Stockmen & Station Life

Stockmen & Station Life

Stockmen & Station Life Farmers and graziers have a running joke – that city slickers live under the belief that all food – including  bread, meat and dairy – miraculously comes from the  local supermarket.   They could be...
Songsters and Singing Rooms

Songsters and Singing Rooms

Songsters and Singing Rooms I’VE GOT THE MUSIC RIGHT HERE IN MY POCKET. THE ROLE OF SONGSTERS IN AUSTRALIAN MUSIC Songsters are generally pocket-sized song books used to commercially distribute the words of popular songs of the day. Some later songsters carried...
Superstitions, Ghost Stories & Urban Myths

Superstitions, Ghost Stories & Urban Myths

Superstitions, Ghost Stories & Urban Myths (Warren Fahey) I was raised as a rationalist and skeptic. It’s in my nature to doubt and question. Ghost stories, superstitions and urban myths are stock-in-trade for folklorists. I acknowledge and thank Robb Tilley...
Shearers and the Wool Industry

Shearers and the Wool Industry

Shearers and the Wool Industry The old-time shearer was perhaps the most colourful of all itinerant bush workers, working hard, drinking hard and probably talking too much or too little. The many songs, recitations and yarns by or about shearers present them as tough,...