‘Bards of the Backblocks: Knights of Chance’, <em>The Bulletin</em>, 26 May 1900.
Adventuring, Australian national character, backblocks, bard, city, E. J. Brady (1869-1952), Federation, freedom, knight, lance, nationalism, romanticisation, rural economy, New South Wales, NSW.
To describe everyday life in colonial Australia as entirely rural-based in 1900 would be misleading, for the country’s major urban centres, particularly Sydney and Melbourne, housed much of the population and fuelled its commercial vitality (see F. K. Crowley (ed.), <em>A New History of Australia,</em> Richmond, William Heinemann, 1984, p. 261). Yet, the author of these verses, E. J. Brady, romanticises the ordinary Australian’s willingness to ‘chance their luck’ on bold ventures: E.g., prospecting for gold, running sheep and cattle in the water-scarce ‘backblocks,’ harvesting pearls in the N.W., and shipping commodities all over the world. Brady clearly favoured the “adventuring life,” valuing rural freedom over machine-shop slavery in the noxious urban sprawl (Louise D’Arcens,<em> Old Songs in the Timeless Land: Medievalism in Australian Literature 1840-1910</em>, Turnhout, Brepols, 2011, p.141). The propensity for romanticising the Australian present by conflating it with a medieval past was not unusual at the time. The Bulletin published (and made room for) quite a lot of this type of ‘backblocks’ versification, which “was not only determinedly populist and disposable but also extremely cursory in its medievalism, ransacking the popular imaginary indiscriminately for tropes and terms that signified instantaneously and superficially as ‘medieval’” (D’Arcens, 19). That much is apparent from the poem, with its comparatively stock imagery and reliance on ‘the bygone days of yore’ for inspiration: the “Barons of Bold Adventure, Kings of the stout free lance”. Yet Brady, who was a long-standing member of the Australian Socialist League (See John B. Webb, A Critical Biography of Edwin James Brady 1869-1952, University of Sydney PhD Thesis, 1972 p.9), evidently envisaged entire communities of unburdened ‘emancipated’ workers “roaming the countryside and working at will,” like so many questing medieval knights (D’Arcens, p.140). It is likely that Brady was appealing to the resolve that was forming and cohering as a result of the recent Federation debates (c. 1897-98) which, having filtered down into everyday exchange sought to persuade and unite the colonies under the one flag and banner.
E. J. Brady
The Bulletin
The Bulletin
26 May 1900 (p. 3)
Public Domain
‘Jack Cade: A Tribute to the Much-Maligned Patriot (see ‘Henry VI’ Second Part. Act IV. Scene X)’, <em>The Bulletin</em>, 8 December 1894.
Alexander Iden, doggerel, Henry VI Part II, Jack Cade, John Bull, Kent, London, poetry, political commentary, rebellion, revolt, roast beef, verse, Victor J. Daley (1858-1905), William Shakespeare (c.1564-1616).
Victor Daley was an Irishman who came to Australia as a young man. He wrote romantic verse and was referred to by Vivian Smith as, “one of the most attractive poets of the nineties in Australia” (Vivian Smith, ‘Poetry’, <em>The Oxford History of Australian Literature</em>, ed. by Leonie Kramer, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1981, p.319). He also wrote under the pen-name Creeve Roe (trans. ‘Red Branch’), which conjures the image of a “Celtic bard singing ancient songs” in an unmistakably Antipodean context (Louise D’Arcens, <em>Old Songs in the Timeless Land: Medievalism in Australian Literature 1840-1910</em>, Turnhout, Brepols, 2011, p.124). In this period poem, Daley praises the memory of Jack Cade, a Kentish rebel leader who died in 1450. The poem critiques Shakespeare’s treatment of Cade in Henry VI, Part II. Daley’s objective seems to be setting the record straight and praising Jack Cade for his courage. He also seeks to summon local resistance to social values that he thinks have no place in an Australian bush setting. Addressing the English Bard directly he states, “I think thy mediaeval / social views suit not this clime.” The denouement, which involves a fight between the well-nourished Kentish squire Alexander Iden and the near-starving disconsolate rebel Cade, produces imagery of John Bull, over-stuffed with English beef, taking-on those who are ill-prepared for resistance. It is a decidedly one-sided encounter, and the outcome – Cade’s death – is never seriously in doubt. The rationale for condemnation is that the likes of Alexander Iden, depicted “Gasconading in his garden,” frequently attract undeserved honours and knighthoods, while the impoverished people (Jack Cade among them) fare ignominiously. The poem closes after encouraging the downtrodden to take their lead from Cade, and concludes with a toast to the memory of his brave deeds.
Victor J. Daley
The Bulletin
The Bulletin
8 December 1894 (p. 22)
Public Domain
‘Eating the Leek’ (Henry V, Act V, Scene I), <em>The Bulletin</em>, 4 March 1893.
Cartoon, Fluellen, Henry V, John Bull, medieval costume, Pistol, political cartoon, politics, Shakespeare, Sir George Richard Dibbs (1834-1904), Sir Robert William Duff (1835-1895), theatre, New South Wales, NSW politics, William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), William Shakespeare (c.1564-1616).
This political cartoon by ‘Hop’ enacts a scene from William Shakespeare’s historical play, <em>Henry V</em>. In the scene, Fluellen the Welshman angrily berates the unfortunate Pistol, a crony of Sir John Falstaff, and forces him to eat a raw leek. The cartoon, Louise D’Arcens suggests, uses this rather cryptic information “to depict the recent appointment of the New South Wales governor Sir Robert Duff by the British Prime Minister Gladstone,” (Louise D’Arcens, <em>Old Songs in the Timeless Land: Medievalism in Australian Literature 1840-1910</em>, Turnhout, Brepols, 2011, p.182). The ‘leeks’ both seem equally unpalatable to the protesting recipient(s): Pistol and the Premier Sir George Dibbs respectively. The fact that Mr Gladstone and Her Majesty’s Government would appoint the next Governor without approval from the NSW Government indicates the lesson in humility that was forced upon the colony by Whitehall. Ironically, the John Bull figure holds a switch with the words ‘Silken Bond’ written upon it. This sounds suspiciously like “an iron fist in a velvet glove” rationale to contemporary ears.
Livingston York Hopkins (‘Hop’)
The Bulletin
The Bulletin
4 March 1893 (Cover)
Public Domain
‘Parkes and the Templars’, <em>The Bulletin</em>, 3 September 1887
alcohol, Bulletin, drunkenness, I.O.G.T., New South Wales, NSW, piety, pledge, poem, politics, Sir Henry Parkes (1815-1896), state politics, temperance, Templars.
This poem has links with medievalism through its reference to ‘the Templars’. However, the Templars to whom it refers are not the famous medieval order of crusading knights but rather the crusading nineteenth-century temperance society, the I.O.G.T. The anonymous writer accuses Sir Henry Parkes (P-RK-S) of joining with, or rather of making use of, the temperance league for vested political interests. Presumably, the wily NSW premier was being accused of securing temperance votes by any means possible; including offering false ‘pledges.’ At the time, Parkes was into his fourth premiership, which he secured on a Free Trade ticket. He later managed to attain the office for a fifth time, equalling the accomplishment of his old rival Sir John Robertson. It is unlikely that Parkes ever seriously entertained the idea of enforcing temperance on the colony; he was too canny and his own fondness for champagne was too well known (see A. W. Martin, 'Parkes, Sir Henry (1815–1896)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/parkes-sir-henry-4366" target="_blank">http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/parkes-sir-henry-4366</a>). He did, however, “regulate the liquor trade” in 1881, which pleased the temperance groups momentarily. The final stanza of the poem announces “When all the world is turned teetotal / Then P----s will leave the pleasant bottle, / But that’s in dim hereafter.” The anonymous Bulletin contributor also upbraids Sir Henry (and presumably politicians in general) for failing to maintain and justify ‘broken’ political pledges, for reasons only hinted at here.
Anonymous
The Bulletin
The Bulletin
3 September 1887, p.8
Public Domain
‘White Knight’, The Bulletin, 17 November 1894
‘pedigree hunting,’ armor, armour, battle, civic administrator, Edmund Gerald Fitzgibbon 1825-1905, genealogy, Jubilee Peerage, knight, kookaburra, lineage, Melbourne, Melbourne & Metropolitan Board of Works, Thomas C. Durkin (1853-1902), town clerk, Victorian politics, White Knight of Kerry
In this cartoon from The Bulletin in 1894 a serious-faced Edmund Fitzgibbon, fully-armoured and seated astride a caparisoned Kangaroo instead of a steed, charges off to give battle to an unnamed adversary. On a handy perch (a sign pointing to India), a little kookaburra laughs at his antics. In fact, Fitzgibbon is offering ‘battle’ to those who question his right to refer to himself as the White Knight of Kerry. Like other public figures of this era, Fitzgibbon was determined to add substance to his reputation and public persona through the discovery (or invention) of long-forgotten yet “illustrious antecedents†(Louise D'Arcens, Old Songs in the Timeless Land: Medievalism in Australian Literature 1840-1910, Turnhout: Brepols, 2011, p.24). Fitzgibbon was town clerk, and later chairman of the Melbourne & Metropolitan Board of Works. The determination of up-and-coming Australians to improve themselves by heaping-up honours and collecting famous ancestors was also responsible for Hop’s amusing 1887 ‘Australian Jubilee Peerage’ cartoon.
Durkin, Tom
The Bulletin
The Bulletin
17 November 1894 (p. 14).
Public Domain
Journal (Microfilm)
English
Travelling-Foodies: Robin Hood of Regional Tourism!
Blog, digital marketing, marketing, Nicholas Parkinson-Bates, regional tourism, Robin Hood, Travelling-Foodies, Travelling-Foodies: Robin Hood of Regional Tourism!, tourism, Tourism Channel, website.
<p>The Travelling-Foodies blog includes an entry made on June 15, 2012, titled ‘Robin Hood of Regional Tourism!’. The entry reports that the Tourism Channel were providing free websites for small regional towns, helping them to promote their attractions to tourists. One of the founders of the Tourism Channel, Nicholas Parkinson-Bates, is quoted as saying ‘We like to think of ourselves as the Robin Hood of tourism’. The quote refers to the free help being provided to poorer towns, and how it is similar to the legend of Robin Hood taking from the rich to help the poor. </p>
<p>The blog can be found at: <a href="http://travelling-foodies.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/robin-hood-of-regional-tourism.html">http://travelling-foodies.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/robin-hood-of-regional-tourism.html</a></p>
Travelling-Foodies
June 15, 2012
Travelling-Foodies
Website
‘Lays of Contemporary Chivalry’
chivalry, doggerel, knight, knighthood, lampoon, satire, peerage, popular anti-medievalism, social pretention
These light-hearted verses describe the endeavours of a motley band of ‘gallants’ with dubious social origins, who jostle and vie for the hand of Lady Podophylline Musa Miggs, daughter of the Baron of Potts Point, in Sydney. These are but two of the made-up names of the various ‘aristocratic’ protagonists and suitors. Others are: Lord Golfo McGuff, Sir Perryman Pym, and the Marquis of Manganese. Add to these the two front-runners, Sir Peblar de Bart, and Sir Jago Phipp, and the tale gets underway with a smirk. It is clear from the outset that, “It is difficult to grasp the point of the [...] rather silly narrative†(Louise D'Arcens, Old Songs in the Timeless Land: Medievalism in Australian Literature 1840-1910, Turnhout: Brepols, 2011, p.145). Indeed, there is little more than lunacy (or moon sickness) contained within the poem’s doggerel verses. Even keeping track of the events leading to the outcome requires perspicacity. This is popular medievalism run amok in the Antipodes: a satirical commentary on these not so ‘gentle-born’ knights, a fair maiden, and her father ‘the baron,’ along with a veritable fortune or dowry comprised almost entirely of chickens and pigs! The maiden finally succumbs to the blandishments of a coachman, while the others jettison their chances through various foolhardy intrigues and disappear to places obscure.
Anon.
The Bulletin
The Bulletin
16 May 1885 (p. 22).
Public Domain
Journal (Microfilm)
English
‘Gratuitous Pugnacity’, The Bulletin, 3 March 1888.
Colonies, debt, Federation, free trade, government, internal debts, knight, Knight Henry, Phil May (1864-1903), Sir Henry Parkes, NSW Politics
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">Cartoonist Phil May here encapsulates the main problems of a premature pitch by NSW for Australian Federation. The doughty knight (Sir Henry) is ready to do battle with ‘all and sundry,’ for he needs to pay off (or perhaps unload the responsibility of) his debts. The symbols of his fiscal carelessness are daubed on his surcoat and shield. This was a sticking point in the Federation debate, where the difficult question “Who would take responsibility for the unequal debts and liabilities of the [other] colonies?” frequently arose (See Beverley Kingston, <em>The Oxford History of Australia: Glad, Confident Morning 1860-1900</em>, vol. 3, Oxford: OUP, 1993, p. 56). Indeed, this question was still being debated at the 1910 elections (See, for example: </span><a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15142572" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15142572</span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">). While Sir Henry is keen to push forward, the female figure in the cartoon - ‘That State House’ - wears mourning black and remains unconvinced, for it is she who will have to find the money and manage things should the need arise. The State House in question is most likely the Senate, the then much debated Upper House of the projected Federal Parliament (See R. C. Baker, <em> Federation</em>, Adelaide: Scrymgour & Sons, 1897, p. 4).</span></span>
May, Phil
The Bulletin
The Bulletin
3 March 1888 (p. 13)
No Copyright
Journal (Microfilm)