Kelpie’s Name

• Clare Farrelly, Grade 9
• Poetry
• 2012

The kelpie dog’s long history
Is still partly a mystery
Got by a Scottish man
Was a pair of dogs’ black and tan
In Australia they had puppies here
And one a roly poly dear
He gave to his nephew and called it Kelpie
A good working dog not yelpy
Some say was swapped by night
With a stockman in the moonlight
Others say the stockman swapped a horse as pay
For Kelpie in the paddock, in light of day
Though it’s debated how it was got
Kelpie certainly was worth a lot
Everyone wanted one of kelpie’s pups
The dogs headed sheep while stockman on horse gallops
Soon kelpie’s name became a breed
Because of their agility and high-speed