Despite the fact that Christmas in Australia is celebrated in the midst of summer, folks Down Under love the holiday and have added a number of lovely carols to the canon. In this song by John Wheeler and Billy James, which was first published in 1948, the setting is the lonely outback.
The Three Drovers
Across the plains one Christmas night
Three drovers riding blithe and gay,
Looked up and saw a starry light
More radiant than the Milky Way;
And on their hearts such wonder fell,
They sang with joy ‘Noel!,
Noel! Noel! Noel! Noel!’
The air was dry with summer heat,
And smoke was on the yellow moon;
But from the heavens, faint and sweet,
Came floating down a wond’rous tune;
And as they heard, they sang full well
Those drovers three — ‘Noel! Noel!’
The black swans flew across the sky,
The wild dog called across the plain,
The starry lustre blazed on high,
Still echoed on the heavenly strain;
And still they sang, ‘Noel! Noel!’T
hose drovers three. Noel! Noel!