By Catani 's banks and braes

This short report was published in Punch in January 1914. It is of interest for two reasons - firstly it is one of only two reports which I have found which mentions that Carlo came to Victoria with credentials from the Pope. I have written about this here.

By Catani's banks and braes

Punch, January 15, 1914  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129696555

The second reason it is interesting is because I would love to hear By Catani 's banks and braes,  which I presume was a parody of  Robert Burns' 1791 poem, The Banks o' Doon. There are three versions of the poem according to the website  http://www.robertburns.org/  The poem was set to the tune of The Caledonian Hunt’s Delight. The  third version of the poem is

Ye banks and braes o' bonie Doon,
How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair?
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae weary fu' o' care!
Thou'll break my heart, thou warbling bird,
That wantons thro' the flowering thorn:
Thou minds me o' departed joys,
Departed never to return.

Aft hae I rov'd by Bonie Doon,
To see the rose and woodbine twine:
And ilka bird sang o' its Luve,
And fondly sae did I o' mine;
Wi' lightsome heart I pu'd a rose,
Fu' sweet upon its thorny tree!
And may fause Luver staw my rose,
But ah! he left the thorn wi' me.

I  wonder what the parody, By Catani's banks and Braes, was.  Did it start with Ye banks and braes o' St Kilda Shore? This sounds more likely than Ye banks and braes o' Koo Wee Rup Swamp, however Ye banks and braes of Mount Buffalo, is also a possibility.

Looking at the second verse - Aft hae I rov'd by Bonie Doon - could that be 
Aft hae I rov'd by Alexandra Gardens
To see Mr Cooper's Japanese Iris
And each bird sings of its love
Now that we are not in lockdown with the Corona Virus.

Or perhaps - 
Aft hae I rov'd by Morell Bridge
To see the Yarra flow beneath
And we all sing of our love
of a nice straight Yarra which no longer floods.

I think we can officially say that I do not have a poetical bone in my body. If I ever find the words to By Catani's banks and braes, I will let you know. In the meanwhile, if you are feeling poetical, have a go at creating a Carlo related poem.