Lex McLennan wrote a poem about George Lawton, “IN OLD TAROOM” included in “The Spirit of the West” an excellent little book of poems. It was published by Taroom Shire Council in “Pioneers of the Taroom and Wandoan District” by Gwen Fox [P59] in 1959.

Lawton’s Ride “In Old Taroom”
by Lex McLennan

When for a hundred miles or more
Beneath the Queensland sun
The Lawtons ruled the wilderness
That was Juandah run,
From racing brumbies in the dawns
through scrub and mountain side
They learned their trade as few men do,
No matter where they bide.

In old Taroom a buckjump show one day
had come to town,
To entertain the local folk and take the
Lawton’s down.
The show had been a thousand miles
to townships far and wide,
And, sure that they had found at last
the horse no man would ride.

Under the gleaming, ghastly glare of
carbide lights aglow
They lgged George Lawton on the brown
and let the head rope go;
And Brown Elastic dropped his head
and filled the night with squeals,
And lightning played, the old hands
swear, around his flying heels.

The watchers of the fearful fight amid
the dust-clouds gloom
Thought that the bold Juandah man
was hurtling to his doom,
As Brown Elastic spun and whirled,
and reared and looped away
Until it seemed no living thing upon his
back could stay.

He crashed against the ringside posts
and thick rope snapped like string,
And then the Lawtons’ war cry rose and made
the exhoes ring;
For Brown Elastic’s bolt was shot, he stopped
with drooping head,
And Lawton lightly leapt to earth – his
smiling lips stained red.

Long since old Brown Elastic’s bones have
whitened and decayed,
But they remember in Taroom the gallant
fight he made;
As long as flood-rains in the hills will
bring the Dawson down,
They’ll tell the tale of Lawton’s ride in
the old cattle town.

Extract from Pioneers of Taroom and Wandoan District, by Gwen Fox [P58]:
“By the ‘nineties, the stockmen and boundary riders on the Dawson cattle stations had become known as some of the finest scrub dashers and rough riders in Australia. The terrain of the “Wild Dawson Country” – as it was usually called – was responsible for their skill. In the huge paddocks, often hilly and scrub-covered, only expert stockmen could hope to carry out a successful muster, or trap any of the large numbers of “brumbies” roaming at will. To these men, riding was their all-absorbing interest – you could almost believe they were “born in the saddle”. In their spare time they practised rough-riding and buck-jumping with the brumbies. Probably the best known were the Lawtons of Juandah. There were seven Lawton boys – Tom, Jim, Jack, Bob, William, George, and Ted. Some of them were stockmen on Juandah during this period. William and Tom were there later also, and Tom was at Cockatoo Station for some years. He still holds the unofficial record for tying a scrubber in the fastest time.” – Gwen Fox