Click Go The Shears

$1.00

Description

Time Signature: 6/8                     Key: Ab Major

Click Go The Shears is an Australian Bush ballad about shearing sheep by hand. This is a great song for Drama and Movement.

The tune and lyrics follow closely an American Civil war song called “Ring The Bell, Watchman,” written by Henry Clay Work in 1865.

The first version of this song in Australia was titled “The Bare-Belled Ewe” and was published in a Victorian newspaper in 1891, possibly written by C. C. Eynesbury.

The song only gained popularity in the 1950’s, more than 50 years later.
(Source: Wikipedia)

Terms Explained

The ‘ringer’ is the shearer who shears the most sheep in that shed. He is the most experienced specialist in the shed and he is being beaten by one ‘blow’.

The “blow” is referring to his arm movement, the cutting sweep of the shears.
A “snagger” is an unskilled shearer.

The “bare-bellied joe” describes a sheep with little or no hair on its belly. Such a sheep can be sheared faster, which is why the “ringer” is beaten by a “blow.”

The word “Joe” is presumably a corruption of “Yowe” or “ewe” which is a female sheep.

Teaching Points: drama and movement; 6/8 swing beat; banjo.

Note: Our version,  for young children, has only the first verse and Chorus, whereas the original song has seven verses.

Product                   

Audio Single Song

• Vocal mp3
• Lyric Sheet

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Single Song Pack

Click Go The Shears is also available as a SINGLE SONG PACK with the following contents:

• Vocal mp3
• Instrumental mp3
• Instrumental with melody mp3
• Lyric Sheet PDF
• Colored Poster PDF
• Coloring Sheet PDF
• Sheet Music PDF

Click on this link to go to Click Go The Shears Single Song Pack