Found on TROVE part 1, First and early versions of traditional songs and poems we love

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Trove: A revolutionary new free search engine

Finding information just got easier – thanks to Trove, a revolutionary new free search engine created by the National Library of Australia.

With just one click at trove.nla.gov.au users, like never before, can access a wealth of resources - across more than 90 million items in one go - about Australia and Australians.
Trove’s content, much of which is digital, comes from more than 1000 libraries around Australia as well as other cultural and educational institutions and international collections with relevance to Australia.

Trove takes users straight to the source – not just to a list of websites – and allows them to search across pictures, unpublished manuscripts, books, oral histories, music, videos, research papers, diaries, letters, maps, archived websites and Australian newspapers from 1803 to 1954. read more National library of Australia Media Release

Mark Gregory folksinger and scholar has been searching through the digitised newspapers using lines from traditional songs and poems and seems to be announcing discoveries almost daily!

They are published in his website Folkstream - A collection of Australian traditional and bush songs with words, music and information about each song. 

List of Songs 

A few interesting examples -

 The Visions of a Night Watch by C. J. O. S., of N.S.W. in The Kadina and Wallaroo Times (SA) 25th December 1889, known today asThe Drover's Dream

 

 The Bare Belled Ewe is the earliest known version of Click Goes the Shears, and was published in Bacchus Marsh Times (Vic) 20th November, 1891. It has been Bowdlerised with 2 changes in the last line He works hard, he dies hard, and goes to heaven at last replaced by He works hard, he drinks hard, and goes to hell at last.  

 Jason & Chloe Roweth sang it earlier this year on ABC's Landline

 The Shearer  from  Northern Argus (Clare, SA) Friday 3rd April 1874. p. 3.

Comment by Mark -  Because of its familiar phrases this 1874 South Australian song appears to me to be a forerunner of other shearers' songs. We have the famous hand shears "Ward and Payne", the ringer, the "clicking of the shears", "down the belly up the neck and down the whipping side", the "open Sorby wide", the "loudly bawls for tar", "wool, wool ringing near and far" and "the cobbler". All these phrases or variations of them appear in a number well known songs including Lachlan Tigers, Ryebuck Shearer, Tomahawking Fred, Widgegoweera Joe, Goorianawa, and, last but not least, Click Go the Shears. 

One of "the Have Beens"  A Song by Robert Stewart ©Robert Stewart 1875  published in the Manoro Mercury and Cooma and Bombala Advertiser, November 20, 1875 (Manaro was the alternate spelling of Monaro) 

   
The Bullock Dray   now known as The Old Bullock Dray,

 

 published in the Queensland Figaro and Punch, on 9th November 1887 with wonderful illustrations

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