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| John Meredith playing the original lagerphone |
This year marks the centenary of the birth of Australian folklorist, John Meredith (1920-2001). He is justly celebrated for his pioneering collections of folksong, dance and verse, enshrined in the several volumes of Folksongs of Australia (the first in conjunction with the late Hugh Anderson and the second with Roger Covell and Patricia Brown).
His collecting work led him into the performance of the traditions he and others were collecting, notably with the Sydney Bush Music Club and the original Bushwhackers bush band. His work in this area was twice recognized through awards in the order of Australia (OAM 1986 and AM 1992)
John Meredith was a man of many interests and also made notable contributions to the documentation and understanding of Australian culture, including folk speech and cultural history, His work, which also included plays and musicals, is preserved in the books and articles he wrote about many aspects of folklore, in film, photographs and in his collected field recordings held in the Oral History and Folklore Collection of the National Library of Australia. at https://www.amw.org.au/sites/default/files/memory_of_the_world/collecting-australias-folk-culture/john-meredith-folklore-collection-1953-1994.html. The collection is recognised in the UNESCO Memory of the World Program.
A biography by Keith McKenry, More Than a Life: John Meredith,was published in 2014 and a reasonably extensive article on his life and work is available on Wikipedia. There is a John Meredith Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/365849244352767/
Particularly in the later phases of his collecting, John Meredith worked with many other folklorists who were inspired by his example and have gone on to make significant contributions to the field. One of these was Rob Willis who penned the following reminiscence of his relationship with John Meredith for Trad & Now in 1992, slightly edited for Verandah Music:
John was born at Holbrook in 1920 and from an early age became interested in the songs, tunes and poetry of our country. John purchased a very bulky tape recorder and commenced recording the older performers in the 1950’s. As a result of this John published prolifically on folkloric and other topics, perhaps his best-known works were "Folk Songs of Australia" volumes 1 and 2. Meredith continued this work throughout the rest of his life John Meredith’s folkloric and photographic collection is housed in The National Library of Australia. This brief glimpse into the life of this man will hopefully encourage people to investigate his work further.
I was fortunate to be one of a small band of people who became involved with John, assisting with his collecting. My time on the track spanned the years 1984 until he retired in 1994. So what was it like spending a large amount of time travelling with a man who had become a legend in his own lifetime?
John was a very forthright man and yet during all the time we spent on the road we did not have one argument. He had a broad knowledge on many subjects including botany, photography, history, Australian literature, herbalism and others too numerous to mention and yet would impart this knowledge in a very interesting and inspiring way. So often I would return from a lengthy field trip and tell my wife Olya that my head was just about to explode with all the information that Merro had passed on. He was never restrictive or closed about his work and gladly passed on tunes, songs and information from his personal collection. It was very important to John that his work be spread to as wide an audience as possible.
The other important lesson that I learnt during this time was our ongoing relationship with the people we interviewed. We were never short of a bed in a town where Merro had been previously, as the people he had spoken with became friends. They were never just numbers on a Library catalogue. We had musical sessions all over the country with the traditional players and singers, each of us contributing and learning from the other. Following in John’s footsteps I have continued to do this and look forward to the ongoing contact with performers.
John was meticulous and very professional with his work, contacting his informants and making sure they understood what we required. In the days before mobile phones and emails we spent more time in telephone boxes than Clark Kent.
Accommodation was also very interesting in those early days as we were on a very limited budget for fuel and other expenses, which we shared. A tent was the usual format and we would camp in National Parks or on the side of the road. John had a love of the rivers and many a campsite was set up on the banks of the Murray. I think we both ended up with a dose of Ross River virus after camping in a mosquito-infested forest on the river near Swan Hill. In later years we shared on site vans and basic cabins in camping grounds.
The National Library of Australia were, and still are, most supportive with the supply of equipment and allocation of funds from their limited budget. John and I both agreed however that if we scrimped a bit on each individual journey we might be able to get many more field trips out of the available funding. There was and still is so much to be done.
To be in close contact for long periods of time and often under quite stressful circumstances requires a good rapport between people. John and I both shared a similar sense of humour and a love of music. Many an hour was spent around a campfire yarning and playing the two identical small Busilacchio button accordions we both took with us on trips. I still have memories of learning tunes from him whilst we were camped on the Devils Pinch near Nerriga while searching for stories of Frank the Poet.
Also, the morning it was discovered that I had forgotten to pack the food after a freezing night camped near Wilkerboon station near Mt Hope in NSW. The photo on this page shows Merro cooking an apple over the fire, we also had some soymilk thank goodness – John is still smiling, I don’t know why.
We also would take early morning walks (John was not one to stay in bed) where we would traipse along and my head would again be filled with his knowledge.
The highlights of my years with John were many and we kept in close contact and shared our excitements until his death in 2001. The inability to make a phone call to seek information or share an enthusiasm is to me the hardest part of his not being here in person.
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| On the track of Australian folksong, 1984 |
I called him John during our first meeting and I remember him saying a short time later, "My good mates call me Merro, Rob, and I would like you to call me Merro"
Thanks for everything Merro.
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