Thursday, November 25, 2021

THE PUB BAND IN THE 1880s


 

What tunes did they play and how did they sound? A serious-looking band from c. 1885 at the Glasgow Arms Hotel in Carrington, NSW. Concertina, accordion, tin whistle, triangle and banjo (without a head?).

 

They probably whipped up a pretty good night at the pub, at that time run by Jane Hardy. Jane was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in England, as were many of the people working in the coal industry in those days. It’s likely that the band played ‘Geordie’ music, maybe including ‘Byker Hill’? Jane and the rest of her siblings were baptised at All Saints in Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne. She migrated with her husband in the 1850s.

 

The pic was taken by Ralph Snowball and is part of the Norm Barney Photographic Collection, held by Cultural Collections at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia.

 

Read all about here 


Wednesday, November 3, 2021

A MINSTREL BANJOIST IN AUSTRALIA


ABC The History Listen features African-American banjo man Hosea Easton. Hosea toured with minstrel bands in the late nineteenth century and, judging by the two thousand people who turned up at his funeral in Sydney, had a lot of fans. Listen here.

See also one of our earlier and very popular posts 'And Now for the Ethiopian Seranaders'.

Tuesday, October 19, 2021

HUNTING FOR HARMONICAS


 

Here’s a follow-up to our previous posts on the history of the harmonica in Australia. Ray Grieve, author of A Band in a Waistcoat Pocket  and related works, tells of the quest for the fabled Hohner Chromatically Tuned Up-To-Date Harmonica and his encounter with Hohner’s first representative in Australia, Kurt Jacob.


This article first appeared in the estimable Simply Australia site.

 

You can buy Ray’s books, CDs and other products at his Bushlark Music site.


Tuesday, September 28, 2021

DID SALLY KNOW HARRY?


Sally Sloane

Rob Willis pulls together some history, folklore and personal experience to almost answer this question – Did old time musicians Harry Schaefer and Sally Sloane of the Central West area of New South Wales know each other? If so, they surely played music together in the very busy social dance scene of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Read all about it here in the Verandah Music Articles section. If anyone can throw further light on this intriguing possibility, Rob would love to hear from you.


Wednesday, September 15, 2021

REVIEW - WARREN FAHEY’S AUSTRALIAN BUSH ORCHESTRA MUSIC FOR BUSH DANCE & CAMPFIRE


Reviewed by Tony Smith 2021 

This is a hugely enjoyable album. There is plenty of variety in the 27 tracks – 12 of which pair a couple of tunes as happens for a dance. Under the directorship of Warren Fahey, the Australian Bush Orchestra produces a broad sample of the music that country people enjoyed in the days before mass media homogenised outputs and fast transport brought the neglect of many little bush halls.

There is a debate among musicians who consider themselves purists of the Australian tradition. Some think that they have discovered authentic bush music outside urban areas and re-produced it on lager phone, tea chest bass and banjo. Others are more sceptical and think that ‘bush music’ as we know it is an invention of city based researchers catering for urban nostalgia. They suggest instead that often bush dances featured pianos, violins and drums, possibly even saxophones. Others of course do not care and just enjoy the lot!

The Australian Bush Orchestra makes a great contribution to these discussions. On this album the splendid musicians play various instruments from the piano to the button accordion and from fiddle to banjo. If songs appear on this album, you can be sure they have not been plucked from the modern salon but were actually sung by the ‘folk’. Let’s not open that can of worms! 

Many tunes and songs played at dances and around campfires such as ‘Donkey Riding’ were indeed imported. Fahey’s comprehensive sleeve notes always acknowledge provenance. So we learn that ‘Pop Goes the Weasel’ is an English nursery rhyme, that actor Walter Brennan recited a popular version of ‘Life Gets Tedious’ and that ‘Old Dan Tucker’ was possibly composed by minstrel Dan Emmet who was a major influence on Bill Monroe, founder of bluegrass music.

Of course, Australian collectors, researchers and composers are responsible for most of the A.B.O.’s material. The list includes Rob Willis, John Meredith, Bill Harney, Harry Cotter, George Strong, Steve and Marjorie Gadd, Eddie and Paddy Dawson, Ebb Wren, George Kyle, Basil Cosgrove and Dave de Hugard. Dave Johnson’s work collecting dance tunes is mentioned - for example ‘Australian Jim’ – as are Eileen McCoy for her varsovienne, and Ray Schloeffel and Sally Sloane for their compositions and personal renditions.

It is delightful that this album includes conversations with a few people who ‘were there’. Several tracks feature the resilient Susan Colley. It was an excellent decision to put Fahey’s conversations with Colley into the audio rather than just describe them in the sleeve notes. Colley would probably be described in the old parlance as a ‘trick’ as she describes dancing all night and even playing concertina while partnering the blokes.

The Orchestra includes assistant producer Marcus Holden (stroh violin, banjo, mandolin, national steel guitar, cittern), Clare O’Meara (fiddle, accordion, piano, vocals), Garry Steel (piano, accordion), Mark Oats (fiddle, vocals), Ian ‘The Pump’ MacIntosh (melodeon, vocals), Elsen Price (bass), Peter Kennard (percussion, drums, bodhran, jingling Johnny, piano), George Washingmachine (guitar)  and Warren Fahey (vocals, jaw harp, concertina, bones). 

Many tunes are instantly recognisable, even to the casual listener. Most Australians must know ‘The Springtime It Brings On The Shearing’ and The Bullocky’s Ball’, while others will recognise almost every tune without being able to put a name to them.

As there is such a good balance in the tracks, it is not likely any listener will lack a favourite. And there is such good ensemble at work that it might seem rather pointless  to single out some performers, but personally, I find it easy to admire Ian Macintosh’s rendition of ‘The Banks of the Condamine’ on melodeon. Similarly, Marcus Holden’s stroh violin with its trumpet resonator adds an immediate atmosphere of the ‘old time’ to several tunes. 

Visually the CD is attractive. Bill Wood’s caricatures are a feature and pictures of sheet music covers make perfect background for the composed and published pieces. Specialists of dance will find enough polka, schottische, waltz and barn dance tunes to satisfy the most critical while the casual listener will be convinced that the music of the bush was rich and enjoyable and worth preserving.

The arrangements are exceptionally fine with a clear emphasis on getting the feet tapping and the face smiling. Because the musicians each play several instruments, Fahey and Holden had impeccable resources at their fingertips. Indeed, they are all well known to one another under the banner of the Larrikins bush band. Happily they settled on superb versions of each tune, giving vitality to well known pieces such as the ‘Galopede’,  ‘Jenny Lind’, ‘Starry Night for a Ramble’, ‘Davy Davy Knick Knack’ and ‘The Rakes of Mallow’.

The Australian Bush Orchestra benefits from Warren Fahey’s research in the New South Wales State Library and postings to his online Australian Folklore Unit. Seldom are sources acknowledged and arrangements explained so well as in his sleeve notes. Listening again to this album recorded in 2011 and released by ABC Music in 2012 reminds me that this is a superb contribution to bush music. While there are other excellent albums of settler songs and tunes, if overseas listeners wanted one CD to serve as an authentic introduction to the best of bush dance music, they could not go past the work of Warren Fahey’s Australian Bush Orchestra, now re-released through Rouseabout Records.

 Album links: Spotify: Apple Music: 

 

Friday, September 10, 2021

SHOWS AND SHOWIES



Sideshow Alley at the 144th Wagga Wagga Show, 2008 (Bidgee, CC 3.0)

 

The people who travel from show to show, in city and country, are a distinctive Australian folk group. Known as ‘showies’ or ‘showmen’ (never as  ‘carnies’, an Americanism), they have been driving, training and shipping their enetrtainments across and around the country for generations. Sideshow Alley has been an institution since at least the 1920s, though the origins of these much-loved entertainments are with the earliest colonial agricultural shows. Based originally on entertainments at British fairs, the Australian version evolved to include travelling tent shows of boxing, music, dodgems and increasingly hairy rides.

 

Here are a few links to sources that provide an insight into the  life and work of showies:

 

Read The Showies by Bob Morgan, based on interviews with show folk in the 1990s. Great photographs, too. https://www.rasv.com.au/media/3773/the-showies.pdf

 

Listen to Bob speaking with Rob Willis at https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2537974

 

Read a recent account of showie life today https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-15/life-on-the-road-showman-tell-all/100295574

 

Showmens Guild of Australasia https://www.showmensguild.com.au (also guilds in most states)

 

Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfShowmanSideshowAlleyCircusFamily/

 

Penny Gaff is a site on the Australian circus, but has a lot of material relevant to travelling shows of different kinds, including minstrels, magic lantern and Charles Thatcher gigs, among others. We can only imagine what delights were to be seen at the Star Theatre in Beechworth on 19 February 1864 when Professor Hall, ventriloquist and magician, appeared. https://www.pennygaff.com.au




Thursday, August 26, 2021

NEW REVIEWS FEATURE ON VERANDAH MUSIC


 

The Schaefer Band

We haven’t published CD/DVD reviews on Verandah Music, mainly because there are other outlets for these important notices and comments. But as many musicians and other creative artists are struggling right now, we thought it might be helpful to feature some of the great work that is still being done in spite of everything. These will interest our local readers as well as the many international visitors to this blog.

 

Reviews will be of Australian traditional music and song and contemporary compositions in those styles, complementing the other items we post. Folk performers generally put a lot of research into the numbers they record and that essential background is usually in the liner notes or booklet accompanying the CD, so you get entertained and informed at the same time.

 

We begin – in the post below - with Tony Smith’s review of Crossing the Line: Songs of the Southern Ocean by that estimable ensemble of salty seadogs, Forty Degrees South.

REVIEW: Crossing the Line: Songs of the Southern Ocean

Crossing the Line: Songs of the Southern Ocean


Forty Degrees South 



Reviewed by Tony Smith © 2021i

 

Shanties and other sea songs are enjoying an upsurge in popularity. Several groups are active around Albany and Perth particularly. The dedicated singers from groups such as ‘The She Shants’, ‘Shantylillies’, ‘Shantily Clad’ ‘The Kat ‘n’ Nine Crew’ and the ‘Lost Quays’ inspired an online hit ‘Wellerman’. In fact there are groups in all states and they congregate at special events such as shanty, folk and wooden boat festivals. ii The late Danny Spooner drew on experience as a mariner and love of the sea to produce several albums in collaboration with shanty groups. iii

 

Following the popularity of the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movies, Johnny Depp and others assembled the Rogues Gallery CD which was followed by a ‘Son of’ album. In Sydney, the inner city Redfern Shanty Club meets regularly and the veterans of 40 Degrees South are regarded as the club’s godparents.


The beauty of the 22 tracks on this group’s latest album Crossing the Line is that they focus on songs from the southern hemisphere. Of course, not all songs of the sea are work shanties. They include forebitters sung in the forecastle, ballads, capstan, pump and halyard shanties. Shanties typically use a call and response system for maximum audience participation or ease of singing while engaged in heavy or tedious work. Imagine whalers relaxing ashore in a tavern, thumping their tankards of rum on the table as they belt out the chorus to unwind after months at sea.

The four singers Margaret Walters, Chris Maltby, Don Brian and Tom Hanson are stalwarts of the folk music scene in Australia and beyond. They support each other with rich harmonies as each takes a turn with the lead. They are long term collaborators and their voices blend superbly. The common form of shanties is call and response often in the pattern: solo line 1, response A, solo line 2, response B. In ‘On the Middle Ground’ for example, the response runs ‘Whaling in the South Pacific’ then ‘On the Middle Ground’.

The liner notes are excellent. Don Brian is credited with the research and writing and the notes to the songs set a high standard indeed. Brian’s meticulous research is in evidence in his earlier album (with Sue Brian) The Convict Voice: Songs of Transportation to Norfolk Island and NSW. A good few of the songs are traditional: ‘Packet Ship (Bounty Shanty)’, ‘Bob Marney’, ‘Blood Red Roses’, ‘Ballad of the Catalpa’, ‘South Australia’ and ‘Across the Line (The Sailor’s Way)’. Even so, the notes give the provenance of each song explaining which versions are being sung here.

Some tracks are recent. Brian wrote the lyrics to ‘On the Middle Ground’ when researching whaling around New Zealand, and Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands in 2013 and they are set to a tune by evergreen folk composer John Warner. There is Bernard Bolan’s humorous ‘Rose Bay Ferry’ from 1973 and a very welcome inclusion is ‘The Birchgrove Park’ written by Merv Lilley in 1963 and set to music by Bill Berry. The ’60 miler’ collier en route from Newcastle to Sydney foundered off the Barrenjoey light with heavy loss of life.

In the early 1800s when Newcastle was known as Coal River, William Eckford, a forebear of mine and a former Royal Navy gunner, was harbour pilot and guided many vessels past the treacherous Nobbys Head. William had a famous brother Henry who made his name as a naval architect in North America. iv William’s daughter Jane married Frederick Horatio Dixon whose father had a shipbuilding yard in Southwark on the banks of the Thames. Frederick also had a famous brother John Poore Dixon who skippered a vessel called the Argo which seems to have disappeared mysteriously from Hobart Harbour. v All of my ancestors had arrived here by about 1870, so all came over the seas.

Despite these roots, I am not a very good sailor. I would probably be comfortable enough on a Murray River paddleboat, so it is good to see ‘A Nautical Yarn’ included. There are also three songs by Harry Robertson from the 1970s to 1990s are included and it is good to see ‘Ship Repairing Men’ acknowledged. Barry Skipsey’s 1979 ‘Ocean Liner’ arises from his experiences on a prawn trawler in Exmouth Gulf.

As might be expected some songs describe the transportation experience. ‘The Wind and the Waves’, written by Simon Cocker and Matt Woolley in 2010 tells the story of George Loveless, a Tolpuddle Martyr sent to Van Diemens Land in 1834. Harry Robertson’s ‘Assisted Passage (Whaling Barque)’ describes how the rolling of the ship ‘makes our irons clang as we pitch across the ocean to join the iron gang’. Having delivered their miserable cargoes, barques could then go whaling on the return journeys.

‘Whaling Wife’ (Harry Robertson 1971) and ‘Nantucket Girl’s Song’ serve as reminders that the seafaring life took its toll on relationships. While Nantucket is in the north, the song is from the 1855 diary of Eliza Spencer Brock whose husband was master of a ship that went whaling in the Pacific. The song is set to the tune ‘Lachlan Tigers’ and the lyrics are by Martha Ford, wife of the first surgeon in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand.

In a very modern touch the group provides a QR code which links to the lyrics! The album can be ordered online through Bandcamp (electronic and hard copies). Mind you, the singers present the songs so clearly that few listeners will fail to grasp the words. Forty Degrees South thank producer Christina Mimmocchi (herself an excellent singer) for her enthusiastic support, sound engineer Greg White, and Wayne Richmond (a respected musician) for Humph Hall venue. Just as there are mental and physical benefits to smiling and laughing, singing brings its own rewards. Crossing the Line will help you beat the lockdown.


*


Copies of “Crossing the Line” can be purchased at Bandcamp or by email from 

info@40degrees-south.com. The 40 Degrees website is at https://40degrees-south.com.


i Dr Tony Smith is a former academic who now spends time busking and writing songs and reviews. He lives in the bush in the NSW Central West.

ii For example, Albany International Folk ‘n’ Shanty Festival

iii See Danny Spooner https://dannyspooner.com/

iv See Henry_Eckford_(shipbuilder) Wikipedia

v See Argo_(1806_ship) Wikipedia

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

TOMMY THE AMBLER - TRACKING DOWN A LOST BUSHRANGER

                      McFarlane & Erskine, Bushrangers attack a gold escort, lithograph, 1879, NLA


Here’s a ‘boy’s own’ account of the capture of bushranger ’Tommy the Ambler’ (real name, Jones, maybe). Tommy displays proper bandit hero style – he escapes from jail, eludes the cops – for a while – rides a fine horse, carries a serious weapon and defies the police at the capture. Yet this bloke doesn’t seem to have made it into folklore. Maybe it was his nickname? ‘There was a wild colonial boy, Tommy the Ambler was his name’ doesn’t quite cut it, somehow.

However, we know a fair bit about the chequered career of Bogan Billy the tracker, see https://ia.anu.edu.au/biography/bogan-billy-30964

 ‘Wild Wright’ was a prominent sympathiser of the Kelly gang, still fresh in peoples’ memories at this time. Bushranging was a sensitive issue in the Lachlan. Long after Ben Hall, John Gilbert and the rest were dealt with, in the 1860s, the activities of this small-time crim could still be seen as threatening the community, with his ‘many friends in the district’ and a number of men allegedly seen in the scrub ‘armed to the teeth’. Or maybe it was just all newspaper talk?

 

A resident of Cannonbar thus describes the arrest of Jones, alias "The Bushranger":

When it became known that "Tommy the Ambler" had escaped from Bourke gaol, and had made his appearance in the vicinity of Nymagee, the greatest fear was entertained lest a second Kelly gang should be organised. It was known that the horsestealer had many friends in the district. Rumour after rumour succeeded each other in quick succession that five or six men had been seen in the scrub all armed to the teeth, and that "Wild Wright" was among their number. It is scarcely fair, however, to the inhabitants of either Cannonbar or Nymagee to say that they exhibited such alarm as has been described by some newspaper correspondents.

The residents of the last-named locality thought it better, if the rumour was found to be correct, to take some precaution against a sudden surprise, and prepared for the emergency. Fears, however, very quickly subsided when it was known that Mr. Inspector Granger, of Bathurst, had directed all the men available at the various police stations along the Macquarie and Bogan to go in pursuit, some of whom started from Cobar, Nymagee, and Cannonbar about the 2nd of the month, but did not proceed very far, in consequence of the contained rumours that a descent upon the Bourke banks was intended. Senior-constable Piggott, of Warren, arrived shortly afterwards at Cannonbar, in company with his two celebrated trackers and Constable Chaseling, and decided at once to take the bush for it. 

Almost from the time they started until the arrest of the principal offender it rained incessantly. The Cobar and Nymagee police worked nearer home. The bush, as has already been stated, was exceedingly boggy. The police learned, from inquiries, that the offender had been seen in various directions, which statements afterwards turned out to be false. During the time the police were out, they underwent the greatest privations. Afraid to light fires by night lest their movements would be noticed, and in a half starved condition, they followed up the tracks, till forced by hunger they retraced their steps to re-victual. Information was then given to the police that it was believed the bushrangers had been seen going north. Senior-constable Piggott discredited the whole story, and after giving his horses and men a few hour[sic] spell, again took to the bush, believing that the bushrangers were secreted somewhere in the scrub. 

They again set to work, and followed up the tracks. At the end of three days their provisions began to run short, and for the two following days the men were reduced to the greatest extremities. The rain obliterated the tracks for the most part, but where they were discernable they appeared to be getting more distinct. Senior-constable Piggott, encouraged by this, determined to push on. The trackers now began to proceed with more caution. Constables Chaseling, Cameron, and Atkinson (the latter said to be a splendid shot) kept their rifles in readiness to prevent a surprise. 

Suddenly, as if by magic, Bogan Billy, the tracker, pointed. Simultaneously the police and the escapee caught sight of each other. Tommy the Ambler was alone, there being no Wild Wright or other desperadoes, who had been spoken of as comprising the gang- only the one contemptible, small, but squarely-built individual, Jones. Contemptible, however, though he looked, he is said to be a very tine horseman and bushman, unequalled in the colonies for daring. On catching sight of the police, the offender took the bush for it. He was riding a splendid chestnut horse standing about 10 hands high. The scrub was exceedingly dense, and the offender was out of sight as if by magic. Constable Cameron fired his piece, but the bushranger was not to be intimidated by that, and when the echo of the rifle was dying out, could be heard the laugh and chuckle of the bushranger, as if mocking his pursuers. 

There was a heavy fence between them, and it was the work of more than a moment to remove it; but with a strong pull altogether, the obstacle was soon removed. The police remounted, and were soon again in pursuit. A short distance, however, and they were baulked again, by a dog-leg fence this time. Senior constable Piggott was first to take to it, finding his horse would not jump it, with him on his back, he got off and jumped the fence and was followed by his horse; then the trackers and the other constables followed. Several times were the horses bogged up to their bellies. There was this consolation, that the " Ambler" could not make more progress than the constables. 

After the lapse of half an hour, Senior-constable Piggott following the tracks of the fugitive caught sight of him, and giving spur again to his horse, was rapidly gaining upon him. But heedless of the challenge, he kept on till Piggott was within 300 yards of him, when, presenting his rifle, he again called upon him to stand. At this moment Jones looked around, and seeing that he was covered jumped off his horse. For a moment he seemed as if meditating as to whether he should fire or not, but dropped his weapon and held up his hands. Piggott was now alongside of him, and in a moment had him secured, and was in a few moments afterwards joined by his comrades.

 Piggott at once recognised Jones as a man he chased and arrested in 1878, on which occasion he followed him 1100 miles, which was very favourably commented upon at the time. The weapons the offender carried were in splendid order, and excellent ones for self defence, and he was loud in his challenges to the police to fight if allowed to do so. As has already been stated, the supposed associates of Jones were arrested almost simultaneously by the Nymagee and Cobar police. The police have started with their prisoner for Bathurst, and the excitement about the armed bushrangers has subsided, thanks to the efforts of the police. 

Wagga Wagga Advertiser, 27 June 1882, p. 2.

 

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

JIG DOLLS IN AUSTRALIA AND BEYOND



Musician and jig doller, Tony Smith, writes about the intriguing folk objects known as ‘jig dolls’, limberjacks’ or ‘marionettes a la planchette’. These are found around the world, but Tony is one of a small band of Australian jig dollers who busks with his own doll, ‘Henry’ (‘Henery’) in support of  Leukemia research and support.

 

Tony provides links to online performances by jig dollers in Australia and elsewhere, as well as an informative account of this folk art form, enlivened by his own experiences playing and jigging on the streets.  Read here.

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

AN AUSTRALIAN HUNTING SONG - 1867


 


Kangaroo hunting. No. 3, The death by S.T Gill in 1858. Picture: National Library of Australia

 

 

Here’s a little ditty from 1867 that reflects the settler fascination with shooting everything on sight. Not a great piece of literature, but an amusing sidelight on attitudes and also an indication that the bush ballad was nt the only way to write about the bush.

 

 

AN AUSTRALIAN HUNTING SONG.

[BY ONE WHO PADDLES HIS OWN CANOE.]

 

I've travelled about a bit In my time, of amusements I've seen a few.

But found all tame compared with the game of hunting the kangaroo.

Your wants are small, and you care not at all, so your dogs are but swift and true;

On your plg-skln across, you may shout till you're hoarse, as you follow the kangaroo.

 

If fond of sport of any sort, I'll try to prove to you

That there's no sort of fun can come up to a run

with an old-man kangaroo.

 

I like no strife, but enjoy this life as much as a man can do,

And don't think It wrong to spend all day long in chasing the kangaroo.

I lie down at dark, and ' rise with the lark,' and seek out a friend or two,

Who delight in the fun of a rattling good run with an old-man kangaroo.

 

Some talk of the Play, which is good in its way— that is, if it's something new,

But I think it folly, and not half so jolly, as hunting the kangaroo 

As on horse, with your dogs, over fences and logs, and swamps you go slushing through,

You care not for wet il you only can get a good run with a kangaroo.

 

If far from your home you should happen to roam, and your tucker is quite done, too ;

What need you desire but a good roasting fire, and steaks from a kangaroo?

For though hunted for pleasure, 'tis thought quite a treasure, by those who are fond of a stew,

And gourmands will stoop to a basin of soup from the tall of a kangaroo.

 

This parody's fair as far as it goes, but, better than that, 'tis true

That many men aim at less Innocent game than hunting the kangaroo.

And stories are told of those who have sold themselves and their fortunes too.

For the head of a woman— but give me the tail of a plump young kangaroo.

 

I'm fond of tales of any sort, but this is the tale that's true,

No tale you can tell will go down half so well as the tail of a kangaroo—

 

FOR SOUP.

 

 Hamilton Spectator and Grange District Advertiser (Vic. : 1860 - 1870)  Wed 17 Jul 1867  Page 3 

 

Monday, July 5, 2021

THE FIRST BUSH BALLAD – WHAT WAS IT?

Tom Roberts, Bailed Up!, 1895. Art gallery of NSW.


Can we track down the earliest bush ballad?

 

This characteristic genre of Australian folksong evolved alongside the colonial pastoral industries of New South Wales, southern Queensland and Victoria. Basically, these are songs about white blokes in the bush with sheep, horses and bullocks, often set to American popular tunes of the times, in four-line stanzas, mostly with a chorus. They quickly became established as characteristic expressions of the Australian pioneering experience.

 

But which was the first? ‘

 

The pastoral industry didn’t get underway until after the Blue Mountains were crossed and the western plains opened up and as settlers began moving north to what is now Queensland and south to what is now Victoria. So, the earliest isn’t likely to be until the 1830s, allowing a decade or two for the lifestyle, values and attitudes implicit in the bush ballad to evolve. Around this time we have a possible precursor in the form of ‘Bold Jack Donohoe’, the convict bushranger killed in 1830. It is not a bush ballad itself but is based on the British broadside ballad model, a form which also fed into the bush ballad. 

 

Russel Ward, a historian and so having an occupational imperative for establishing dates, implied (though that’s all) that ‘The Old Bullock Dray’ is from the 1840s (in his Penguin Book of Australian Ballads).

 

The classic ‘Click Go the shears’ is set to an American Civil War tune, suggesting the mid-1860s as a date, though it could  be later. By this time the bush ballad was in full flower. 

 

But by the late 1880s-early 1890s, ‘Banjo’ Paterson was collecting them, fearing they were in danger of disappearing. He eventually published his Old Bush Songs, by which time the bush ballad, at least as a song, was a bit of an artefact (though the style lived on in the reams of verse published by squadrons of bush rhymesters in local newspapers and some reciters, etc. up to World War 2 and even a little after).

 

So, I’m going for the 1840s as the rough date of the first sung bush ballad. Any advance on that?

 

GS

 

 

 

Monday, May 17, 2021

MYTHS, MEMES AND MUCH, MUCH MORE


This time in the Yarns of Oz we’re talking about urban legends, memes, factoids and conspiracy theories – all true, of course.

 

Remember – unless you heard it here - don‘t believe a thing you hear!

Monday, May 10, 2021

CONVICTS CAPERING, CLOGGERS CLOGGING ...

 


Get your clogs on! Here are some fascinating productions and resources from Heather Blasdale-Clarke and  the Early Colonial Dance folk:

 

WEB RESOURCE Dancing on convict ships

 

On a number of convict ships the surgeons actively encouraged the convicts in their care to dance. This regime was noted in their Medical Journals. 

 

"As I consider that tranquility of mind is most essential to bodily health…I therefore caused [the convicts] to be let on deck from an early time of the morning until the close of the day…They were allowed to amuse themselves by running about, dancing, or in any innocent way whenever the duty of the ship would admit of it." 

From the Medical Journal of William Leyson, Surgeon on the convict ship Henry Wellesley 1837.

 

Explore this exciting new addition to the website here 

 

PODCAST Heather Clarke is interviewed by Jennifer Twemlow about life onboard convict ships.

 

Life onboard the early convict transportation ships could be brutal. The mortality rate was often high. Dr Heather Clarke describes the conditions of these early voyages and the turning point that brought about better conditions for convicts. She also discusses a much-loved form of exercise on the ships - dancing and music. Listen now 

 

RESOURCE Traditional Australian clog dance.

 

Two of our recent performances at Samford and Cedar Creek have included displays of  English clog dancing.  This was an extremely popular pastime in colonial Australia.  Some of our dancers have asked to learn more.  Here's the story. 

 

And there’s even more at Australian Colonial Dance


Thursday, March 18, 2021

MORE ITALIAN POW VERANDAH MUSIC


 


Readers will recall our post on the work of Joanne Tapiolis about Italian prisoners of war in Australia during World War 2. Here are some more images from her research into music making at the Cowra, NSW, camp.


 

Joanne’s work has now been featured in Italy’s leading newspaper and you can follow it at  

https://italianprisonersofwar.com


Homemade banjo mandolin, Cowra camp

Sunday, February 28, 2021

COLLECTING LIFE STORIES AND TRADITIONS OF AUSTRALIA

 Interviewing Cathy Hutchinson, Tasmania, 2018


Rob and Olya Willis have been collecting oral history and folklore around the country for many years. Their collection is held in various archives, libraries and other scattered locations. 

 

We have prepared a brief guide to the collection and points of access to it in a new page on the blog titled ‘The Willis Collection of Life Stories and Traditions’. From here, you can access much of the collection online and/or onsite at various institutions and locations.


VERANDAH MUSIC AT TOBRUK



One of the ‘Rats of Tobruk’, Walter ‘Jack’ Darnley, cheered himself and his mates up during the battle of Tobruk with this trench-made masterpiece. A toothbrush, a dixie and few other bits and bobs became  the ‘Darnley Dixaline’, a classic hybrid of banjo and mandolin.

 

Read all about it here on your ABC (use it or lose it) …




Tuesday, February 2, 2021

The Man, the Woman and the Edison Phonograph: Race, History, Technology and Song — Zoom presentation

 


Sunday 21 February at 2pm by Zoom. Bruce Watson will give a presentation about the 1903 recordings of Fanny Cochrane Smith. These are among the earliest Australian sound recordings, the only audio recordings of Tasmanian Language. The story behind them encapsulates significant themes in Australia’s history.

The event is free, but you will need to register by clicking this link:  https://www.trybooking.com/BOHOF. You will receive the Zoom link by email from TryBooking when you have booked.

The Man, the Woman and the Edison Phonograph: Race, History, Technology and Song  —  Bruce Watson

Fanny Cochrane Smith was born in 1834 in the Flinders Island ‘exile’ settlement for Aboriginal Tasmanians. She suffered neglect and abuse, but learnt culture and language. Following Truganini’s death, she was the last person to hold this traditional knowledge. Her 1899 and 1903 wax cylinder recordings are the only recordings of Tasmanian Language made and have been pivotal in reconstructing palawa kani, the revived Tasmanian language. The recordings were added to the NFSA’s Sounds of Australia in its foundation year and added to the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register in 2017. This multi-media presentation will tell the story behind the photo of Horace Watson recording Fanny Cochrane Smith with surprising twists and turns and reverberations through history. It is a story of history, genocide, technology and the power of song.