..speaking of Ned Kelly..
When I was in a band, we would sing the fashionable Ned Kelly songs!
All the lyrics were sympathetic to Ned of course ... he was a larger than life character for sure.
"So with income tax and sales tax and the price of taxi cabs,
And the way they charge these days for a few beers and packet of smokes
I say to myself..... old Ned and his mates
They weren't such bad blokes!" from the song "Poor Ned Kelly"
One day I decided to read a book about Ned (there are dozens of them) and see who he really was. Try and figure him out. Condemn him or be sympathetic.
It was impossible to conclude anything. It was a story... of events in those times.
Did the punishment fit the crime?
I am not one for blindly applying today's justice and values (such as they are) to crimes that happened in a different society 100 or 200 years ago.
Perhaps today Ned would be labelled a cop-killer? Would he be hailed as a Robin Hood and featured on Celebrity Serial Killer on TV!? poor old Ned.
Years ago I tried to write a poem about Ned Kelly.. it has never been published or polished.. pretty basic poem so it can stay in the bottom drawer from whence it came.
FAREWELL NED KELLY
I sing not of heroes or those gone before
Who fought for their rights or who upheld the law,
But of infamous deeds and the murderous spree,
That marked the short life of one Edward Kelly.
From Stringybark Creek to Jerilderee's town,
His gang roamed at will hard pursued by the Crown,
They ambushed the sergeant and filled him with lead,
Then shot him again to make sure he was dead!
So sadly Beth Kennedy watched by the door
In vain for her husband returning no more
Two fatherless children Ned left in his wake
To weep for the life he had no need to take.
Ned's clever defence — to make reason excuse
Was dismissed, as it should, for the judge had no use
For a murderer cruel who would kill without thought,
And a sentence of death was the verdict he brought.
Thus ended the life of that bold villain Ned.
Enough has been writ and too much has been said.
He died as he lived without care or remorse,
And few shed a tear when the law took its course.
So farewell Ned Kelly and good riddance too.
My contempt for the fools who would deify you.
May your soul be condemned, may you never find peace,
From your murderous spree we have found our release.
Gary Harding (year unknown.)
Well I must have been negative towards him then.. ! haha
Beth Kennedy certainly was at that time.... but now I have mellowed.
Ben Hall was different...
I once met a lady who told me that she had a female relative who was bailed up by Ben Hall. She said to Ben "I thought that Ben Hall was a gentleman who did not rob ladies!" Ben turned on his heels and departed without robbing her.
I have no reason to disbelieve that family story.
Cheers, Gary
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