"T.Y.S.O.N." is a poem by Banjo Paterson, first published in The Australasian Pastoralists' Review on 15 December 1898.[1] The subject of the poem was James Tyson, who had died early that month. The poem highlighted his good points and eccentricities.[1]
But in that last great drafting yard,Where Peter keeps the gate,And souls of sinners find it barred,And go to meet their fate;There's one who ought to enter in,For good deeds done on earth;Such deeds as merit ought to win,Kind deeds of sterling worth.Not by the straight and narrow gate,Reserved for wealthy men,But through the big gate, opened wide,The grizzled figure, eagle-eyed,Will travel through—and thenOld Peter'll say : "We pass him through,There's many a thing he used to do,Good-hearted things that no one know;That's T. Y. S. O. N."
James Tyson (8 April 1819 – 4 December 1898) was an Australian pastoralist and is regarded as Australia's first self-made millionaire. Unmarried and without children, he died intestate in 1898 and his extensive holdings were sold off and divided among his closest relatives.