Here’s a reply to the Gundagai post, from Rob Willis:
Buried within 25 metres of each other in the Forbes cemetery are the remains of two of Australia’s best known bushranger dynasties, Ben Hall and Kate Kelly, the (in)famous sister of Ned. Not buried however are the songs, poems and stories of these people along with the other well known bushrangers Frank Gardiner, Johnny Gilbert and of course stories and songs of the famous Escort Gold Robbery, the richest robbery in Australian history. The Ben Hall bushranger ballads are recognised as among the best in our folk song tradition. ‘The Streets of Forbes’ is probably Australia’s best known and most sung bushranger ballad.
The cause of all this bushranging activity was the rich Lachlan (Forbes) diggings and here again we have a large number of songs, yarns and poems reflecting on this 1860’s era. Thankfully many of these have been preserved in our National Library of Australia (NLA), Folklore collection.
After the gold petered out agricultural enterprise took over. The poetry and songs of shearers, drovers, and women and men on the land that mention the Lachlan are numerous, what bush band worth its salt has not performed ‘The Lachlan Tigers’. “Hurrah for the Lachlan, “Across the Western Plains” are well known lines from other folk ballads.
From the gold rush to the golden age of wool, the Lachlan inspired the writings of Henry Lawson (whose birth was registered in Forbes), Banjo Paterson, Breaker Morant, Will Ogilvie and Paul Wenz. Morant, Ogilvie and Wenz actually worked and wrote in the area.
Traditional music and dance – the regional, collected tunes of Harry Schaefer, Colin Charlton, Dave Mathias, Ebb Wren and others are played by musicians inAustralia and even worldwide.
There is also a strong regional dance tradition that has been recorded.
Thankfully, many of these tunes, stories and dances are also preserved in the NLA collection.
Tales of ‘characters’ from our area have been recounted in books authored by Banjo Paterson and other writers and Graham Seal is on record saying that the Lachlan is a ‘land of legends’
I rest my case.
2 comments:
I agree - Hail the mighty Lachlan. So many stories and songs. I will be performing in Forbes next month as Banjo Paterson, along with Max Cullen as Henry Lawson, in Dead Men Talking...... much of the play references the Lachlan region.
Hmm, looks like Forbes and the Lachlan are well ahead, judging by the hits. Any other starters?
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