The Spoken Word in Bush Poetry

[Gary Harding]

Thanks Catherine and Shelley

Collecting for me is really just the "means to an end", with that end being the creation of the major ($50 - $100mill) Australian Cultural Centre on the Sunshine Coast. Its literature section will be the best because it emphasises Australia's great bush poets... all 36 of them. It is never a museum but rather a place of broad-based education through entertainment with as many interactive, fun and participatory things as possible.

This proposed Centre in fact represents the nation's one and only chance to save its Culture and National Identity. You will be able to take yourself and your family there without risk of having your mind messed with... unlike less than savoury, government establishments.

So collecting over the years has had a definite purpose... and I am happy to share it with ABPA Members.

Shelley, I really liked your impressive recent work at Torbanlea State School. (see photo). That was very kind and generous. Sharing your knowledge of reciting. We ALL play our part I believe... whether as a skilled poet in a competition, reciter or being a (paid up) ABPA Member.

Catherine.. yes, it is a constant and wide hunt and I have found such treasures all around the world as well as locally. Keeping at that wide search is important though and I believe Luck plays a big part.
Thank you for your constant faith that never seems to waver, no matter what.

The Good News is that although not actually there yet, I think that finding a Partner for this $50 - $100m facility is getting close... and then hold on to your hat! Hooray!

[Gary Harding]

Cassettes

A number of bush bands produced work in the Cassette Era, these being cheaper than LP vinyl to produce I guess, and more portable for cars.

1. I have endeavoured where possible to pick these cassettes up (see picture below of sample) to add to the LP collection of the same bush band genre. Occasionally one finds a bush ballad recitation on them, as this was a part of what Bush Bands did then.
They can be re-recorded to digital files. (when I get the time)

2. I was delighted to discover a two-cassette set with tracks from the band I used to play in. (see pic) I remember the Vic. Education Dept were going to use those (recorded live) dance music tracks but I had never heard the outcome of that.. and there they were - after all these decades!

3. Also there is a recently acquired 1972 promotional poster as shown below for the Nariel Creek B&W folk festival. It has The Bushwhackers performing, and there is Dave Isom and Jan Wositzky! And Ian Marks is at the back too. 50 years ago!

The note on the poster says John Hill has his 130yo autoharp. According to Wiki this autoharp style was invented around 1882 making it 70 years old at maximum though.

Years later I was on that very same stage (see previous post dated June 12th ) at Nariel Folk Festival looking out across the oval. There is the tree to the right. Great memories like this are wonderful to have.

(Click on pics below to see pictures in detail.)

More importantly... the poster notes that this concert was recorded and broadcast by the ABC for "A Big Country" so one day (again when time permits) I will try and track this recording down and get a copy. It is all an important part of Australian Culture (Music) for exhibition in The Australian Cultural Centre.

[Shelley Hansen]

Great to see your talents included in your memorabilia, Gary - and thanks for the unexpected publicity for me as well! It is always a privilege and a lot of fun to interact with school kids. The Torbanlea State School (primary) set a fine example in featuring Australian poetry in their classes. Several classes this year are studying the life and work of Banjo Paterson.

Cheers
Shelley

[Gary Harding]

No worries Shelley ..you did a noble and important thing for the kids and you kindly support me here too.

You remind me again of how getting to kids is so vital, an area addressed by some ABPA members with their publications. I am surprised and pleased that these students are studying Banjo.

If you are ever invited to do it again, Torbanlea is 10 mins from here so I can perhaps contribute to your presentation with some classic Paterson items for the kids to see?
Especially the (framed) actual hand-written in 1901 verse by Banjo of his most incredibly moving poem "A Bunch Of Roses". Written for Pearl Dilke on the occasion of the 1901 visit by the Duke Of York. It is a real treat to view and an important physical connection with Paterson as well.

Competitions

You do a lot for Bush Poetry so here is a photo to bring back a memory. Your 2020 win in the prestigious Blackened Billy Award which is one competition where ABPA members seem to always make their presence felt. This year won by member Irene Timpone. I take an interest in this comp.

I believe that Bush Poetry is about The Present as well as The Past... although my particular special interest is past writers.

I will also post part of Catherine's (triple-winner) Judge's Report from The Blackened Billy Award of 2021. (click on it to view) I don't think that she will mind... more such reports need to be published I think. This one has so much wisdom and good guidance for balladists, written in a typically lovely way that does not lecture.

Cheers, Gary

[Gary Harding]

Working full time on The Australian Cultural Centre Project is fascinating.

Having a Vision for the Future is part of the job description.

Bush Poetry

1. The Main building is intended to house Australian Cultural displays which are mostly (but not all) arts-based. Obviously bush balladry features heavily in the interesting Australian Literature section with nearly forty exceptional bush poets individually presented to visitors. We try and relate to the present time too such that bush balladists of more recent times are not necessarily excluded. But the bar is set very, very high and nothing short of excellence would ever be considered. For example among several other criteria, one needs a quality publication and to be technically precise in writing... and a "bloody" anywhere in a verse instead of an adjective judiciously drawn from the immense and rich dictionary of the English language is an automatic exclusion.

2. From this Main building, it is also intended to eventually evolve "satellite" buildings with specific purposes.. and we have a tentative list of them.

One future building is slated to be a proper but modest "War Memorial". I have always had an interest in this field having accumulated a large military library most of which has been read and which sort of gives one an "understanding" without having actually served.

Local Military Museums tend to be a showcase of collected material .. hardware and endless medals. Very interesting and good, but often so much as to be quite confusing... and overwhelming to the degree that one leaves bewildered. (It happened to Karen's mother).

There are Cenotaphs in nearly every town and I find that while importantly these effectively command respect, they do not explain the Why of it all. The story. It is complex, but people I think rightfully want to know more?

There is the Australian War Memorial. I have previously related how their Commercial Division wanted to charge me $200 to scan two photos of soldier-poets, and this after all we are doing at our own time and expense for Australia! They are tasked with making as much money as they can out of what they hold in trust. Really lovely people. Also shown in the attached photo from the AWM is how they (respectfully and informatively??) present things. Kinda like a colour theme-park where you give a graphic artist open go. Insane. It is called "losing the plot"... to put it kindly (I could put it otherwise.)

Anyway fortuitously it all leaves the field wide open to us to do the Job properly for Australians. To more inclusively appreciate those who served and yet may not have made the supreme sacrifice but... And we will!!

The ANSWER is there and we are forever getting closer to it. With the help of some military buff mates here, we aim to get it absolutely spot on, keeping in mind the purpose of the exercise and not the architecture, light-show or artwork... and at a tiny fraction of the AWM's mind-blowing and profligate expenditure. It will out-flank them.

We are coming to get them......

[Gary Harding]

Year 2022 is drawing to a close and I would like to thank all those folk who have taken an interest in this post series.

Why Not Join The ABPA in 2023 ?

Anyone who is not an ABPA member and follows this series, should consider being a payed-up member. No, you don't have to, of course. BUT.. Why not look into your noble soul and if not already a member, give as well as enjoy; and support the Association. If you would like to have that feel-good thing that makes you sit a bit taller in your computer chair, knowing that whatever your circumstances, you are an Australian first, then please make the effort to join the ABPA in 2023. Plus you get to see the photos too, and experience the good friendships that membership brings. Money is only as good as what it can buy you, so why not put ABPA Membership top of your list.

CHRISTMAS

The general Christmas slowdown seems to be starting earlier this year.
For those with families etc, time to think about putting up the tree perhaps?.. and also for skilled bush poets to write or reprint Christmas verses.

Karen Christensen who does most of the brilliant production work, lost a brother suddenly last Christmas and had an operation around the same time. So, I am hoping this year will be much happier than last for her and her family... in order to make up for it a bit.

The Australian Cultural Centre Project


During 2022,I have endeavoured to share with everyone the further ups and downs of the Australian Cultural Centre Project. The joys and frustrations.

Love and Hate as well.

A passionate LOVE (of Australia and its people) to drive one forward and.... yes, hatred for governments of all types too. The literally billions of dollars they squander in their so-called "cultural institutions" (agenda-promoting institutions) including many under construction. All while we have to worry about the cost of inkjet cartridges for the printer. How they try and denigrate, destroy and over-write the very things that we are valiantly trying to preserve, proudly protect and respect... for all Australians.. past, present and future. Governments' relentless effort to (irreversibly) re-engineer Australian society. After all, you have to discredit and get rid of the old while replacing it with the amorphous mish-mash of the tribal new. That makes them all, especially Canberra, our sworn and evil enemy for as long as we live. For us, it is David and Goliath.. but then, look what happened to Goliath!

Henry Lawson would certainly approve of what we are doing.
...............

BANJO PATERSON

Although Banjo Paterson had a varied life, he is of course above all, The Great Poet. It is for his writing that he should be essentially remembered and featured. Like many other patriots including his first cousin Nathaniel, he contributed in WW1. (The cousins were close)

Anyway, we were inspired to gather up Banjo's and Nathaniel's WW1 military on-line service records from the AWM database... it must be one of the very few things a citizen can obtain from them without being charged fees. Notably however, the WW2 records were inaccessible to a mere peasant such as myself. Yep you guessed it, it would cost me. You had to have a membership costing around $300 as I recall. So a friend who was a member delved into that part for me. Thus enabling completion of this fine, respectful and noble volume. I object to people using this entrusted war material to extract money from taxpayers. It is just disgraceful. But as previously demonstrated, there are ways to foil the miserable, money-grubbing public servants! Imagine what they would have tried to charge me for those WW2 records if they demanded $200 for only 2 photo scans. Money, money!

Score me 2, them 0.

These records we reproduced on special acid-free paper and had bound by an expert bookbinder on the Gold Coast (see pic info). Total cost to me was several hundred dollars. Included in this weighty, special book are splendid photographs of the awards and decorations of both men that have been stunningly produced in replica form by us for the very first time anywhere. It had simply never been done before and unless there is a copy-cat, is still unique.

For some reason, Banjo's Queen's South Africa medal is generally ignored (or maybe its award is just unknown) and yet he truly and honourably earned it. It forms a part of the set of four military medals he was granted and entitled to wear. (in his letter that we painstakingly transcribed for the first time for the Barton family, he talks of eating snails on the veldt.. yuk!)

Love and Christmas Best Wishes to Everyone!! Gary xx

[Gary Harding]

You come across interesting things when you are gathering material.

For example at a recent auction...

For sale was a fragment of the red scarf that was held in front of a candle in order to stop the train carrying troopers into Glenrowan at the Kelly Gang siege event.
(also click on pic below for actual item)

"The end of The Kelly Gang, June 1880. A substantial piece of the red scarf which belonged to Thomas Curnow's sister, Catherine. Curnow, the school teacher at Glenrowan, held a lighted candle behind it to indicate to the driver that he should stop the train carrying the police party as it approached Glenrowan where the Kelly Gang had taken over Jones' hotel.
The Kellys had pulled up some rails, hoping to derail the train so that they could escape the police who were pursuing them."

I looked longingly at it because there is a vague idea to present Bushrangers as a cultural aspect including Edward Harrington's popular poem about The Kelly Gang. There are still bushrangers around today too; they just dress differently.

The Auction Estimate was $1,200 - $1,500.
.. too costly by far for my tiny piggy bank.

I watched it reach its final stellar price of $11,400 all up!!

So I guess someone must still love poor old Ned... and they certainly have far deeper pockets than me!

What would Ned Kelly think today if he was still around (and who is to say he isn't, at least in spirit). He would likely consider that there is more money in auctioning off everything he owns from his underpants and handkerchief to his shoes, than robbing banks!?

What Great Fun !

[Gary Harding]

A little-known but still praiseworthy bush poet is Claude Morris. (1908 - 1996)

He produced a soft-cover stapled book (56 pages) entitled The Legend Of Angel Creek and Other Bush Ballads . It can occasionally be found today for anything from $1 (which is what I happily paid) to $20.

Upon opening his book I thought that I might have discovered a treasure.. a forgotten poet-hero?... another Jim Grahame...but then I steadily became less enamoured. Somehow the poems just didn't quite "get there".. at least for me. It was difficult and disappointing.

Anyway he is still a poet who writes in the strict traditional style in every way, rhymes well and commands some respect for his contribution to bush balladry. I think that he is good with very occasional flashes of the excellence in lines that one might wish characterised all of his poems throughout.

Claude Morris is not a poet for exhibiting, much and all as I would really like to do it. Reading his lines, one gets to like him as a person though.

I have reproduced below Danny for those who would be interested in reading one of Claude's better verses. (click on image). This one is quite touching.

As always, I hope it is interesting for readers.

[Gary Harding]

The Sentimental Bloke

Here is our latest Beacon Magazine article. In it we introduce The Sentimental Bloke (by C J Dennis) to readers.

This article draws on our large exhibit for the proposed Australian Cultural Centre and was aided by material from Mr. John Derum who toured with his one man show, More Than A Sentimental Bloke. Also I obtained a quantity of material from Barry Watts who produced the lovely book The World of The Sentimental Bloke. There is far too much to ever photograph and post here.

John also appeared in an early episode of TV's Homicide with Leonard Teale (Reciter of bush verse). John said that he learned much from Len's coaching.

For interest, in this article we make mention of the pocket-watch Bill has.

I have a small, precious and loved collection of old pocket-watches, the earliest example being from around 1750. I prefer to think of them as classic "timepieces" and I have an odd tradition of wearing one to important occasions. The one Bill wears (see pic) is a rather weighty 1901 sterling silver, fusee (key-wind) movement, full hunter watch with a silver chain. It was originally retailed by J Lindner Jewellers of Wangaratta (Vic) (on watch-face) and info on them is online. By chance, the exact same watch came up for auction recently and fetched an impressive price of nearly $500.

The black and white photo of Bill and Doreen in what appears to be a heritage mansion-house staggered me.

Originally we sent with the article text, the attached colour photo of the pair thinking that it would feature. However the young girl graphic-artist who presumably knew nothing about The Bloke converted it to sepia (B&W), edited it and dropped it into a mansion background. An "at home" shot of them presumably?
What can one say?.. What would Bill say?.. a mansion indeed! but in the end you have to laugh.

I think the article below is actually well worth a read though.

[Shelley Hansen]

Great information of late on your growing collection, Gary.

I've been AWOL for most of the month of November for various reasons, so I'm just now catching up on the Forum posts. You are busy, as usual.

Looking forward to more of your research and collection gathering in 2023.

Cheers
Shelley