December 2002 Volume 83 Number 12 "serving the protectors"
The Policeman Poet
By Peter Alexander

Jack Cawley, a retired superintendent and legend of the SAPOL mounted cadre, has great love not only for horses but also the verses of great Australian poets. Some of his favourite verses come from Adam Lindsay Gordon, a former member of the SA Police and the only Australian to be honoured in Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey, London.

Some of Gordon’s verses include:

So the coward will dare on the gallant horse
What he never would dare alone
Because he exalts in a borrowed force
And a hardihood not his own

and

Question not but live and labour
’Til your goal be won
Helping every feeble neighbour
Seeking help from none
Life is mostly froth and bubble
Two things stand like stone
Kindness in another’s trouble
Courage in your own

A fascinating character, Gordon is a part of the history of not only the SA Police but also Australia. In a trip to the South East, one can see the cottage he lived in at Dingley Dell. Police Association delegate, Andy McClean from Port MacDonnell, can show travellers where to look.

Gordon arrived at Port Adelaide from England on November 14, 1853. He was immediately admitted to the South Australia Mounted Police and sent to Mount Gambier.

The Register reported that these were stirring times, and the life suited Gordon for about two years. The story goes that, at the end of that period, an inspector requested that he brush a pair of boots. The young, indignant trooper flung the boots at his superior and left the service.

He later became a professional horse-breaker and member of the SA Parliament. He also enjoyed a reputation as the most brilliant steeplechase rider in the country.

That Jack Cawley helps keep our history alive is great credit to him.

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