  “An Answer to Various Bards” appeared 10 Oct. 1892 as one of a series of poems in the Sydney 'Bulletin', debating what life in the bush was like, or, the city versus the bush (according to the interpretation), primarily between A. B. Paterson and Henry Lawson [1867-1922], who may have staged the debate as a way of selling more poems. Other writers joined the debate, including Edward Dyson [1865-1931], who, despite Paterson's remark in this poem, also favoured the bush in at least one poem. Another noted participant was Will Ogilvie [1869-1963] who was in Australia during the 1890's (born in Scotland, returned in 1901, and was in Iowa, U.S.A, from 1905 to 1907). Other verses from the debate maybe found in “The Man from Snowy River” by Paterson and “In the Days When the World was Wide” by Henry Lawson. The second stanza was mistakenly broken into two equal parts in the original edition. “'Shouting' for a Camel”: A number of camels were brought to Australia, with their Afghan handlers, in order to have suitable beasts of burden in the desert regions. There are still wild camels there today. (A similar scheme was tried in America during the 1800's, but no camels remain.) “The Gundaroo Bullock”: [ Said Morgan, “Tis the carcase of an old man native bear. ] changed to: [ Said Morgan, “'Tis the carcase of an old man native bear. ] “Lay of the Motor-Car”: To put this poem in perspective, it must be remembered that this book was published in 1917, and the poem written earlier. It may be helpful to compare Paterson's short story, “Three Elephant Power”, in the book of the same name that was published in the same year. The plot centres around a speed demon who would drive at unspeakable speeds, even up to 45 MPH! (About 72 Km/H.) “The Mylora Elopement”: [ No thought has be but for his prize. ] changed to: [ No thought has he but for his prize. ] “The Protest”: [ W ll, but I KNOW. ] changed to: [ Well, but I KNOW. ] “The Maori's Wool”: [ In any place more civilised that Rooti-iti-au. ] changed to: [ In any place more civilised than Rooti-iti-au. ] “The Lost Drink”, “The Matrimonial Stakes”, “Not on It”, “The Scapegoat”, “The Angel's Kiss”, and “The Reveille” were all dropped from “Saltbush Bill” when it was included in Paterson's “Collected Verse” (first issued in 1921). No poems were added, though “The Song of the Pen” moved from the front of the book to the back, and several titles were slightly changed. No effort has been made to compare the texts. There was no Table of Contents in the original trench-edition; one was added. Omitted from the original are the index (to Paterson's first 3 books) and the “frontispiece and vignette by Lionel Lindsay”, the first of which was set above the lines: “But when the dawn makes pink the sky And steals across the plain, The Brumby horses turn and fly Towards the hills again.” which is a (mis)quote of the fourth stanza of “Brumby's Run” (should be “steals along the plain”).
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