New Zealand, (1891-1960)
Bray Kills a Pig
- Bray was the butcher
- The helper was I
- So we heated the water
- And into the sty
- A stab of the knife
- A spurt of the blood
- And his life it departed
- As he lay in the mud.
- The body it changeth
- The head it grew bald
- For the Boss was delighted
- To have such a scald
- The pig it was fat
- And with praises did sing
- As he whipped in the knife
- And changed the whole thing
- For straight down the belly
- His knife did clutch
- When out it came flying
- A barrow of guts
- Enid stood waiting
- her heart never gladder
- Oh Daddy dear Daddy
- Just give me the bladder
- Oh Godfrey he wants it
- As upward he struts
- When lo and behold
- He was smothered in guts
- We pulled him up skyward
- We heard a great thud
- As down he came flying
- Once more in the mud.
- The Boss he was angry
- For alas and alack
- We scalded him white
- And now he is black. And
- Next morning we found him
- As hard as a stone
- Set from the belly
- Right to the backbone.
- We carried him homeward
- As heavy as lead
- One slash with knife
- And off came the head.
- It rolled off the table
- The Boss gave a shout
- It landed on Edgar
- And flattened him out.
- His mother was angry
- Her face it grew red
- She hipped up the window
- And tossed out the head.
- Mid fighting of cats
- And fighting of dogs
- It’s into the washhouse
- now under logs.
- The dogs they were hungry
- Their stomachs high geared
- In the course of a minute
- The head disappeared.
- Back to the body
- We worked without pause
- Mid slashing of knives
- And rasping of saws.
- We looked at the pieces
- With prospects assuring
- As it lay in the tub
- All ready for curing.
- Godfrey’s recovering
- Though still in bed
- And the dogs they will bark
- When you mention pigs head.
- So farmers of Sherwood
- When slaughtering your hogs
- Take care of your children
- And tie up your dogs.
Editor’s Note:
This poem is about S.P. Bray killing a hog at Lilydale Station, with his children Enid, Godfrey and Edgar getting in the way. Bray is Sidney Prosper (S.P.) Bray, (1883-1960) owner of Lilydale Station, Sherwood Downs, Fairlie, New Zealand, at the beginning of the Mackenzie Country.
The poet, Ernie Slow, worked on Lilydale for S.P. Bray in the 1920s and also at one of his properties in Middle Valley for many years. In the 1940s Slow milked the two house cows, attended the garden at Lilydale and lived in a hut behind the house.
Pig killing was only attempted when frosts had set in really hard. The day before wood would be collected for boiling the water in the copper and a pulley and rope system hung from a tree with a bar to pull the carcass up to make dressing easier.
There were no freezers in those days and the pig sides were placed in a barrel filled with a brine for four days and hams for twelve days turning by hand each day. The meat would keep for a year stored in a wire mesh safe stuck in a tree so the dogs wouldn’t get at it.
About the Poet:
Earnist ‘Ernie’ Slow, New Zealand, (1891-1960), was a poet, but supported himself throughout his life as a shepherd, rabbiter, fencer and for years a gun shearer. Friends said there was not a station job he could not do. The most noted of South Canterbury ballad writers, Slow was based in Fairlie, but was often camped away, working up on the Mackenzie Country stations.
All the above occupations Slow was particularly good at. It was not unusual for Ernie to sleep out under some snowgrass when on fencing jobs up in the Mackenzie. He got the contract for erecting the first telephone line from the main highway down to Black Forest Station which was a distance of approximately 30 miles. Slow also erected the snow-line fence on Glentanner Station at a time when he was quite old.
Slow, being a well built man, short in stature, only worked when he needed money and he was was noted for being a hard worker, for living a life of self reliance. He was also considered a bit eccentricity, but his kind nature reflected in his gentleness with dogs and horses. Presently, there are only17 known poems of Ernie Slow. [DES-03/18]
Additional information:
- The Ballad of Ernie Slow – As far back as the 1920’s, folks throughout New Zealand’s Mackenzie Country have spoken of Ernest (Ernie) Slow. Here is a biography and copies of all of Ernie’s famous ballads and poetry, some of which have never previously been published.