Commandeering by Andrew Barton Paterson

Our hero was a Tommy with a conscience free from care, / And such an open countenance that when he breathed the air / He mopped up all the atmosphere -- so little went to spare / You could hardly say he breathed, he "commandeered" it.

For nowadays you'll notice when a man is "on the make", / And other people's property is anxious for to take, / We never use such words as "steal", or "collar", "pinch", or "shake". / No, the fashion is to say we "commandeered" it.

And our simple-minded hero used to grumble at his lot, / Said he, "This commandeerin's just a little bit too hot, / A fellow has to carry every blooming thing he's got; / Whatever he puts down they'll commandeer it."

So after much anxiety our simple-minded elf / He thought he'd do a little commandeering for himself, / And the first thing that he noticed was a bottle on a shelf / In a cottage, so he thought he'd commandeer it.

-"What ho! " says he, "a bottle, and, by George, it's full of beer, / And no commanding officer to come and interfere. / Here's my own blooming health," says he, "I'm on the commandeer. " / And without another word he commandeered it.

On his subsequent proceedings we must draw a little veil, / For the Boers had left some sheep dip in that bottle labelled "Ale"; / But the doctor said he'd shift it -- if all other methods fail, / We must use the stomach pump and commandeer it.

The Sydney Mail, 26 May 1900