This song is from Australia. Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. It is located 240 miles south-west of Sydney. Before automobile transportation and the development of motorways goods had to be carted from the coast by drovers in bullock drawn wagons. The trip took several days and drovers packed their provisions for the trip (tucker) in a "tucker box". They typically took a dog with them both for company and protection from wildlife. The point of the story has been cleaned up to a degree that has the dog sitting on the tucker box guarding it. The point of the song, however, is what the dog did IN the box. A statue of a dog sitting on a tucker box was made in 1932 and was installed at the five mile post outside of Gundagai. It has become the focus for a "back to Gundagai" festival celebrating the pioneers since 1992. The original poem "Bullocky Bill" was written by an otherwise unknown poet who used the pen name "Bowyang Yorke" and was first printed in 1857. The later poem is by Jack Moses and was published in The North Queensland Register, 14 January 1924. I learned the song from a recording of Michael Cooney.