by Robert King Crawford
Eureka Stockade, Track 2, by Bob ‘King’ Crawford and Doug Surman
Sung by John Lidgerwood, 1984
THE LA TROBE SONG—Words and Music—ROBERT KING CRAWFORD
Who fought the fight of down-trodd and needy—Charles La Trobe
Against the power of the great and greedy—Charles La Trobe
Who battled for the Blacks and ill and retarded—Charles La Trobe
And among the poor was well regarded—Charles La Trobe.
Chorus: He was a poet, painter, explorer mild
Mountaineer, writer, sportsman untired
Botanist, Governor and again and again
La Trobe was a gentleman
La Trobe was a gentleman.
He was a man of great mental stature—Charles La Trobe
Loved traditions, God and nature—Charles La Trobe
Stopped the convicts landing in his city—Charles La Trobe
Though a man of love and a man of pity—Charles La Trobe.
Repeat chorus:
Who kept his helm in the depression—Charles La Trobe
Goldrush, Landboom and recession—Charles La Trobe
And without training and without backing—Charles La Trobe
Made Victoria great where others were lacking—Charles La Trobe.
Oh la la La Trobe the gentleman
Oh la la La Trobe the gentleman
Oh la la La Trobe the gentleman.
Source: Report of the Activities of the La Trobe Centenary Commemoration Committee, December 1975, Melbourne: Government Printer, 1976, Appendix I, [p.53]