The Spoken Word in Bush Poetry

[Gary Harding]

TO CONCLUDE ..

On Saturday, 11th May 1946 , in the On Active Service column of The Sydney Morning Herald, two notices were placed. One by Jim Grahame and his wife and the other by family members including his siblings. This was the first anniversary of Kenneth's (young "Jim") death on active service.

I have taken the trouble to reproduce those SMH Notices below.

Jim also pays tribute to the 19 other young Australians who he refers to as the "brave comrades who died with him"

Extracted from War Records :

(Kenneth Gordon's) 2/3rd Pioneer were assigned joint responsibility for securing the south-eastern portion of Tarakan. The pioneers began advancing east of Tarakan Town on 7 May but encountered unexpectedly strong Japanese resistance. From 10 May, the battalion was halted at the 'Helen' feature, which was defended by about 200 Japanese troops. On 12 May Corporal John Mackey was killed after capturing three Japanese machine gun posts. Mackey was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for this act. During the fighting at 'Helen' B-24 Liberator heavy bombers were used for close air support for the first time, with P-38 Lightning fighters dropping napalm immediately after the bombing. This combination proved particularly effective, and became the standard form of air support requested by the Australians. The Japanese force withdrew from 'Helen' on 14 May after suffering approximately 100 casualties, and the 2/3rd Pioneer Battalion reached Tarakan's eastern shore on 16 May. The battalion suffered 20 killed and 46 wounded in this operation

Below is a photo of the 2/3 Australian Pioneers advancing along a track on Tarakan.

Also pictured is Jim Grahame working at his desk in the 1940's . This actual desk is retained today by a relative.

Home Leave and Departing. All to depart, but sadly some never to return.

Gary

[Catherine Lee]

Gary, I’ve been sitting here with a cup of coffee reading with immense interest and enjoyment your last few posts. It’s been a most refreshing change after all the recent screeds of paperwork and organizing I’ve had to do in relation to new visas, insurance and notifications related to upcoming retirement. Such red tape drives me crackers – especially when what one thinks is going to be a simple notification, whether to a bank or government department or whatever, ends up being a mountainous hassle of a task because apparently they want to know everything from what you had for breakfast when you were two years old just to prove you’re who you say you are (well, slight exaggeration but that’s what it feels like and it really does my head in!)…But enough of that because I’m starting to rant!

As I said, these posts have been a welcome and fascinating change. Firstly, “A sincere and profound love of Australia is my thing.” This is so true of you, Gary, and your collections are nothing short of amazing. Those examples of sheet music are indeed treasures, and clearly you have many more. That’s brilliant about your poem, The Lantern being set to music too; what an incredible feeling!... It seems to me that preserving the culture and history of a country is in many ways even more important than ever these days, so I certainly agree with you there as well.

Secondly, I am of course in agreement with you about the traditional ballad style of poetry and how those who are gifted at performing really do keep it alive in a significant way. Such performances will capture young minds at an early age and continue to entertain people of all ages… I once went excitedly to a Writer’s Festival in Darwin to hear performers recite, only to discover it was free verse that was riddled with foul language and disgusting imagery of bodily functions and parts. Needless to say, I came away deeply disappointed. Whilst I don’t write off free verse altogether, because there are some clever and beautiful works out there, for me this type of verbal sewage leaves me aghast and perplexed, especially when it wins awards. It seems to me that the more obscure and vile it gets, the more grants and whatnot are thrown at the writer, leaving me feeling like it’s a case of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” …But I digress – this incredible collection of LPs is truly enviable! What names, and some of their voices immediately came to mind as I read this post. Perfect elocution indeed, as well as the other talents and benefits you mention – and such a bargain – wow!

Finally, Jim Grahame – fascinating! I saw your reply to a post on Facebook this morning and was intrigued so was glad to see more information here on our forum. Do you have a date of birth for him by any chance? (I can’t seem to find one for my ‘Poets Birthdays’ page in FreeXpresSion, and am sadly not coming up with many poem examples I can copy and paste either)...You clearly have another wonderful treasure in your signed leaflet, and it’s a great idea to restore this and perhaps hand it out to visitors! I love the picture of him writing at his desk, and although obviously sad, the war reference is very interesting too….So you are a friend of Jim’s grandson – brilliant! I found out just this year that my friend Chris, the husband of my dearest friend in Sydney, is the great-great-grandson of Henry Lawson. I’m sure you can imagine how my jaw dropped at that moment!

Well, last time I was left green-eyed over your spectacular collection of Enid Blyton and Golden Books, but every treasure you unearth never ceases to amaze me! Thank you for a most enjoyable and educational morning’s read…and now I’d better crack on with the housework, ha!
Catherine

[Gary Harding]

Catherine, I am pleased to hear that you are entering the world of retirement and the change of lifestyle that can bring! Plenty of time then to explore the places in Thailand that you have not yet seen perhaps?

1. Answer : James William Gordon was born on October 23rd, 1874, at Bloody Gully, a mining camp near Creswick in Victoria.

2. Since coming across his book Under Wide Skies a long time ago and subsequently being knocked over by it, I've been a big admirer of his work. It was reprinted in softcover a few years ago by one of his descendants but sadly there appears to be no validated active reference to be able to purchase it anywhere. Maybe they sold out?

The original book of which I have accumulated many copies, is rare and and very expensive. You just won't get it.

3. There is a book about the great friendship between Jim and Henry Lawson : Mates - the Friendship That Sustained Henry Lawson, by Professor Gregory Bryan. See pic.

I mentioned Jim's grandson who is also Jim.

Below is a picture of Jim Grahame, bush balladist, with Young Jim (grandson) on his knee.

Here also is the reference to an audio that he produced about his grandfather. Jim lives in the USA currently.

A Tale of Two Poets by Jim Everett
(9 minutes Posted Oct 28, 2022 at 5:03 am).

https://podbay.fm/p/henry-lawsons-crumb ... FstDVh3Rqw

4. Thank you for your kind words about my posts.
Taken together, I think these posts over the years have formed an important repository of knowledge about Bush Poetry that I hope will be preserved.. but far more likely, Not so.
I suspect that the vagaries of software and hardware mean one glitch and it will all be Destroyed ...one day.... which will be a shame not for me but for future generations of ABPA Members and Australians. I know that is being negative, but ...

5. So your friend Chris (being the husband of your dearest friend in Sydney) is the great-great-grandson of Henry Lawson! The world of Bush Poetry is very small! And who knows whether some of that talent has not already helped by rubbing off on you, purely through that association!! Ha. You must get his autograph.. maybe on one of your books!

6. When governments throw $80,000 "prizes" at "poetry" which is verbal garbage as they have again just done in the so-called Prime Minister's "Literary" Awards, I get cross. It always comes with a strong "Don't forget to vote for us" message. Just as your Darwin Free Verse event full of crudity irked you. There is a lot to the machinations of this big cash Award if one were to take the time to get into the engine room of it fully.. who "judges" these awards, what do they get paid, who do they know etc... all interesting stuff. I would sack the lot of them.

So in reality, this PM's $80,000 tax free is not a noble exercise in rewarding poetic excellence... that should be obvious to even the most dim-witted person.. but an exercise in minority vote gathering. In Australia, it's a Your Turn, My Turn system of government, which I suppose is a form of democracy where one gets to choose between Bad and Badder political parties, with a result that can hinge on the swinging votes of a few. Thus ...identifying, chasing and buying controlling minority votes can be an effective tactic. This is an example and it certainly has Nothing at all to do with Australian Literature, that's for sure. Perish the thought!

If a left-handed basket weavers minority existed (I presume there isn't one) then I am sure their vote would be bought through the backdoor with some Award too.

Thank you again Catherine for your wonderfully supportive posts here.

They make me feel Good! and motivated. PLEASE keep them up actively. It is one thing to enjoy reading this series of posts, but it is another to take the time to say they are most refreshing. Gratitude is nice.
If I appreciate something that someone is doing for me for free, and for the love of the subject, then without hesitation I speak up and say so... no reticence or fear. Never ignore or turn the other way. It is something small in return. So... Thanks again Catherine!!!! Cheers Gary.

[Gary Harding]

Books and Culture

I have always enjoyed gathering books and in recent times these have favoured Australian subjects. In the old days, original Bush Poetry books could be readily had in musty antiquarian bookshops for very little.

Culture.. Australian Culture.. is a broad and flexible term. In lovingly developing The Australian Cultural Centre, one has the freedom to choose what can be included.

Visitors may say "before you tell me about your Culture, briefly tell me a bit about your country.. your geography, wildlife, history and the things that paint a picture of you." (without government political agendas slipped in)

The more one digs into the real Australia, the more interesting material there is to be discovered! A lot for two people really. One attempts to establish a Centre of sensory stimulation, knowledge and Entertainment... and never a museum.

.. anyway...

Droving

Most people know that moving mobs of livestock is droving. It was mentioned often in Banjo Paterson's bush ballads. Henry Lawson also saw and wrote about the romance of the saddle.

I bought the book (pictured below) at a charity book sale not thinking much of it, just another coffee table, picture book.. but was delighted to find that it told the story of the 2013 job of droving 15,000 head of cattle overland from Winton Qld to Hay in NSW. Apparently the cost of road transport was line ball with taking them overland so the Owner said let's go for it boys!!

"During 2013's severe drought, South Australian farmer Tom Brinkworth purchased 18,000 cattle from AACo properties. The $8 million transaction was the largest single purchase in the history of Elders Livestock. Having purchased the cattle, the next question was how to get them home to Brinkworth's 35,000 hectare property Uardry Station near Hay, New South Wales. Doing the sums, the cost of trucking the cattle was roughly the same as walking them down. The journey started in June 2013, covering 2000km and crossing two states, as the cattle were walked south 'On the Long Paddock'."

That epic droving story, complete with excellent photographs (Alice Mabin) was thus enshrined. It is interesting more than riveting.
This means that droving is not just a thing of the past to be celebrated by the good bush balladists, but of the present day Australia too.

Paterson's Ride and Droving

I have personally crafted the tale of "Paterson's Ride" where Banjo Paterson himself saves the day for some drovers who were moving a big mob of sheep. This was a Ride that in its drama, horsemanship and thrills left the Man From Snowy River's short, downhill, fun dash far behind. A tale told and re-told by bushman for generations... the story of the incredible Paterson's Ride.

But that's another story...

Droving Poems

Banjo Paterson of course wrote In The Droving Days, With The Cattle, The Maranoa Drovers, Ballad of The Drover and Clancy Of The Overflow..
I once wrote a poem entitled The Drover's Wife and make no claim as to its merits. Below it is copied from a post in Australian Rhyming Poets FB page edited by Maureen Clifford.

I think if one is to criticise Free Verse and the pompous nonsense of The $80,000 Federal Government's Prime Minister's "Literary" Award for "Poetry", then rather than be an armchair critic, it is necessary to roll up one's sleeves and try and show what Traditional Australian balladry can do. How it can tell a story in a few lines and move the Reader.

As below, the feel of droving and associated subjects can be captured.

Gary

[Gary Harding]

Of the many Australian Cultural items we procure, vintage postcards that have special Australian appeal are a favourite.

Typically, cards like this one.. featuring a few lines of verse :

Just a greeting in remembrance,
From me you'll gladly take.
With love and all good wishes,
For old acquaintance sake.

Greetings from the Land of the Southern Cross

Isn't there a pride in Australia, our own land, that comes across? Fabulous!

Even if we have to reach back over a 100 years to find it, it almost brings a tear.

Some of the Flowers shown are "Waratah and Wattle" which was also the title of a lovely ballad (1905) by Henry Lawson.

Great fun!

[Shelley Hansen]

Hi Gary

Such comprehensive posts as always - and such treasures!

Keep up the great work.

Cheers
Shelley

[Catherine Lee]

Yes indeed, always very comprehensive and fascinating posts, Gary. This droving book is a real treasure, and I must say I love your poem, The Drover’s Wife - with this you have certainly proved your point about showing what traditional balladry can do! Also, I too love old postcards like the one you show here. Thank you for a most interesting and enjoyable read.

[Gary Harding]

Thank you Shelley and Catherine. XX

It is nice to have the work that I present here sincerely appreciated. I try and make it all different and interesting .. with the occasional plug for The Australian Cultural Centre Project... of course.

Catherine, yes (some) old postcards are real treasures and hard to find.. good fun!

Our task is to preserve and showcase Australia's unique cultural aspects (incl bush poetry), national identity and achievements... etc. Not a museum but a place of fun and entertainment instead.

With Remembrance Day coming up, I look at the people waving flags, the speeches made and even the poems written and they all seem to ring hollow. I think how those blokes who fought would have cheered this Project on. "Good on you Cobber!" It is precisely what they fought for after all.
And yet barely a hand is raised in support of this Vision. Not a billionaire in sight either who would say "Beauty mate, lets get this done, at least for the sake of those blokes who gave their lives for what this project is doing". Nothing. And yet cynicism achieves nothing... You press on believing in Victory, for your country. Those blokes would have encouraged that, I'm sure.

... speaking of Victory....

V-Disc ("V" for Victory) was a record label that was formed in 1943 to provide records for United States and Allied Armed Forces around the world.
Between October 1943 and May 1949, the armed forces produced over eight hundred releases and distributed over eight million 12” 78rpm vinylite V-Disc records to service personnel worldwide.

This was done royalty free by the recording artists in the interests of the war effort.

Anyway....

Josh White was a black (American Negro) singer and musician. His name must have caused much confusion.

"Waltzing Matilda, was an Australian folk song taught to White by an Australian sailor backstage at the Cafe Society. White re-arranged the song in a waltz tempo and then donated his services to the government by recording it the next week for the government's V-Disc label to boost the morale of the troops overseas; it was an immediate hit. "

**The Café Society nightclub, located in New York's Greenwich Village, was the first integrated nightclub in the United States. Blacks and whites could sit, socialize and dance in the same room and enjoy the entertainment.

WALTZING MATILDA

This recording was responsible for the wide promulgation of Waltzing Matilda among Americans who naturally took the memory of it home with them. Little ole farm boys from Kansas who would never have otherwise heard of Waltzing Matilda, now knew it... and loved it... and the song stayed embedded in the American psyche.

Thus this V-Disc from our extensive Waltzing Matilda exhibition played a very important Australian cultural role.

We have a UNIQUE (no thieves or copiers) and special display of this precious and rare record that played its part in winning WW2, and promoting WM overseas. Would the war have been won without it??? Who knows.


Notice the label states "Outside Start". Put the needle down on the outside of the record to start playing it...which may seem obvious to us... but not so to some of the troops, it seems.

It is both an Honour (and a Responsibility) for the Australian Cultural Centre Project to have this rare and culturally important record for the enjoyment of our visitors.

[Catherine Lee]

Wow, that is a fascinating read, Gary, and an incredible treasure in your display! ....You'd think there'd be loads of high profile Australians wanting to get behind your wonderful Project - I find it quite baffling that there are so few in evidence.

[Gary Harding]

Catherine,

1. When this Project started, people said "Oh, you will be bowled over by wealthy people wanting to Partner you, put their money to good use, manage the exercise...and in return (rightly so!) have their names enshrined for future grateful generations". Not so it seems.. at least not so far anyway. Surely there must be one patriot in Australia!? To the astonishment of many, there are ten Chinese Cultural Centres in Australia already. Yep... ten. Lots of votes there! Seems we are the only ones to count those "Cultural Centres" up. Odd.

In comparison, how much easier is it to write a cheque for a painting or for some fashionable Cause... a no-brainer if you have the money. You get empty and ephemeral applause from cocktail-sipping nongs and a short-lived, feel-good buzz. Useless. OR shuffle money offshore to Feed the Women and Children stuff with no accountability for it. How Feel Good would that be if you had the courage to insist on knowing precisely where your money REALLY ended up!?

Luckily there are still doors to knock on. No need to hire a dumpmaster.... yet!

2. Yes... old postcards can certainly be a lead-in to good things.

Usually I grab one if it is relevant, provided the purse strings are loosened at the time!

This is such a postcard. It was likely produced in 1916 - 1919.

AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE

Ginger Mick by C J Dennis (see below) came out in October 1916.

"The call wot draws all fighters to the fray,
It come to Mick, an' Mick, 'e must obey!"

Surprisingly, some cards scan exceptionally well on high-res.

So this card is being produced in a larger size, then board-mounted along with a book and a short explanation etc added. All on a burgundy velveteen-covered main board. Touches of gold here and there.

At The Australian Cultural Centre Project, we have a very Major exhibit of C J Dennis. Entertaining, colourful, dynamic and interactive.

Seems silly but with the billions that flow into jobs in Government Institutions, it takes two people to now be doing this. But then, isn't that the story of Australia.... the spirit of the Diggers... small intrepid people doing BIG Things for their country?