now envies the imagined pleasures of Clancy's lifestyle, which he compares favourably to life in "the dusty, dirty city" and "the round eternal of the cashbook and the journal".

<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">And the bush hath friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him
In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,
And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended,
And at night the wond'rous glory of the everlasting stars.</poem>

The poem is possibly based on Paterson's own experience.<ref name="abc">{{cite web|title=Was Clancy of the Overflow a real person?|date=28 February 2014|url=http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/booksandarts/clancy-of-the-overflow-a-real-person/5290136|website=[[Radio National]]|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=6 May 2020}}</ref> The introduction to ''Banjo Paterson's Images of Australia'' by Douglas Baglin<ref>{{cite book|last1=Baglin|first1=Douglass|title=Banjo Paterson's Images of Australia|date=1985|publisher=Reed Books|location=French's Forest (Sydney)|isbn=0730101002}}<!--|accessdate=2016-04-11--></ref> quotes Paterson as saying that he was working as a lawyer when someone asked him to send a letter to a man named Thomas Gerald Clancy, asking for a payment that had not been received. Paterson sent the letter to "The Overflow", a [[sheep station]] 100 kilometres south-west of [[Nyngan]], and received a reply that read:

<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">Clancy's gone to Queensland droving, and we don't know where he are.</poem>

The letter looked as though it had been written with a thumbnail dipped in tar and it is from this that Banjo Paterson found the inspiration for the poem, along with the meter.

Clancy makes a [[cameo appearance]] in another popular Banjo Paterson poem, "[[The Man from Snowy River (poem)|The Man from Snowy River]]", which was first published the following year.

There are claims that Clancy was based on a man called Thomas Michael MacNamara, who described the ride with the "Man from Snowy River" (his brother in law Jim Troy) in an article in ''[[The Courier-Mail]]'' in 1938 <ref>''[[The Courier-Mail]]'', Brisbane, 21 December 1938, "Stockman of whom Poet Sang"</ref>

In 1897, Thomas Gerald Clancy wrote a poem in reply to "Clancy of the Overflow", entitled "Clancy's Reply", which paints a far less romantic picture of the life of a drover.<ref name="abc" /><ref>[http://www.wallisandmatilda.com.au/clancys-reply.shtml "Clancy's Reply"] by Thomas Gerald Clancy</ref> There had also been a parody in 1892, "[[The Overflow of Clancy]]", which formed part of the [[Bulletin Debate]].

==Publication history==

After its original publication in ''The Bulletin'' on 21 December 1889, the poem was reprinted in numerous newspapers and magazines as well as the following anthologies and collections (among many others):

* ''A Golden Shanty : Australian Stories and Sketches in Prose and Verse'' (1890)
* ''[[The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses]]'' by A. B. Paterson (1895)
* ''[[An Anthology of Australian Verse]]'' edited by [[Bertram Stevens (critic)|Bertram Stevens]] (1907)
* ''The Golden Treasury of Australian Verse'' edited by [[Bertram Stevens (critic)|Bertram Stevens]] (1909)
* ''The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse'' edited by [[Walter Murdoch]] (1924)
* ''Selections from Australian Poets'' edited by [[Bertram Stevens (critic)|Bertram Stevens]] and George Mackaness (1925)
* ''New Song in an Old Land'' edited by Rex Ingamells (1943)
* ''An Anthology of Australian Verse'' edited by George Mackaness (1952)
* ''Australian Poets Speak'' edited [[Colin Thiele]] and [[Ian Mudie]] (1961)
* ''Favorite Australian Poems'' edited by [[Ian Mudie]] (1963)
* ''From the Ballads to Brennan'' edited by [[T. Inglis Moore]] (1964)
* ''Singer of the Bush, A. B. (Banjo) Paterson : Complete Works 1885-1900'' (1983)
* ''My Country : Australian Poetry and Short Stories, Two Hundred Years'' edited by [[Leonie Kramer]] (1985)
* ''The Macmillan Anthology of Australian Literature'' edited by Ken L. Goodwin and Alan Lawson (1990)
* ''The Puncher & Wattmann Anthology of Australian Poetry'' edited by John Leonard (2009)

==In other media==
Clancy was portrayed by [[Jack Thompson (actor)|Jack Thompson]] in the movie ''[[The Man from Snowy River (1982 film)|The Man from Snowy River]]'', and Clancy is mentioned in the [[musical theatre]] production ''[[The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular]]'' – during the recitation of the poem, Clancy is mentioned by [[Steve Bisley]] in his role of Banjo Paterson while the poem is being re-enacted in the show.

Contemporary recordings of the poem include Jack Thompson's recitation on ''Jack Thompson: The Bush Poems of A.B. (Banjo) Paterson'' (2008)<ref>{{cite web|title="Jack Thompson: The Bush Poems of A.B. (Banjo) Paterson" |publisher= Fine Poets|url=https://finepoets.bandcamp.com/track/clancy-of-the-overflow-2|access-date= 13 May 2024}}</ref> and ''Jack Thompson, Favourite Australian Poems, Fine Poets Collection'', volume 5 (2010).<ref name=..>{{cite web|title="Clancy of the Overflow, Live" |publisher= Fine Poets|url=https://finepoets.bandcamp.com/track/clancy-of-the-overflow-live|access-date= 13 May 2024}}</ref>

The poem "Clancy of the Overflow" has also been set to music and recorded several times, including:
* [[John Cameron (singer)|John Cameron]]'s recording of [[Albert Arlen]]'s setting, with an orchestra conducted by George S. English (1955)<ref>{{cite web|title="John Cameron – Timberman / Clancy Of The Overflow" |publisher= Discogs|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/15472808-John-Cameron-Timberman-Clancy-Of-The-Overflow|access-date= 13 May 2024}}</ref>
* [[Peter Dawson (bass-baritone)|Peter Dawson]]'s recording of the same setting, with the [[London Symphony Orchestra]] conducted by [[Charles Mackerras]] (4 May 1955)<ref>{{cite web|title="Clancy of the Overflow (1954)" |publisher=SoundCloud|url=https://soundcloud.com/peterdawsonmusic/clancy-of-the-overflow-1954|access-date= 13 May 2024}}</ref>
* In 1974 [[Slim Dusty]] released a song version on LP<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://secondhandsongs.com/work/176246/all|title = Song: Clancy of the Overflow written by Slim Dusty &#124; SecondHandSongs| website=SecondHandSongs }}</ref>
* In 1980 the Australian folk group ''[[Wallis and Matilda]]'' recorded a popular song version of the poem, eventually peaking at 30 on the [[ARIA]] charts<ref>{{cite web|title=Wallis and Matilda|url=http://www.wallisandmatilda.com.au/index.shtml|accessdate=13 October 2014}}</ref>
* [[John Schumann]] of [[Redgum]] recorded it on his 1993 album ''[[True Believers (John Schumann album)|True Believers]]''
* ''Tenor Australis'' included a musical arrangement of the poem on their 1999 album ''Under an Australian Sky''<ref>{{cite web|title=Under an Australian Sky [sound recording] / Tenor Australis. – Version details|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/6181778?selectedversion=NBD21114924|publisher=[[Trove]] ([[National Library of Australia]])|accessdate=13 October 2014}}</ref>
* The fifteenth track from [[The Herd (Australian band)|The Herd]]'s 2001 [[The Herd (The Herd album)|self-titled debut album]], "Gutter Rats", features an unknown voice repeating a line from the poem: "And the language uninviting of the gutter children fighting".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Herd - Gutter Rats lyrics |url=https://genius.com/The-herd-gutter-rats-lyrics |access-date= |website=Genius}}</ref>
* The 2006 album ''The Overflow'', by New Zealand musicians [[Able Tasmans|Humphreys & Keen]], references the poem in its title and also celebrates Paterson's work in one of its songs, "Clancy".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Overflow, by Humphreys & Keen |url=https://humphreysandkeen.bandcamp.com/album/the-overflow |website=Bandcamp}}</ref>  
* Comedian [[Adam Hills]] performed it on his [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]] show ''[[Adam Hills Tonight]]'' in July 2013 as a [[Mashup (music)|mashup]] with [[Ali McGregor]] singing [[The Church (band)|The Church]] hit "[[Under the Milky Way]]"<ref>{{cite web|title="Ali McGregor & Adam Hills perform Clancy of the Overflow/Under The Milky Way" |publisher= YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdfGUM0BTLc|access-date= 13 May 2024}}</ref>
* Melbourne-based production company Yut Art produced a contemporary version in 2013.<ref>{{YouTube|YzrOE4l9kNY|"Clancy of the Overflow" (2013), Yut Art}}</ref>

==Proposed film==
In 2004, there were plans to make a movie of "Clancy of the Overflow", a sequel to the 1982 film ''The Man from Snowy River'', but this fell through due to financial reasons. The director was to have been [[Simon Wincer]], who was a co-producer for ''The Man from Snowy River''.<ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/31/1080544550081.html?from=storyrhs "Simon heads for the Overflow"] by Garry Maddox, ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'' (1 April 2004)</ref> [[Bruce Rowland]] (who composed the music for both the 1982 film ''The Man from Snowy River'' and its 1988 sequel film ''[[The Man from Snowy River II]]'', as well as composing music for ''[[The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular]]'', was to compose the music for the film. The film was to have been funded by private investors, but the A$22 million minimum investment was not met by the deadline of June 2004, and the film has been shelved indefinitely.<ref>[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/30/1088488027138.html "Clancy film falls at first hurdle"] by Philippa Hawker, ''[[The Age]]'' (1 July 2004)</ref>

==See also==
* [[Bulletin Debate]]
* [[1889 in Australian literature]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{wikisource|Clancy of the Overflow}}
* [http://www.middlemiss.org/lit/authors/patersonab/poetry/clancy.html "Clancy of the Overflow"], text, middlemiss.org
* [https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/clancy-of-the-overflow-film-in-the-works-20040602-gdj1hk.html "Clancy of the Overflow film in the works"], ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'' (1 June 2004)
* [http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/clancy-at-the-overflow.html "clancy@theoverflow"], a 21st-century Clancy

{{Banjo Paterson}}

[[Category:1889 poems]]
[[Category:Poetry by Banjo Paterson]]
[[Category:Australian folklore]]
[[Category:Australian country music songs]]
[[Category:Works originally published in The Bulletin (Australian periodical)]]