Gundagai is a New South Wales country town on the road trip from Melbourne to Sydney and a popular stopover for those that find it difficult to make the entire trip in a single day (me). Considering its remoteness it is strangely commonly named in several of the most popular traditional Aussie folk songs.

One of which has the lyrics (Title in bold):

There's a track winding back
to an old-fashioned shack,
Along the road to Gundagai .

Where the gum trees are growin'
and the Murrumbidgee's flowin'
beneath the starry sky.

Where my mummy and daddy are waitin' for me
And the pals of my childhood once more I will see
And no more will I roam 'cos I'm headin' right for home
Along the road to Gundagai.

And another, by the same song-writer Jack O'Hagan, even though he'd never visited the town (Title in bold):

My Mabel waits for me
Underneath the bright blue sky
Where the dog sits on the tuckerbox
Five miles from Gundagai

Both "G"s are hard, so it's pronounced "gunned a guy" and you can read a bit about it here and here.

If you're having trouble finding rhymes for it and can work out a way to end a line with Gundagai's it opens up a whole range of other rhymes like "fun disguise".

Good luck and have fun with it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Greg S,

No entries yet!

Greg, do you stress the first syl GUNNED-a-gai or the last gunned-a-GAI?

I have said it over to myself several times and I can't quite tell, if one is emphasised more than the other or not. I'm leaning towards the final syllable, but if you can work at which of the syllables one or three is empahsised in the words, "wonder why" you'll have the answer.

quote:

Originally posted by Greg S:
No entries yet!

No longer true, unless my first effort is so rotten as to not count - and that's entirely possible! (Scans poorly; rhymes worse!)

Is it stressed as is "Mandalay" in "On the Road to Mandalay"?

I have sent an excellent entry. Much better than this one

On a road that played hob with his kidney
Jeb Raltar rode Melbourne to Sydney.
When his bladder did peak
At the Five Mile Creek,
He peed till it flooded there, didney?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: <Proofreader>,

quote:

Is it stressed as is "Mandalay" in "On the Road to Mandalay"?

I was thinking that too, Richard, GUNNED-uh-GUY (if that's what you were thinking) but Wikipedia has /ˈɡʌndəɡaɪ/ - just one stress on the first syl (GUNNED-uh-guy) although it's rhymed on the 3rd syl in all the Aussie folk songs. It's tricky to rhyme as a dactyl.

PS: Jeb is back

All too technical for me. I do remember covering this stuff back in school, and I know there are a bunch of rules governing the technically correct formation of a limerick, but I could never work it out. I did understand however that the ones that obeyed the rules sounded right, and the ones that didn't - didn't. As consequence I just work on the principle that if it sounds right it probably is, and if it doesn't it probably isn't.

That was a good laugh, Proof, thanks for it. I love watching the Tour De France, and I've often wondered about when and where they take their leaks. I suppose in the Women's Road Races they just do a Jeb and try to hold out?

Entries from Proof and Geoff are all I've received so far, and a few of my own.

Mine's in now

quote:

Originally posted by Greg S:
I've often wondered about when and where they take their leaks.

...or maybe just pee as they go like racing car drivers - which I learnt watching Top Gear the other day. The whole team knows because they monitor the driver's stats.


I've still got my knickers in a twist over how to rhyme Gundagai but I'll work on it over the weekend if you can wait - otherwise just carry on without me.

Sadly

Jeb Raltar said, “I must insist
That it’s been near a week since I pissed.
And why (you may mock)?
It is due to my cock
Being trapped in my knickers (a twist)."

Stella reminded me.

It seems that you're all torn asunder by
The problem of rhyming with Gundagai -
So far just a few
But I'm sure you'll come through
And find some that should be good fun ta try.

Hopefully my avatar's back now!

Right. So it's correctly a first syllable stress but with maybe a secondary stress on the last syllable. I'll now have a go.

Jeb was stuck in the outback so blue
And was lonely with nothing to do.
But don't cry for him, mate,
'Cause his sex life is great
Since he married a red kangaroo.

Though she's jumpy when he tries to screw.

And if you saw his schlong, you'd jump, too.

The Poll for the Gundagai Limerick Game is now open in a new thread with 10 limericks from 7 entrants.