Redundant

They stood at the gate: "Have you worked of late?"
Said the farmer to the tramp.
"Yeah ... had a good job ... uster pay ten bob ...
But then I had t'decamp ...

Though I'll never shirk ... I'll do any work."
He brushed the flies from his face.
"And what did you do to earn your last screw?"
Then asked the boss of the place.

"Twas a fair sized run that I worked upon -
An' his sheep, I uster mind;
An' the boss o' course got t' ride the horse,
An' I got t' run behind.

But tendin' the sheep was just fer me keep,
Improvements: me main concern.
The fencin' t' do I had t' renew,
An' scrub there t' fell an' burn.

An' bushes t' grub ... that uster be scrub,
An' cultivation t' plough,
An' when it were night, he'd bring down the light
So then I could milk the cow,

An' cut up the chaff, an' suckle the calf,
An' tidy up roun' the shed,
An' then I'd cook tea fer him en' fer me -
An' Sundays clean house instead."

The farmer said: "Jove! - a hard working cove
Like you should never be slack.
But tell me again, just how it is then
That you came to get the sack?"

He spoke gloomily: "Me old boss ... ya see ...
Made me redundant for life
He don't need me now ... he went off ... somehow,
He brung hisself home a wife."

Copyright; Graham Fredriksen