VERANDAH MUSIC IN CHANGI

 

Australians, along with troops of other nationalities, were imprisoned in Singapore’s Changi prison during World War 2. A lot of self-made entertainment was needed including, of course, music. A ukulele made from scrap was made and played by POW, the late Jeff Caddies. You can read all about it and view the pix here.

RUM’UNS, REBELS AND RATBAGS PODCAST

Swaggie c 1900, NSW Government Printer

 

Who was Handkerchief Jones? And why did Tom Doyle piss on the olives? Find out all about it as we fall into conversation and catastrophe with some of Australia’s colourful folk characters.

 

PODCAST

 

Another Yarns of Oz ‘podcast, written, produced and presented by Rob Willis and Graham Seal and featuring Bob Payne singing ‘One of the Has-Beens’…. 

PANDEMIC PLAY

Ruth Hazleton and Judy McKinty are running a great children's folklore project at PANDEMIC PLAY.  The project asks kids, teens, parents, grandparents, carers or teachers to send in art, games, rhymes and the like, related to the COVID pandemic.

Why did some bushrangers become folk heroes and why were they feared by the forces of authority? We take a look at and a listen to some of the yarns, ballads and memories of the many bushrangers of the Lachlan region during the 1860s. Come all you wild colonial boys – and girls!

LISTEN HERE

Featuring authentic audio from the Oral History and Folklore Collection at the National Library of Australia, including Pat Nicholson, Maurice (Morris) Styles, Edgar Penzig, Rod Butler, Sally Sloane and Gladys Scrivener.

RECORDING CONVERSATIONS - on a budget!

Do you want to conduct an Oral History project to archival audio standard but have only a small budget for recording equipment?

 

Rob and Ollie Willis offer some thoughts on equipment they have used and that won't break the bank. These are only examples of some methods that could work, there are probably many other alternatives and we have tried to keep it basic and simple.

 

We have avoided too much technical overload but are happy for people to contact us if more detailed information is required.

 

The price range of examples is included in the video notes.

 

These examples are from our personal research and use and we have NO connection with the makers of any recorders or equipment.

HOW TO SPIN A YARN - WITH BILL CASE

We often get asked "what is the difference between a yarn and a joke"? Hopefully this video will answer the question as Bill Case (1917-2001) was a master Yarnspinner. John Harpley and I recorded this 15 minute yarn as part of a dance night that Bill played for at Don McBain's Barn in Nelson, Vic. Apologies for video quality but it shows the rapport that Bill had with the audience and how he held them.

 

I heard this yarn twice, the second time being at the Sharing the Harvest concert, a memorial for John Meredith in 2001. Bill captivated the audience there as well.

 

A few explanations - Bill's father ran a Pie Cart in Mount Gambier, SA, specalising in Pie Floaters, young Bill often helped him. Pie Floaters are very popular in South Australia and consist of a pie in a bowl of thick mushy peas. The peas are 'blue boilers' and, if too hard to boil, are softened by the addition of Bicarbonate of Soda, this is where Bill's yarn takes a twist.

Rob Willis

CASTOR OIL, KERO AND BLUEBAGS: HOMEMADE MEDICINE

Our latest podcast is now available at https://yarnsofoz.podbean.com/

This time we’re having a listen to how people dealt with accidents and illness in the days before medical attention was easily available. Treating the everyday afflictions of colds, stings, hangovers – and piles – was often a ‘kill or cure’ experience. Definitely not to be tried at home!

THE WEDDERBURN OLDTIMERS ON THE VERANDAH MUSIC CHANNEL

Vintage video of the Oldtimers in fine form on 1970s television! Lovingly edited by Rob Willis, you can join the proper old time dancing and the fun here..here...

The Wedderburn Oldtimers were amazingly popular back then, with two platinum and several gold LPs (Long Playing vinyl records) to their credit.

You can read all about it on the Peter Ellis Archives site where we’ve uploaded an account in which Peter recalls the history of the band and his involvement with it.

BUSHRANGERS VS OUTLAWS

Bushranger’s flight by artist S T Gill (1818-1880) published by James J. Blundell & Co. Melbourne Victoria [1856]

Following up on our interest in bushranger ballads and lore, here’s an interesting sidelight on public perceptions of bushrangers versus American outlaws. The survey was carried out by researcher Bruce Tranter and published in the International Journal of Social Science Studies Vol. 1, No. 2; 2013

It seems that the only bushranger better known than the outlaw Jesse James, is Ned Kelly. Everyone other bushranger is an ‘also ran’. Here’s the relevant section of the article (the stats are tabulated in the article):

‘ … Jesse James (46%) emerges as by far the most frequently named outlaw. While it is perhaps not surprising that many Australians can identify James, the results provide a gauge of the extent of their knowledge. The next best known outlaw – Billy the Kid – was named by 33% of respondents in total. Thereafter, a substantial drop in recognition occurs to Butch Cassidy (12%) and the Sundance Kid (6%), famously represented in the 1969 film of the same name starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. The other James gang members – including Jesse’s older brother Frank –  also fared poorly in the survey. ‘Wild Bill’ (James Butler) Hickok was identified by 5% of the sample as an outlaw, as were Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp by approximately 3%. In reality these lawmen allegedly worked both sides of the law (Carnes 1996).

In contrast, 80% of Australians named Ned Kelly as a bushranger and 29% identified Ben Hall. The next best known bushrangers were Captain Thunderbolt and Dan Morgan with around 12% of the cumulative responses. These results show that Jesse James and Billy the Kid are recognisable to more Australians than any of their home grown outlaws, with the exception of the armoured outlaw, Ned Kelly! …’

The survey didn’t include the earlier Jack Donohoe or the mythic Wild Colonal Boy, whose ballad is well-known around the world, but the outcome would have been much the same I expect.

Better keep singing those bushranger ballads.

WHO CALLED THE COOK A BASTARD? - PODCAST

Lunch in the bush, near Warwick, ca.1893. State Library Qld.

They were called ‘bait-layers’, ‘babbling brooks’ and much worse by the bush workers and soldiers who had to endure their offerings. The traditions of Australian cooking also include pioneering women who made do with whatever they could get from the bush and their own ingenuity. Iguana-tail curry, anyone?

Listen to the podcast here.

MORE BUSHRANGER BALLAD PUZZLES

William Strutt, 'Bushrangers, Victoria, Australia, 1852' (detail), 1887, oil on canvas, The University of Melbourne Art Collection, gift of the Russell and Mab Grimwade Bequest, 1973

Sandra Nixon continues to excavate the extensive archives of the Sydney Bush Music Club. Her latest discoveries are some intriguing versions of bushranger ballads of Ben Hall and Fred Lowry – here and here.

*

A RIVER MURRAY MYSTERY

Environment SA

The song known as ‘A Nautical Yarn’ has always been a bit of a mystery. A parody of the shipwreck songs so popular in the Victorian era, this one is set on the Murray River. It begins:

I sing of a capting who’s well known to fame;
A naval commander, Bill Jinks is his name.
Who sailed where the Murray’s clear waters do flow,
Did this freshwater shellback, with his Yeo heave a yeo…

Stephen Whiteside throws some light on the mystery here.

The song has been recorded by many performers, including Burl Ives, John Thompson and Bush Gothic and you can near Warren Hardiman and Dick Bromhead doing a nice version here.

NARIEL CREEK, 1971 – ON THE TELLY!

The ABC has unearthed from its cavernous archives some footage of Con Klippel and all at the Nariel Creek Black and White Folk Festival of 1971. This treasure, complete with interviews with Con and a gum leaf solo, has been posted here on the Facebook page of Australian Folk and Roots Community Forum.

JIVING ON JUNETEENTH

Juneteenth celebration in 1900 at Eastwoods Park. (Austin History Center via NMAAHC)

Here’s an intriguing ensemble for the Ghost Music files. Juneteenth is a folk anniversary on June 19 marking the end of US slavery. Most states have now made it an official holiday, though for much of its history it flew mostly under the radar. This group was photographed at the 1900 observation in Austin, Texas.

With that line-up you wonder what sort of music they were making. If I had to guess, I’d say some early jazz, blues and the dance hits of the time. Oh, to have been there!

Article about Juneteenth at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/juneteenth-our-other-independence-day-16340952/

ALL THE PRETTY WALTZES - NEW RELEASE

This new CD contains twenty-four tunes of beautiful traditional waltzes, mazurkas, varsoviennas and schottisches. 

Collected by Dave and Julie Gittus over thirty years, they include many traditional Australian dance tunes. Long-time friend Ian White provides backing on banjo and guitar.

The tunes include collected arrangements by Dave De Hugard, Maurie Gervesoni and the late Jacko Kevins.

The album is available at: 

https://thethreefourtimers.bandcamp.com/album/all-the-pretty-waltzes 

or by contacting the artists directly via this email address: 

davegittus@bigpond.com

MY FATHER, BURL IVES, PETE SEEGER AND AUSTRALIA’S FOLK MUSIC HERITAGE

Stephen Whiteside reminisces about the 1970s, his encounters with folk music and a couple of its noted singers, as well as their encounters with the notorious House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s.

On Stephen's website at:

https://stephenwhiteside.com.au/my-father-burl-ives-pete-seeger-and-australias-folk-music-heritage/

REMEMBER, REMEMBER ... WITH DANNY SPOONER

Here’s a teaser for the other Cracker Night (or one of them, at least). The late and much missed Danny Spooner sings the Guy Fawkes bonfire song and reminisces about the Fifth of November. More on this then!

CRACKER NIGHT!

Here’s a link to Rob’s Cracker Night mashup and the memories of Merle Hayward of NW Tassie.

Empire Day (May 24) was established in Australia in 1905. Officially, it marked the date of Queen Victoria’s birthday throughout the British Empire. More importantly, it was a half-day school holiday and in much of the country the evening of Empire Day became the folkloric ‘Cracker Night’, with enormous bonfires, fireworks and general celebration.

In 1958, Empire Day became 'British Commonwealth Day' and just 'Commonwealth Day' in 1966. Since then, hands-on (and off) fireworks have been progressively banned around Australia and ‘Cracker Night’ is no more. (Though the Northern Territory still allows fireworks on Territory Day celebration, July 1).

In NSW, Cracker Night was moved to June and in some parts of Australia, a ‘Cracker Night’ was observed on the evening of November 5, Guy Fawkes Day. More on this in November!

SOLDIERS SINGING – FROM THE BOER WAR TO VIETNAM

WEYMOUTH, ENGLAND. 1919-04-25. AUSTRALIAN SOLDIERS SINGING SONGS AROUND THE PIANO IN A YMCA. NLA.

Here's our second podcast - the songs made by and for Australian soldiers, featuring excerpts from the collections of Rob Willis, Graham Seal and the National Library of Australia. Hear the voices of those who were there – Bill Case, Maysie Tucker, Marion Hardy, Kevin O’Connor and Brian McMaugh.

UPON THE FIFTH OF MAY – THE DEATH OF BEN HALL

Today is the day bushranger Ben Hall was shot dead in 1865. Rob has put together a multi-media commemoration of the event at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHtJrQr0Gr8. Have a squiz. There’s a full commentary beneath the video, just hit ‘more’.

This also is the first in a new series we’re doing called ‘Today in Folklore’. We’ll be noting significant dates in Australian folk tradition, including commemorations like this one, celebrations, customs, (think ‘Cracker Night’, etc.), tragedies, disasters and other events that appear in traditional songs, poems, stories, events and the like. If you know of any, please send them to us at g.seal@curtin.edu.au

LAUGHING OFF THE SPANISH 'FLU

Advertisement for Nicholas’s Aspro, claiming to cure the Spanish influenza. Herald, 29 January 1919

Listen to the recollections of Australia’s experience of the Spanish ‘Flu in 1919. In these excerpts from the National Library of Australia Oral History and Folklore collections, Mrs Helen Hohnberg, Sid Briggs and Rocky Wedd tell us what it was like back then. It turns out that the responses and the problems were not so different to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

https://yarnsofoz.podbean.com/?p=14295751&token=323a72de8f8aa4a9ec17175104d2aaa9

Graham Seal and Rob Willis, together with Dennis McKay and Maureen Seal  - and John Meredith - meander through a bracing concoction of memories, snake oil, home remedies, awful verse and the humour that helped Australians weather the pneumonic influenza outbreak a century ago.

FOLK AT THE NATIONAL LIBRARY

Explore National Folk Festivals and the National Library's folklore collections online

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Bring all things folk to your living room and explore the folklore collections at the National Library of Australia. You can also relive the excitement of previous National Folk Festivals and associated events by listening to all the recorded proceedings held by the National Library of Australia.

REIGNING THEM IN - WOMEN AND THE COACHING INDUSTRY IN AUSTRALIA

Chinese passengers inside and on top of coach, Castlemaine 1853.

Rachael Anderson has researched a little-known aspect of Australian history - the role of women in the stagecoach industry. Cobb & Co were one of many coaching companies vying for colonial business and women played a vital role in keeping the wheels turning.

Read all about it in our ‘Articles’ section - just click on the tab at the top of the page.

FRANK POVAH, BACK OF WOLLAR, 1990

Frank Povah at the National Library of Australia

Rob has edited John Meredith’s film (Super 8) of the late Frank Povah, musician, poet, author, raconteur, writer and editor.

Frank plays autoharp and guitar and sings some interesting songs from various sources, including Tex Morton, Aboriginal performers and himself. He does some nice blues, as well.

The film is now available on our Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT7ySj0NJ88

Frank in his hut at Wollar

VERANDAH MUSIC – ITALIAN PRISONER OF WAR STYLE

Cowra, NSW. 6 February 1944. Group of Italian prisoners of war (POWs) interned at No. 12 POW Group. Known to be in this group are: 56011 Claudio Lupi; 55608 Renato Giulotti; 56003 Antonio Anghelini; 56276 Riccardo Moltevto; 56263 Gino Mariotti; 56433 Salvatore Titella; 56186 Luigi Frati; 56464 Mario Zuccarelli; 56151 Giuseppe De Andres. 
Australian War Memorial 030176/20

Music is a vital part of Italian life, culture and identity. Readers will have seen media images of Italian music-making in the midst of the Corona pandemic, proof, if any were needed, of the importance of homemade music in personal, family and community coping with disaster.

During World War 2, Italian prisoners of war around the world sustained and entertained themselves with music of all kinds. Joanne Tapiolas has conducted a marathon research project into this little-known topic. You can access its many riches through her website at 

https://italianprisonersofwar.com.

Joanne has researched this music and related information (including recipes) in many other places, as well as Australia, bringing it together in a fascinating e-book, Walking in Their Boots, chocka with great stories and photographs. Click on the ‘Publications’ tab on her website to purchase a copy.

VERANDAH MUSIC RIVERBOAT STYLE

Here's a few well-dressed musos serenading on a Murray Riverboat, c 1890s? Courtesy of Warren Fahey from the State Library of South Australia collection. Snappy hats.

ST KEVIN’S BAWDY SONG HAS A LONG HISTORY

An example of how studying folklore can throw light on contemporary issues in a guest post from folklorists, Warren Fahey...

There was a time in Australian history when we sang boisterously and often. Singalongs at theatres, local halls and home were a major part of our popular entertainment. The songs ranged from latest hits to evergreens plus tearjerkers, folk songs and comic songs. Television put an end to our singing and marked the line where we shifted from being a people who entertained each other to a people who got entertained, mostly by the electronic media. We’re all the worse for it as passive entertainment has proven a health risk in more ways than one. Part of our sung repertoire included bawdy or filthy songs and there’s a case that the St. Kevin’s boys, with their sexist chant, (I wouldn’t deign to call it a song) are part of that continuing tradition. In fact, when I heard those  lines “I wish that all the ladies were waves in the ocean/and I was a surfer, I’d ride ‘em with my motion” I immediately recognised it as a version of a very old erotic folk song known as ‘Hares on the Mountain’ (otherwise titled ‘Blackbirds and Thrushes’) which offers verses like:

"If all those young men were as rushes a-growing,/Then all those pretty maidens will get scythes and go mowing’ and ‘If all you young men were hares on the mountain,/How many young girls would take guns and go hunting?’ The big surprise here is that the old song, and it probably dates back to the mid 1700s, comes at it from a female perspective. The first published version appeared in Samuel Lover’s 1838 novel Rory o’More. St Kevin’s version certainly lacks that sort of finesse and subtly. 

The bawdy song tradition in Australia was always strong and no doubt reflects our male dominated colonial society and particularly our key pastoral itinerant workforce of shearing and droving which were male exclusive with communal living. The early Australian pub with ‘men only’ in the public bar, was also conducive to rowdy and bawdy singing. I have been collecting and documenting Australian bawdry for nearly fifty years and, although it hasn’t completely disappeared, it is definitely a rare find. Some are local versions of Anglo, Canadian and American songs, and others are covered in mud, dust and sweat from our past. Classics like ‘The Bastard From The Bush,' ‘The Shearer’s Lament,' ‘Pull Me Dungarees Down, Sport’ and ‘The Barmaid With Gonorrhoea’ are certainly uniquely Australian. The P.C. Police did most of them in but so too did having television sets blaring out in public bars. One of the last bastion of bawdy songs were sporting clubs and especially private school rugby, hockey, skiing and rowing clubs. Rugby had the closest link with bawdy sings. Oddly, the other football codes rarely sang except on the occasional coach trip. AFL, being an early adopter of ‘family football’ never used the songs. 

Communal singing aided morale and we only have to look back to the development of bawdy song in both WW1 and WW2. One of our classic collections is from the troops in the New Guinea campaign: ‘Mess Hall Songs and Rhymes of the RAAF 1939-45’ has some shockers which would make St. Kevin’s song seem very mild. 

It is possible our bawdy song tradition goes back to our convict birth. The majority of convicts and early emigrants were decidedly lower, working class, and unlikely to be puritanical. They were usually seen as inveterate gamblers, boozers and devoted to bawdy behaviour and extremely bad language. The average bushman of the nineteenth century swore like a trooper, peppered his speech with the most extraordinary expressions but clammed shut, tight as a drum, in the presence of women. They hardly spoke in front of women let alone swear or sing a bawdy song. 

The real issue with the majority of bawdy songs is that they are demeaning to women, often violently. Women are generally seen as sex objects unwillingly or willingly participating in disgustingly gross behaviour. Once again this comes back to the fact that the songs have mostly been carried through the tradition by men, and mostly by men assembled together for a purpose such as war or competitive sport. Much of the justification has been put down to male bonding and camaraderie, especially in times of stress, and, of course, must be viewed from a historical perspective. Misogyny has no place in today’s society and it is clear the St Kevin’s boys crossed the line, especially by taking the song public.

In the twenty-first century our national larrikin stereotype is still seen as a gambler, boozer and swearer and this is possibly why international folklorists see us as one of the last bastions of bawdy song. This is no excuse for misogynistic songs which, like racist songs from our past, are best filed away as curios and reminders of roads we once travelled. 

Warren Fahey is a cultural historian. ‘Sing Us Anothery Dirty As Buggery: Australian Bawdy Songs, Recitations, Graffiti, Lavatory Humour and Drinking Toasts’ is available as an 820 page ebook. $13

Apple   https://books.apple.com/us/book/sing-us-anothery-dirty-as-buggery/id624957728

Kindle Amazon  https://www.amazon.com.au/Sing-Anothery-Dirty-Buggery-Australian-ebook/dp/B00Q9C3W30

VERANDAH STORIES – AND SOME MUSIC

Having a yarn ...

Have a look at, and listen to, Dave Wheeler’s blog ‘A Canberra Boy’. Dave has collected a swag of tales, both tall and true, relating to Canberra and environs. You’ll also find some verandah music there, together with a range of other goodies reflecting Dave’s collecting, writing and thoughts on life.

You’ll also find a load of yarns and associated bullshit by Cockeye Bob here. Careful though, Bob hails from out Binangon way and can be prickly…

VERANDAH MUSIC UKRAINIAN STYLE - THESE GRANDMOTHERS ARE RECORDING UKRAINE’S FOLK MUSIC TRADITIONS

LEARNING 'FLASH JACK'

The Canadian/American writer and traveller Norman Duncan made a trip through Australia around 1913-14. He published (in America and England) a little-known account of his journey in 1915 under the title Australian Byways: The Narrative of a Sentimental Traveller. At one point he describes a scene in a bush pub that gives an insight into how traditional songs might have been transmitted, in this case ‘Flash Jack from Gundagai.’ This is a rare first-hand account of bush song in action in the period between Paterson’s Old Bush Songs initial publication and A L Lloyd’s account during the 1920s.

AT that very moment there was an astonishing quantity of music in the air. It began in roar; and it continued at the pitch of a roar scorning diminuendo and crescendo, or carelessly incapable of either, I am not sure which. At any rate, the neighborhood vibrated with melody. It originated in the bar. And at a word from the young jackaroo, it emerged from the bar, and stumbled into the railed inclosure, and sat down beside us, continuing fortissimo: the instrument of its production being, as you may know, one of the three drunken stockmen. Having run his ballad to the end, the stockman yielded to the quiet of the night and far-away place and turned out, at once, to be most amiably inclined in the matter of communicating his song. Not only did he communicate it, in a speaking voice, to be written down, but repeated the lines, in the interest of precision, and even assisted with the spelling, all with the air of a man who had at last found his calling and was perfectly aware of the gravity of its responsibilities. And then (said he) we must master the tune: this being particularly important to a perfect exposition of the whole composition. He sang again, therefore, occasionally interrupting him- self to inquire whether or not we had "caught" the melody, and beseeching us to join with him " vociferating with such fervor, his eyes blazing, his face working, and his forefinger beating the time, and leaning so close, and radiant of such gleeful absorbtion with his occupation, that we could not follow the melody at all, but must give a fascinated attention to the bristling visage and enrapt manner of the good fellow.

Here, then, I transcribe the song of the drunken stockman, called "Flash Jack from Gundagai":

I've shore at Burrabogie, an' I've shore at Toganmain, 

I've shore at Big Willandra, an' upon the Coleraine, But before th' shearin' was over, I've wished meself back again, Shearin' for ol' Tom Patterson on One Tree Plain.

All among th' wool, boys! Keep yer wide blades full, boys!

I kin do a respectable tally meself w'enever I likes t' try; 

But they know me 'round th' back-blocks as Flash Jack from Gundagai.

I've shore at Big Willandra, an' I've shore at Tilberoo, 

An' once I drew me blades, me boys, upon th' famed Barcoo,

At Cowan Downs an' Trida, as far as Moulamein; 

But I always was glad t' get back again t' One Tree Plain.

I've pinked 'em with the Wolseleys, an' I've rushed with B-bows,

An' shaved 'em in th' grease, me boys, with th' grass-seed showin' through;

 But I never slummed me pen, me boys, whate'r it might contain, 

While shearin' for ol' Tom Patterson on One Tree Plain.

I've been whalin' up the Lachlan, an' I've dossed on Cooper's Creek, 

An' once I rung Cudjingie shed, an' blued it in a week; 

But when Gabriel blows his trump, me boys, 111 catch the mornin’ train, 

An' push for ol' Tom Patterson's on One Tree Plain.

All among th' wool, boys! Keep yer wide blades full, boys!

I kin do a respectable tally meself w'enever I likes t' try; 

But they know me ‘round th' back-blocks as Flash Jack from Gundagai.

Flash Jack from Gundagai was a shearer of celebrated skill, if this boastful recital had the right of it " and the devil of a fellow, as well, and a bit on the other side of the law. When he pinked 'em with the Wolseleys he had employed a mechanical shearing- device so effectually that his sheep were clipped to the skin; and when he rushed with B-hows*, too, he had made amazing haste with the hand shears. When he rung Cudjingie shed he had proved himself the fastest shearer employed on that great station; and when he blued it in a week he had squandered the earnings of this glorious achievement, at some pot-house like Forty Mile Inn, in the tumultuous period of seven days. All this, being not yet too far gone in his potations, the stockman elucidated, with the profoundest determination to be exact, warning us, the while, that a deal of pernicious misinformation was let loose upon every new chum (tenderfoot) that came to the bush. (Pp 175-177).

* B-bows

Hear John Thompson sing it at his Australian folksong a day site