Collectors of Australian Folklore & Music
The Folk Song Collectors.
Australia has been good at preserving its bricks and mortar and wattle and daub heritage but not so good at preserving non-material history, particularly folklore. We have no Smithsonian Institute dedicated to collecting and preserving folklore. Still, thankfully, we do have the National Library of Australia and some dedicated oral history institutions, including the National Film & Sound Archive and various State Library Collections, that have assumed this responsibility. The ongoing collection of folksong in Australia has been performed, mainly since the 1950s, by dedicated and self-financed individuals. This is a testament to their determination and work. (Warren Fahey) This is a partial list of collectors, and I sincerely apologise for any glaring omissions. Acknowledgement is given to Wendy Lowenstein, Shirley Andrews (Dance), John Hapley, Alan Scott, Bill Scott, John Marshall, Bill Wannan, Mary-Jean Officer, and Brad Tate. This section of the site will be expanded in the near future.
John Meredith. (1920-2006) Meredith pioneered the collection of Australian folk songs in the early 1950s, and his recordings, manuscripts, and photographs became a major foundation of the nation’s understanding of its cultural inheritance. He was instrumental in the founding of the Bush Music Club. The Meredith Collection is housed at the National Library of Australia. There is a book on John’s life by Keith McKenry (‘More Than A Life: John Meredith and the Fight for Australian Tradition’).
Norm O’Connor (1923-) Pat and Norm O’Connor, sometimes in association with Bob Michell and Mary-Jean Officer, as members of the Folk Lore Society of Victoria, collected extensively in the 1950s and 60s. They were instrumental in assembling the landmark recording ‘Traditional Singers and Musicians of Victoria’ Wattle Recordings. The O’Connor Collection is housed in the National Library of Australia.
Ron Edwards (1939-1908) was an artist, craftsman and publisher of over 300 books. For over 50 years he learned and preserved bushcraft skills such as saddlery, leather weaving of whips and belts, mud brick making, toolmaking, Chinese medicine and Indigenous crafts. He wrote and illustrated 10 volumes of books on bushcraft alone. Ron was also one of the pioneers of the Australian folk song and bush yarn revival. He was a major collector of Australian folk stories and also of Torres Strait Island songs. His 12-volume work Australian Folk Song lists 4,680 entries of bush songs, recitations, children’s rhymes, very rude verses, convict broadsides and sea shanties. He was President of the Australian Folklore Society, editor and publisher of the quarterly magazine Australian Folklore Society Journal and founder of Rams Skull Press. In 2023 a book on Ron’s life by Keith McKenry was published ‘Ron Edwards and the Fight for Australian Tradition’. You can order Keith’s books at fangedwombat@bigpond.com
Rob Willis (1944-) Willis, sometimes in the company of fellow collectors Olya Willis and John Harpley, has been one of Australia’s most consistent collectors. Noted oral historians, their extensive collection is housed in the Oral History and Folklore Section of the National Library.
Bob Michell. The late Michell was a contemporary of John Meredith and a mentor to Warren Fahey during his early years. He collected in Victoria with Norm O’Connor and in Queensland with Stan Arthur. Part of his collected material is housed in the Warren Fahey Collection at the National Library of Australia.
Ewan MacColl (1915-1989) and Peggy Seeger (1935-). These internationally recognised collectors and performers held a strong association with Australia, having recorded several bush songs for commercial release in the 1950s and, in the 1970s, touring Australia in concert for Warren Fahey and the AMWU. Through their friendship with Fahey, they alerted him to their recordings of Ben Bright, a sailor with close ties to Australia and its folk song heritage. Through cooperation with Peggy and the British Library, Ben Bright recordings are now housed in the Warren Fahey Collection at the National Library of Australia.
Alex Hood (1935-). A noted entertainer and storyteller, Hood maintains a schedule of performance, writing and, alongside his wife, Annette, a regular program of oral history recording. The Hood Collection is housed at the National Library of Australia.
David de Hugard (1942 – ) Recordings made 1995-1997 in rural NSW. de Hugard is one of Australia’s leading interpreters of folk music.
Peter Ellis (1946 – 2015) Ellis was Australia’s leading collector of bush dance music. National Library Collection and several books of dance instruction and tunes.
Chris Sullivan (1953 -2023) Collector of Australian folk music, folk songs and stories. He also performed. His collection is housed in the National Library of Australia.
Mark Schuster & Maria Zann. Mark Schuster and Maria Zann record traditional music played in areas of eastern Australia that were settled by German and Scandinavian farmers late last century. Mark and Maria both perform folk music. The collection is housed at the National Library of Australia. See https://germanydownunder.com
Barry McDonald (1955 -) The collection (1970-1989) consists of recordings of music, songs, folklore and local history from throughout the New England Tablelands. National Library of Australia.
Warren Fahey (1946-) Commenced collecting in the late 1960s, and actively recording in the early 1970 and 80s. He has added oral history recordings on an irregular basis. As a folklorist and singer, he is particularly interested in folk songs. He founded Larrikin Records and is an active performer of bush songs and city ditties. The Fahey Collection is housed in the National Library of Australia.
ALEXANDER VINDEX VENNARD (1884-1947)
‘Bowie’, was an Australian writer known by several pen names, principally Bill Bowyang. The name ‘bowyang’ referred to a piece of cord strapped below the knee of a wearer’s trousers. He wrote of swagmen, bushmen, horsemen, and the digger. Vennard also collected and preserved bush ballads. His main source of collecting was through correspondence to his newspaper columns.
The following article, advising of Alfred Vennard’s death, portrays one of Australia’s earliest ‘collectors’ of folk song and lore.
‘BILL BOWYANG’ IS DEAD! Stricken suddenly at his home in Bowen on Sunday afternoon the editor of ‘On The Track’ and ‘On The Top Rail,’ and— as Maurice Deane— writer of the ‘Children’s Corner,’ passed away before he could be removed to hospital. In the lifespan of Alfred Vindex Vennard lies a story of journalistic achievement born of an urge that first found expression on the slopes of Gallipoli. Since then, for over 25 years, ‘Bill Bowyang’ has kept the pulse of many an outback veteran beating with the thrill of his vigorous youth, and gripped the imagination of present day readers from Cape York to the border with his lively, humorous and historical reminiscences of the men and women of the bush.
The greatest tribute to Vennard’s writings is the fact that he lost his personal identity to his readers in his literary pseudonym. Few outside his family circle knew, or even bothered to ask, his name in baptism. He was ‘Bill Bowyang’ and was delighted when introduced as such. It gave the new acquaintance a warmer feeling and consummated a desire invariably engendered by the reading of his weekly contribution, most famous of which of course, was ‘On the Track.’ The associate feature, ‘On the Top Rail,’ emerged in later years when ‘Bowyang’ conceived the idea of col-lating facts about historical, events and the people concerned in them under an exclusive heading. He was right, too, The contributions he received from all over the Com-monwealth created a mail service that grew to the proportions the ‘Track’ had enjoyed for years.
No chronicler of outlook stories was more naturally fitted for the task. ‘Bowyang’ was born ‘on the track’ — at Vindex Station in the Winton district—where his parents had made camp during a droving trip. He spent his boyhood days at Blackbull, between Normanton and Croydon, and afterwards worked at almost anything from cane cutting to wool pressing. From 1912 to 1913 he carried the swag along the Castlereagh, in New South Wales, studying bush types. Then came the war and ‘Bowyang’ was with his cobbers at Gallipoli. Here the fellowship of such a variety of contrasting natures amongst men moved him to write. He has often recalled in idle moments of conversation that there seemed so much to write about. He started by ‘scribbling’ contributions to the ‘Sydney Bulletin.’ and two London dailies, ‘The Daily Mail’ and ‘The Star,’ and when these were ac-cepted he was encouraged to greater effort. After the evacuation he went to Egypt where he wrote for ‘The Egyp-tian Mail’ and ‘The Alexandria Gazette,’ the while continuing his contributions to Australian and Fleet Street journals. For the most part his writings depicted his impressions of Australian soldiers and their never ending fund of good humour. He had a style of his own and never forgot an incident, humorous or otherwise. After serving with the infantry on Gallipoli he transferred to the Camel Corps in Egypt and served in the Libyan Desert, and from the Canal to Gaza, where three companies were practically wiped out and he himself so badly wounded that his soldiering was over. While in hospital awaiting his return to Australia, he was approached by Mr. David Barker, who was mainly responsible for the ‘Anzac Book,’ which was published in London after the evacuation, and which brought to light much latent literary talent amongst the Australian forces. At Mr. Barker’s suggestion he agreed to edit a maga-zine for the A.I.F. In Egypt and Pales-tine, and ‘The Kia-Ora Coo-ee.’ the most ambitious regimental paper con-trolled by the A.I.F. came into being. It started with a circulation of 3000 a month, and at the finish the circula-tion was 15,000. ‘Bill Bowyang’ was a sick man when he returned to Australia at the end of hostilities and was an inmate of Randwick Military Hospital for six months. During that period, largely through the late J. F. Archibald, founder and first editor of the ‘Sydney Bulletin,’ he accepted an appointment with ‘Smith’s Weekly,’ then about to be produced. He remained with that paper for two years, doing short
stories and general literary work, and then came North. Very shortly afterwards the first ‘Track’ article appeared in the ‘Bul-letin’ and ‘Register’ and was an in-stant success. From that day “Bill Bowyang” did not miss an issue until a few months ago, when he became seriously ill and was admitted to the Bowen Hospital. But life was despaired of, but the game old Digger pulled through and within a few days of his return home was at the typewriter catching up with his mail and his regular contributions. For some time he had also been compiling the weekly Bowen Notes to these papers and, over his convalescent period strongly resisted any sugges-tion that he was doing too much. Here, in the collection of general news, his keen journalistic instinct was evident. He was a firm believer in the ultimate fame of Bowen and he saw that every progressive movement emanating from its public organisations was conveyed to the outside world, and that its citizens kept pace with material happen-ings within their own sphere. ‘Bill Bowyang’s’ writings took on added appeal with the revival of rodeos in the past decade or more. All his life he had been associated with horsemen of prowess and could name the mighty ones from his early childhood to the present day. He threw himself into the movement with unbounded enthusiasm and travelled far and wide to assist local associations, both in organisation and as judge. Afterwards came his own personal re-flections and his comparisons with giants of the past, always fair and readily congratulatory to the accomplished riders of to-day. With these post-mortems came a flow of humour-ous sidelights that kept the ‘Track’ columns bubbling for weeks after the event. ‘Bill Bowyang’ also wrote several books which found hundreds of delighted readers. His last is now in the hands of the publishers and as late as Friday last he was anxiously looking to a restoration of communications so that he could get illustrations to the printers for this volume.
In that telephone conversation with member of the ‘Bulletin’ staff his voice carried the ring of old assurance. The hot weather had been depressing and sometimes during the past few weeks, he had betrayed his fear that it might get him down again. However, in his last call he was jubilant and feeling his best, although concerned that flood interruptions had de-layed his copy. He was 61 at the end, young enough to have spent longer on earth, but the stout heart gave out as he would have wished it— on a short circuit to the final campfire, and to the grand men of whose deeds he so vividly wrote. ‘Bill Bowyang’ has gone and to readers many times ten hundred he will live in honoured memory longer than do most men who move on never to return.
SOURCE: Townsville Daily Mail. Feb 17th 1947
Hugh Anderson, writing in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, added, ‘A constant friend to bushmen and ‘diggers’, Vennard in later life had a bedraggled appearance: ‘His black creased shoes were untied; his unpressed serge pants were held by a leather belt, and he wore an open-necked khaki shirt. He was stout, and his rugged features proclaimed him as a lover of the open spaces’.
Bill Wannan (1915-2003) was a leading collector of, and an authority on, Australian folklore. He published over 50 books in the fields of folklore, humour, Australian colonial figures (including bushrangers) and the Scots and Irish in Australia.
The son of W. F. Wannan snr (q.v.), Bill Wannan was raised in a family that valued folk songs and bush ballads and he developed a keen ear for vernacular language. Wannan served in the AIF during World War II and was based in the Northern Territory, Dutch New Guinea and various locations in Indonesia.
After the war Wannan was employed by the Department of Postwar Reconstruction and, in 1952, he was one of the founders of the Australasian Book Society. In the same year he began to write regular newspaper columns for The Argus and, later, the Australasian Post.
During his career, Wannan collected over 10,000 folk stories, legends, ballads and samples of popular verse. This collection, and Wannan’s commentaries, translated into numerous publications across more than four decades, beginning with The Australian: Yarns, Ballads, Legends and Traditions of the Australian People. Wannan’s books continue to be re-published. (AusLit)
Bill was fortunate to have worked at a time when there was a strong interest in folklore. He was equally fortunate to have a weekly column in the Australasian Post, a popular everyman’s magazine which carried Australiana, photographs and cartoons. It was the type of magazine found in barber shops. Through his columns, Bill solicited and collected a vast repository of material which he meticulously indexed, and subsequently used in his many books often rehashing material for new books. He was also skilled in writing in the bush vernacular and many of his ‘stories’, especially yarns, entered into the oral tradition. A great achievement.
Several of Bill Wannan’s books, like The Australian and Australian Folklore (Dictionary of), achieved extremely impressive sales. He was awarded the Order of Australia in 1991
Mel(bourne) Ward
MITCHELL LIBRARY. MANUSCRIPT BOXES MLMSS6927/24 & 25
© Warren Fahey
WARD, CHARLES MELBOURNE (1903-1966), actor, naturalist and marine collector, was born on 6 October 1903 in Melbourne, younger son of American-born parents , theatrical manager, and his wife Grace, née Miller, a concert singer. As a child ‘Mel’ travelled with his parents: his schooling was erratic and included a year (1917) at a private school in New York, and some years at the Marist Brothers’ High School, Darlinghurst, Sydney. In 1919 he left school to go on the stage mainly as an acrobatic and eccentric dancer and comedian, making his début in The Bing Boys on Broadway. He played the saxophone and clarinet (claiming to have performed with the first jazz band to appear on the Sydney stage), toured with his father’s productions and frequently visited the United States of America.
From early childhood Ward had been fascinated by the crabs he found on beaches and in rock pools; as a schoolboy he haunted the American Museum of Natural History. After a small red crab that he discovered on a Queensland beach was named (1926) Cleistostoma wardi after him, he abandoned the stage for marine zoology. By the late 1920s, he had collected not only in Australia, but also in Samoa, Fiji and Hawaii, along the Atlantic and Californian coasts of the U.S.A., and in Cuba, Panama and Mexico. By using his athletic skills he managed to catch a particular crab that lived in quicksand in Cuba. He was a member (1926), fellow (1936) and life-member (1947) of the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales. In 1929 he was elected a fellow of the Zoological Society, London, and appointed honorary zoologist at the Australian Museum, Sydney, where his friends and worked. Ward also belonged to the Royal Australian Historical Society, the Royal, Linnean and Anthropological societies of New South Wales and the Art Galleries and Museums Association of Australia and New Zealand. He published in Australian and international scientific journals.
Possessing independent means, in 1930-31 Ward embarked on a scientific ‘Grand Tour’: he worked with Dr Mary Rathbun at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, lectured at the British Museum, London, studied in museums in Berlin and Paris, and collected in the Mediterranean. Back in Sydney, he married Halley Kate Foster on 27 October 1931 at the district registry office, Randwick. Accompanying American filmmakers to New Guinea in 1932, he became interested in the people and collected artifacts and zoological specimens. In December 1933 the Wards went to Lindeman Island on the Great Barrier Reef as entertainers, playing duets on the clarinet and guitar for tourists. They combed the reef at every low tide. He found turtle-riding ‘a fascinating sport, as exciting as anything I know’. Mel set up a museum and laboratory. In the 1930s he collected for the Australian Museum, carried out research for the Raffles Museum, Singapore, and the Mauritius Institute, and exchanged specimens with other museums and collectors. Sun-browned and stocky, he had big blue eyes and ‘a mass of curly dark hair’; later he was ‘grey-maned’.
They returned to Sydney in 1935, lived at Double Bay, and spent many months on camping trips, collecting and learning Aboriginal lore, as Mel took an increasing interest in indigenous people and their relationship with the local fauna and flora. During World War II Ward, rejected for military service on physical grounds, offered himself as an honorary entertainer, and lecturer to the Australian Army Education Service. Soon he was teaching Australian jungle fighters tropical hygiene and how to live off the land in the Dorrigo rainforest.
In 1943 Ward moved to the Blue Mountains and opened his Gallery of Natural History and Native Art in a long, narrow fibro building at the Hydro Majestic Hotel, Medlow Bath. As well as his own natural history collections, including 25,000 crabs, he had inherited from his father ‘old Japanese armour, weapons, and valuable relics from many foreign lands as well as souvenirs of stage productions’. Ward also acquired convict relics, historical documents and rare Australian books. The museum incongruously combined ‘old curiosity shop and scientific exhibits’. He delighted in expounding the minutest detail to visitors. In the late 1950s he appeared on television in Channel 9’s ‘Mickey Mouse Club’ and ‘Ninepins’ show. He wrote for Outdoors and Fishing and lectured to many groups.
Childless, Ward ‘adopted’ Blackheath Public School: he talked to the boys, taught them bushcraft, let them loose among his collections and helped with the school plays, ‘putting on make-up and lending stage props’. He suffered from diabetes mellitus and died of a coronary occlusion on 6 October 1966 at his Medlow Bath home; he was buried with Anglican rites in Blackheath cemetery. His wife survived him. He left his scientific collections and library to the Australian Museum. At least sixteen species or sub-species were named after him.
(Australian Dictionary of Biography Online)
As a keen bushwalker and youth hosteller in the early 1960s I visited Mel Ward every time I went to Katoomba (there was a YHA hotel in Katoomba). He was always extremely generous with his time and loved the fact I was interested in Australian bush song and traditions. I was fascinated with him and his somewhat eccentric museum. It was difficult to miss him if you visited the Three Sisters as his ‘museum’ was on the same strip.
In 2006 I looked at his manuscript collection in the State Library of New South Wales and was surprised to read several handwritten articles (and drafts) on various aspects of folklore. Mel obviously had a very loose interpretation of ‘folklore’ and used it liberally as a series of ‘curious histories’. These included ‘The Folklore of Swords’ (his father had left him a collection), ‘The Folklore of Happiness’ (he was a pioneer ‘self improvement’ writer), ‘The Folklore of Birds’, and so forth. There were also short form drafts of subjects that he was considering giving the ‘Folklore of…..’ treatment to.
Mel was of stocky physique, sunburnt, and had an imposing grey beard. I thought he looked very mysterious – a cross between a hermit and a philosopher.
I was delighted to find in the collection (three boxes) a roneoed form and a selection of responses concerning superstitions in Australia. The form, distributed on behalf of an American folklorist, was foolscap, undated (but most probably circa 1960) and offered:
| Dear Friend, We have been requested by Mrs Kring, a student of Folklore from the United States, to collect Superstitions prevalent in the white communities of Australia. She is tracing the beliefs of the peoples of the British Isles, so does not require Australian Aboriginal superstitions. So if you have any handed down in your family we hope you will help us to carry out this research as a friendly gesture to an American student by filling in this form and returning it to us.With anticipation of your cooperation,Mel. Ward ‘Pyala Museum’ Echo Point Katoomba. |
The form then continued with the following sections:
Name
Birth date and Place
Nationality Background
Address
Vocation
Education
Source of superstition
Superstition(s)
And a note to ‘use blank side of paper if required..’
I paraphrase some of the documented responses. Since these appear to be the originals I can only surmise they represented some late arrivals that were never forwarded to America. I also note that several informants ignored the request for ‘birth date’, obviously deeming it an inappropriate question for a lady.
Betty Quickfall. B. Rockhampton 1916.
Residing Thornleigh, Sydney.
Never walk under a ladder.
Never put new shoes on a table.
Make a wish if you sight an Evening Star.
Cross your fingers if you see a white horse and then make a wish then uncross your fingers at the first sighting of a dog.
(Betty) believes everyone has a lucky number and lucky birthstone.
Break a mirror means 7 years bad luck.
If you see a falling star a relative has fallen pregnant.
Mrs Nita Higgins. B Albury, NSW.
Two knives crossed is a symbol there will be a row (fight).
If you put a garment on inside out it is unlucky to change it.
It is unlucky to cut your nails on a day with ‘r’ in it.
Seeing a magpie means disappointment.
Seeing two magpies brings joy.
A black cat is bad luck (running across your path)
‘See a pin,
Let it lay,
You will have bad luck all day.
See a pin,
Pick it up,
You will have good luck.
Mr Stanley Boyd. B. Cooktown 1888.
Never start a new job on a Friday.
Or the 13th of a month.
‘A whistling woman and a crowing hen are neither fit for God nor men.’
Two knives crossed means an accident that day.
If you meet a cross-eyed person during the day you can expect trouble before you return home at night.
If you spill salt you must throw it over your left shoulder.
If a dog howls on your front step there will be a death in the family.
Mrs Mary Riley. B. Katoomba 1928
Never use a loaf of bread with a hole in it. The hole represents a grave.
(You can, however, use the bread for puddings, breadcrumbs etc)
Ivy Adams. B 1912
Bad luck come sin 3’s
No umbrella should be opened in the house – very bad luck.
Do not give cutlery to a friend as a present as it breaks the friendship.
Gary Young. B. 1949
Never light a third cigarette from the one match.
If you do a thing wrong twice you’ll do it wrong again.
Don’t sweep dirt out the front door as it wills weep your luck out.
Mrs Colles. B Perth.
Never give parsley seeds as a gift as it gives sorrow.
Never put May blossoms in your house – very unlucky.
One crow means good luck
Two crows means bad luck
Three crows means a wedding
Four crows means a burying.
A. B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson
Andrew Barton ‘Banjo’ Paterson (1864-1941)
Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson (1864-1941), poet, solicitor, journalist, war correspondent and soldier, was born on 17 February 1864 at Narrambla near Orange, New South Wales, eldest of seven children of Andrew Bogle Paterson (d.1889), grazier, and his native-born wife Rose Isabella, daughter of Robert Barton of Boree Nyrang station, near Orange. His father, a lowland Scot, had migrated to New South Wales about 1850, eventually taking up Buckinbah station at Obley in the Orange district.
Barty, as he was known to his family and friends, enjoyed a bush boyhood. When he was 7 the family moved to Illalong in the Yass district. Here, near the main route between Sydney and Melbourne, the exciting traffic of bullock teams, Cobb & Co. coaches, drovers with their mobs of stock, and gold escorts became familiar sights. At picnic race meetings and polo matches, he saw in action accomplished horsemen from the Murrumbidgee and Snowy Mountains country which generated his lifelong enthusiasm for horses and horsemanship and eventually the writing of his famous equestrian ballads.
After lessons in his early years from a governess, once he was able to ride a pony he attended the bush school at Binalong. In 1874 he was sent to Sydney Grammar School where in 1875 he shared the junior Knox prize with (Sir) George Rich, and matriculated aged 16. After failing a University of Sydney scholarship examination, Paterson served the customary articles of clerkship with Herbert Salwey and was admitted as a solicitor on 28 August 1886; for ten years from about 1889 he practised in partnership with John William Street.
As a young man Paterson joined enthusiastically in the Sydney social and sporting scene, and was much sought after for his companionship. Norman Lindsay in Bohemians of the Bulletin(1965) remembered him as a ‘tall man with a finely built, muscular body, moving with the ease of perfectly co-ordinated reflexes. Black hair, dark eyes, a long, finely articulated nose, an ironic mouth, a dark pigmentation of the skin … His eyes, as eyes must be, were his most distinctive feature, slightly hooded, with a glance that looked beyond one as he talked’. Paterson was a keen tennis player and an accomplished oarsman, but his chief delight was horsemanship. He rode to hounds with the Sydney Hunt Club, became one of the colony’s best polo players and as an amateur rider competed at Randwick and Rosehill.
During his schooldays in Sydney Paterson lived at Gladesville with his widowed grandmother Emily May Barton, sister of Sir John Darvall and a well-read woman who fostered his love of poetry. His father had had verses published in the Bulletin, soon after its foundation in 1880. Paterson began writing verses as a law student; his first poem, ‘El Mahdi to the Australian Troops’, was published in the Bulletin in February 1885. Adopting the pen name ‘The Banjo’ (taken from the name of a station racehorse owned by his family), he became one of that sodality of Bulletin writers and artists for which the 1890s are remarkable in Australian literature, forming friendships with E. J. Brady, Victor Daley, Frank Mahony, Harry ‘The Breaker’ Morantand others. He helped Henry Lawson to draw up contracts with publishers and indulged in a friendly rhyming battle with him in the Bulletin over the attractions or otherwise of bush life.
By 1895 such ballads as ‘Clancy of the Overflow’, ‘The Geebung Polo Club’, ‘The Man from Ironbark’, ‘How the Favourite Beat Us’ and ‘Saltbush Bill’ were so popular with readers that Angus & Robertson, published the collection, The Man From Snowy River, and Other Verses, in October. The title-poem had swept the colonies when it was first published in April 1890. The book had a remarkable reception: the first edition sold out in the week of publication and 7000 copies in a few months; its particular achievement was to establish the bushman in the national consciousness as a romantic and archetypal figure. The book was as much praised in England as in Australia: The Times compared Paterson with Rudyard Kipling who himself wrote to congratulate the publishers. Paterson’s identity as ‘The Banjo’ was at last revealed and he became a national celebrity overnight.
While on holiday in Queensland late in 1895, Paterson stayed with friends at Dagworth station, near Winton. Here he wrote ‘Waltzing Matilda’ which was to become Australia’s best-known folk song. In the next few years he travelled extensively through the Northern Territory and other areas, writing of his experiences in prose and verse for the Sydney Mail, the Pastoralists’ Review, the Australian Town and Country Journal and the Lone Hand, as well as the Bulletin. In 1895 he had collaborated with Ernest Truman in the production of an operatic farce, Club Life, and in 1897 was an editor of the Antipodean, a literary magazine.
His most important journalistic opportunity came with the outbreak of the South African War when he was commissioned by the Sydney Morning Herald and the Melbourne Age as their war correspondent; he sailed for South Africa in October 1899. Attached to General French’s column, for nine months Paterson was in the thick of the fighting and his graphic accounts of the key campaigns included the surrender of Bloemfontein (he was the first correspondent to ride into that town), the capture of Pretoria and the relief of Kimberley. The quality of his reporting attracted the notice of the English press and he was appointed as a correspondent also for the international news agency, Reuters, an honour which he especially cherished in his later years. He wrote twelve ballads from his war experiences, the best known of which are ‘Johnny Boer’ and ‘With French to Kimberley’.
Paterson returned to Australia in September 1900 and sailed for China in July 1901 as a roving correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald. There he met G. E. ‘Chinese’ Morrison whose exploits he had always admired; his accounts of this meeting are among Paterson’s best prose work. He went on to England where he met again his old friend of Bulletin days, the cartoonist Phil May, and spent some time as Kipling’s guest at his Sussex home.
Back in Sydney in 1902, Paterson published another collection, Rio Grande’s Last Race, and Other Verses, and in November decided to abandon his legal practice. Next year he was appointed editor of the Sydney Evening News. On 8 April 1903 he married Alice Emily, daughter of W. H. Walker of Tenterfield station. They settled at Woollahra where a daughter Grace was born in 1904 and a son Hugh in 1906. Paterson resigned his editorship in 1908. He had enjoyed his newspaper activities and had produced an edition of folk ballads, Old Bush Songs (1905), which he had researched for some years; he had also written a novel, An Outback Marriage(1906), which had first appeared as a serial in the Melbourne Leader in 1900. But the call of the country could not be resisted and he took over a property of 40,000 acres (16,188 ha), Coodra Vale, near Wee Jasper, where he wrote an unpublished treatise on racehorses and racing. The pastoral venture was not a financial success and Paterson briefly tried wheat-farming near Grenfell.
When World War I began, Paterson immediately sailed for England, hoping unsuccessfully to cover the fighting in Flanders as war correspondent. He drove an ambulance attached to the Australian Voluntary Hospital, Wimereux, France, before returning to Australia early in 1915. As honorary vet (with a certificate of competency) he made three voyages with horses to Africa, China and Egypt and on 18 October was commissioned in the 2nd Remount Unit, Australian Imperial Force.
Almost immediately promoted captain, he served in the Middle East. Wounded in April 1916, he rejoined his unit in July. He was ideally suited to his duties and, promoted major, commanded the Australian Remount Squadron from October until he returned to Australia in mid-1919. Angus & Robertson had published in 1917 a further collection of his poems, Saltbush Bill, J.P., and Other Verses, and a prose selection, Three Elephant Power, and Other Stories, heavily edited by A. W. Jose to whom Robertson confided: ‘It is amazing that a prince of raconteurs like Banjo should be such a messer with the pen’.
After the war Paterson resumed journalism; he contributed to the Sydney Mail and Smith’s Weekly and in 1922 became editor of a racing journal, the Sydney Sportsman—an appointment he found highly congenial. In 1923 most of his poems were assembled in Collected Verse, which has been reprinted many times. He retired from active journalism in 1930 to devote his leisure to creative writing. He was by now a celebrated and respected citizen of Sydney, most often seen at the Australian Club where he had long been a member and where his portrait now hangs. In following years he became a successful broadcaster with the Australian Broadcasting Commission on his travels and experiences. He also wrote his delightfully whimsical book of children’s poems, The Animals Noah Forgot (1933). In Happy Dispatches (1934) he described his meetings with the famous, including (Sir) Winston Churchill, Kipling, Morrison, Lady Dudleyand British army leaders. He published another novel, The Shearer’s Colt (1936), and in 1939 wrote reminiscences for the Sydney Morning Herald. That year he was appointed C.B.E. He died, after a short illness, on 5 February 1941 and was cremated with Presbyterian forms. His wife and children survived him.
By the verdict of the Australian people, and by his own conduct and precept, Paterson was, in every sense, a great Australian. Ballad-writer, horseman, bushman, overlander, squatter—he helped to make the Australian legend. Yet, in his lifetime, he was a living part of that legend in that, with the rare touch of the genuine folk-poet, and in words that seemed as natural as breathing, he made a balladry of the scattered lives of back-country Australians and immortalized them. He left a legacy for future generations in his objective, if sometimes sardonic, appreciation of the outback: that great hinterland stretching down from the Queensland border through the western plains of New South Wales to the Snowy Mountains—so vast a country that the lonely rider was seen as ‘a speck upon a waste of plain’. This was Paterson’s land of contrasts: ‘the plains are all awave with grass, the skies are deepest blue’, but also the ‘fiery dust-storm drifting and the mocking mirage shifting’; ‘waving grass and forest trees on sunlit plains as wide as seas’, but the ‘drought fiend’ too, and the cattle left lying ‘with the crows to watch them dying’.
Although coming from a family of pioneer landholders who, by their industry had achieved some substance, Paterson wrote for all who were battling in the face of flood, drought and disaster. He saw life through the eyes of old Kiley who had to watch the country he had pioneered turned over to the mortgagees, of Saltbush Bill fighting a well-paid overseer for grass for his starving sheep, of Clancy of the Overflow riding contentedly through the smiling western plains:
While the stock are slowly stringing,
Clancy rides behind them singing,
For the drover’s life has pleasures
that the townsfolk never know.
In such lines as these Paterson lifted the settled gloom from our literature of the bush.
On the night of Paterson’s death, Vance Palmer broadcasted a tribute: ‘He laid hold both of our affections and imaginations; he made himself a vital part of the country we all know and love, and it would not only have been a poorer country but one far less united in bonds of intimate feeling, if he had never lived and written’.
SOURCE: Clement Semmler. Australian Dictionary of Biography.
.
[PUBLISHED IN THE COMPANION TO AUSTRALIAN MUSIC (CURRENCY PRESS)]
Australians have been negligent in collecting their folk traditions and most of the work has been done by well-meaning, self-trained enthusiasts. Unknowing collectors who gathered songs to publish in collections of song or poetry preceded the first serious collector, “Banjo” Paterson. By publishing The old bush songs in 1905 he preserved the words of many songs that eventually would have been lost.
Aus- tralian folk music was commonly believed to be simply music transplanted from Great Britain and Ireland. Then collectors sought evidence that Australians had created a genuine, unique folk music culture worthy of collection, study and promotion. John Meredith began the first major survey in the early 1950s.
There have been attempts to organise national bodies but collectors of folklore tend to work as individuals. This is probably because folkloric studies have low status as an academic subject. Some universities are now taking more interest but some established folklore collectors perhaps see this as interference.
The major work of collecting has been in song and dance music. Urban folklore has not been a priority, although attention has been paid to children’s folklore, including playground songs, rhymes and chants.
Collecting folklore is like assembling a puzzle. One piece leads to another and this endeavour can often form a complete picture. In collecting songs the folklorist leads the informant back into the past and suggests events or time- lines that might prompt a memory and then a song, poem or tune. Sometimes the informant remembers complete songs but more often fragments and the collector must skilfully prompt the memory further, often over a period. Some successful collecting has taken several visits.
The standard method of collecting has been with the tape recorder, but collecting is also being done on video tape and film through the National Library of Australia. The library indexes tapes and makes them available according to terms outlined by the collectors. The general opinion is that these tapes are in the public domain but the rights of some informants are also taken into account.
Meredith maintained an impressive photographic collection to complement his vast tape library. Other collectors, such as Ron Edwards, collect songs on cassette tapes and transcribe them in musical notation and print them as soon as possible, with little regard for the original recording. Edwards has assembled a huge body of material. He maintains a complex indexing system and a “mail association” for collectors and he publishes a journal for the Australian Folklore Society.
The historian Russel Ward collected words of songs by mail and included some in his 1958 book The Australian legend.
The popular author Bill Wannan similarly gathered important material through his magazine columns.
The present writer has collected extensively in the field and continues to collect by mail, soliciting new contacts through ABC radio interviews.
Wendy Lowenstein has merged interests in folklore and oral history and her years as editor of Australian Tradition magazine were valuable in bringing much material before the public.
The Australian Folklore Association publishes a magazine edited by John Ryan at the University of New England, Armidale (NSW).
Others who were pioneer collectors include Hugh Anderson, Joy Durst, Norm O’Connor and Mary-Jean Officer of Melbourne; Stan Arthur, John Manifold, Bob Michell and Bill Scott of Brisbane; and David De Santi, Alan Scott, Chris Sullivan and Brad Tate of NSW. Peter Parkhill is a pioneer collector of the traditional music of immigrants, especially in Greek and Middle Eastern tradi- tions. The late Shirley Andrews of Melbourne was the principal collector of dance traditions.
© Warren Fahey
ABOUT THE NLA COLLECTION
This is a full list of what I have deposited in the National Library of Australia – I gifted it to the nation under the Cultural Gifts Program. There are several sections, and this is the index. The second instalment of the manuscript collection was lodged in July 2024. The Excel sheet appears in the next item marked ‘ Manuscript Collection 2004-2024 and contains detailed index.
GUIDE TO THE PAPERS OF WARREN FAHEY AM.
The collection is housed in 10 boxes in the National Library of Australia (NLA) in Canberra.
This collection is the first deposit from Warren Fahey and includes 1965-2004 – folklore collection transcriptions and notes, his specialised library and additional correspondence files 2004-2024.
The collection covers Warren Fahey’s involvement in:
* The Australian folk revival as a performer, ABC radio scriptwriter and presenter and arts administrator
* The Australian record industry as a specialist retailer (Folkways Music), record label owner (Larrikin Records), music publisher (Larrikin Music) and as producer of over 550 recordings of Australian music;
* Australian folkore as a collector and author.
* Personal materials as a writer, public speaker and citizen.
The collection has attempted to place like-minded documents together however, because of the cross-over of subjects (ie performer and folklorist), readers are advised to explore laterally.
SERIES LIST
SERIES 1
| BOX 1. | 1 – 23 | Larrikin entertainment. |
| BOX 2 | 1 – 17 | Performance history |
| BOX 3 | 1 – 25 | Australian folk revival |
| BOX 4 | Folders 1 – 19 | Folklore |
| BOX 5 | – | Assorted folklore related publications |
| BOX 6 | 1 – 7 | Wattle recordings |
| BOX 7 | Folders 1 – 15 | WARREN FAHEY as writer, author and performer plus associated personal folders |
| BOX 8 | – | Recordings |
| BOX 9 | – | Recordings |
| BOX 10 | – | Recordings |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Warren Fahey was born, Sydney, 3rd January, 1946, making him a post-war baby rather than a baby boomer. His father, George Patrick Fahey, was the eldest son of an extremely large (18 surviving children) Irish family raised in Balmain Street, Leichhardt, and his mother, Deborah Miriam Phillips (nee Solomon) was the eldest daughter of a British Jewish family of nine. He has one sibling, Zandra Stanton.
Educated at the Marist Brothers College, Kogarah, he commenced his commercial life in advertising agencies and as a youth worker before working exclusively in music. Throughout his music business life Fahey also managed a performance career and another life as a folklorist. He was a regular broadcaster on ABC radio for over twenty five years and has performed extensively as a solo artist and with his group, The Larrikins.
His interest in the music industry saw him establish Folkways Music and Larrikin Records and then, at a later stage, a period working as Deputy Managing Director of the Festival Mushroom Group. In 2000 he left FMG and established Planet Productions which he exited in 2003. He was a Director of the Australian Record Industry Association, the ARIA Awards Board of Governors and, in 1998, was instrumental in staging a major exhibition on the industry for the Powerhouse Museum. Many Australian artists received their first recording opportunity through Fahey including Eric Bogle, Robyn Archer and Redgum, to name a few.
As a performer he has made several sound recordings, toured extensively and developed a unique repertoire of Australian music.
Warren Fahey has written over a dozen books, mostly on folklore, music and history.
He has been honoured with the Order of Australia, Centennial Medal, Advance Australia Award and declared Republican of the Year.
He lives in Potts Point, Sydney, and continues his work as a folklorist, writer and performer.
BOX 1 SERIES 1 1 – 23
LARRIKIN ENTERTAINMENT INCORPORATING FOLKWAYS MUSIC, LARRIKIN RECORDS, LARRIKIN MUSIC PUBLISHING AND LARRIKIN DISTRIBUTION.
Folkways Music was established by Warren Fahey in 1973 as a specialist music store with a stated policy of representing Australian music. Originally located at 38 Oxford Street, Paddington, then relocated to 68 Oxford Street and then to 282 Oxford Street where it remains. The business also opened branch stores in The Rocks and Double Bay and also a small outlet in Newcastle. Folkways was sold 20 years later (in 1993) to its present owners John Foo and Keith Chee.
The store became nationally recognised as the destination for Australian music and also specialist music from around the world. It operated a major mail order business and its annual catalogues were highly sought locally and internationally. As the store grew it offered an extremely wide genre of music from classical to jazz, traditional to contemporary and, at the same time, resisted stocking so called popular music. It also carried books on music, videos and musical instruments. For several years it was the leading retailer of harmonicas and tin whistles and an estimate of such sales over the 20 years Fahey controlled it would be in excess of 50,000 of each.
Larrikin Records was established by Warren Fahey in late 1974 and operated out of the Folkways buildings. It was also sold after 20 years in 1995 (to Festival Records). Larrikin Music Publishing representing Eric Bogle and many other songwriters was sold to Music Sales Australia in 1985. As a record label the company released over 500 Australian recordings covering an extremely wide field of music. Fahey always claims he was a victim of his own musical passion and found it difficult to resist interesting music that, he often admitted, had little commercial potential.
Artists who were first released on Larrikin include Robyn Archer, Eric Bogle, Bernard Bolan, Bushwackers Band, Redgum, Mucky Duck, Black Diamond Corner, Flederman, Sirocco, Dave De Hugard, Currency, The Larrikins, Phyl Lobl, Marie Wilson, Bondi Cigars, Foreday Riders, Jim Jarvis, Gary Shearston, and Flying Emus. Other artists to have their music released on Larrikin included Jeannie Lewis, Don Henderson, Harry Robertson, Tony Miles, Geraldine Turner, Facial Expressions, Franklyn B Paverty Band, Mulga Bill’s Bicycle Band, Renee Geyer, Cappelli Correlli, John Derum, Steamshuttle, John Kane, Anne Infante etc.
The label pioneered the release of indigenous Australian music with nearly 90 recordings including Wandjuk Marika, Tjapukai, Bobby McLeod, David Blanasi, Kev Carmody, Roger Knox, David Hudson and many indigenous recordings produced in association with community owners. The label was the first company to pay royalties to indigenous artists. It also released the music of Alice Moyle and ASIAS for over 15 years. In the early nineties Larrikin launched a major initiative, in association with Bill Stephens to record Australian cabaret music issuing albums of Jeannie Little, Margret RoadKnight, Donna Lee, Lorrae Desmond etc. The Australia’s Yesteryears series of Australian radio, stage, country and opera nostalgia was launched and issued over twenty-five recordings including Bob Dyer, Australian Radio Serials, Tex Morton, Reg Lindsay, Dame Nellie Mleba, John Brownlee, Florence Austral, Percy Grainger, Smokey Dawson, John Ashe, Shirley Toms and Jack Davey. There was also a series of important jazz recordings featuring artists such as Bob Birtles, Bryce Rohde, Keith Stirling, Dick Hughes, Bruce Cale and David Fennel. The label’s children’s artists, especially Mike and Michelle Jackson, featured Gold and Platinum selling discs like ‘Playmates’ and ‘Bananas in Pajamas’.
The most important and successful artist on larrikin was songwriter and singer Eric Bogle. The first release (on ten albums) was ‘Now I’m Easy’ (LRF041) and featured the writers two most celebrated songs ‘And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda’ and ‘Now I’m Easy’. The partnership of artist and label was based on a record-by-record deal that was extremely unusual for a Gold selling artist and the relationship lasted the life of the label. Larrikin licensed recordings to other record labels both internationally and domestically.
As a means of promoting Larrikin (and Folkways) Fahey used his entrepreneurial skills to organise concerts, workshops and artist tours. In the nineties he also established the larrikin Booking Agency with Sirocco leader Bill O’Toole. The agency represented folk, classical, jazz and world artists and was situated in the Larrikin offices at Paddington and Newtown. The most important concerts were those organised for several years as the Larrikin Festival of Music as part of the Sydney Festival. These concerts, ten concerts over ten nights in January were staged at several venues including the Concert hall of the Sydney opera House, The Conservatorium of Music, Regent Theatre and the historic Pitt Street Congregational Church.
International artists toured by Warren Fahey and Larrikin Entertainment included Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, A,L.Lloyd, Peter Bellamy, Mike Seeger and Alice Gerrand, Little Brother Montgomery, Johnny Copeland, Bert Jansch, John Renbourne, Martin Jenkins, Stefan Grossman, Shirley Collins, Roy Harris, Joe Hearney, Johnny Shines, Duck Baker, Willie Scott, Louis Killen, Christine Lavin.
The main operation of Larrikin was its representation of international and domestic record labels to the trade. Many of the group’s label partners continued with larrikin for over fifteen years and some for twenty or more. Domestic labels include jazznote, AIAIS, Candle, Missing Link, Grevillea, Eureka, Hunter, Move and Swaggie. International labels included Rounder, Topic, Green Linnet, Shanachie, Smithsonian Folkways, Vanguard, Celestial Harmonies and Biograph. In the early 1990’s Larrikin purchased local distributor Avan Guard and added many classical labels to its representation including ASV, Chandos, Telarc, Hungariton, Supraphon, Guild, Saydisc, Delos and Collins Music among others. In a unique deal Larrikin (with EMI) also distributed the Virgin specialist labels Venture, Real World, EG Editions and Virgin soundtracks. The company’s most successful release was the Michael Nyman catalogue and especially the soundtrack to The Piano that sold over 120,ooo units.
When Larrikin was sold to Festival Records in 1995 Warren Fahey was invited to join the new entity as Joint CEO and also, twelve months later, he was appointed Deputy Managing Director of the Festival, Mushroom and Larrikin Group
1. 1. Folkways catalogue circa 1975
Folkways mail order catalogue circa 1978
2. 2. Various catalogues issued by the Larrikin Record Label including Jarrah Hill Record label and Rissole Records.
3. 3. Several Larrikin Loudmouth Bulletins issued in 1995. This publication was sent to all record retail accounts throughout Australia and key music industry media and highlighted new releases. Essential catalogue and touring artist news.
Various colour photographs taken at a Trade Fair (for retailers).
4. 4. Original Eric Bogle music publishing contract(1974) for ‘And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda’.
5. 5. Warren Fahey’s song writing publishing contract with Rosella Music.
Photograph of Warren Fahey and Peter Jansson (MD of Rosella Music) 1976.
Various correspondence between APRA and Warren Fahey concerning publishing registrations 1976.
Membership letter APRA and Fahey dated 1978
6. 6. Larrikin Entertainment distribution catalogue circa 1985 listing labels represented by company.
7. 7. Sheet of Larrikin letterhead mid 1980s.
8. 8. Various correspondence between Larrikin Entertainment and Festival Records concerning their purchase of Larrikin. 1995.
The original share sale agreement of Larrikin to Festival.
Various legal documents related to sale.
9. 9. Advertisement for Folkways Music (LP’s $6.90) from Nation Review.
Leaflet and program for Oz-A-Kazoo concert series celebrating Folkways 3rd anniversary in 1976.
10. 10. Various press clippings Warren Fahey and Larrikin Records
11. 11. Guarantee of advance made to Stuart Coupe (journalist and partner in Larrikin’s joint venture Green Records. Other partner in this enterprise was Roger Grierson current Chairman of Festival Mushroom Group. 1981.
12. 12. Various correspondence between Eric Bogle and Warren Fahey regarding first commercial use of ‘And The Band Played Wqaltzing Matilda’. Artist was John Currie. 1975.
13. 13. Correspondence with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger regarding possible first Australian tour 1973-75 including a new song ‘Lament for Chile’ (signed by Peggy Seeger) 1973 letter.
Correspondence with Argo Records who represented MacColl & Seegers recordings. Argo was one of the world’s most respected folk music labels. They went out of business in the early 1980s.
Correspondence with Mulga Bill’s Bicycle Band regarding recordings.
Correspondence with Paddy Moloney regarding an Australian tour by The Chieftains (requesting $500 a concert!)
With Harold Hort, Director of Music, Australian Broadcasting Commission concerning The Chieftains.
With Diana Manson regarding Jeannie Lewis music. 1974
With Willie Scott 1974. Willie was a renowned traditional singer of Scottish ballads. He was a shepherd and had been recorded by the School of Scottish Studies. Warren Fahey subsequently presented Willie Scott at the Sydney Opera House in the 1974 Larrikin Festival of Music.
With Tony Foxworthy Director of the English Folk Song & Dance Society (EFDSS) concerning The Yetties.
14. 14. Guidelines of Australian Musical Copyright Owners Service (AMCOS).
Southern Cross newspaper 1983 with lead article by Warren Fahey on ‘Dinkum Discs’ plus an Eric Bogle review.
15. The Australian Magazine 1994 with article on Australian Music and comments by Warren Fahey.
Café magazine with Warren fahey lead article and photographs.
Clipping of Bill Leak’s caricature of Warren Fahey.
16. 15. Various photographs and clippings Warren Fahey
17. 16. Original proposal for Oddmanout, Rouseabout and AntiPod Music.
18. 17. Declan Affley promotional leaflet for M7 Records ‘The Day The Pub Burned Down’
ABC promotional leaflet for Declan Affley and Warren Fahey’s radio series ‘The Australian Legend’ (also featuring Peter O’Shaughnessy).
Adelaide Advertiser clipping about the banning (by record distributor M7) of Robyn Archer’s self-produced album of feminist lesbian songs ‘Take Your Partner for the ladies choice’. The album was subsequently re-released on Larrikin and became a best-seller.
19. 18. Folder of various letters to Katharine Brisbane (Currency Press), Don Henderson (Songwriter and activist), Roger Grant (head of ABC Radio). Frank Hardy (Author) etc.
20. 19. File on the Yesterday’s Australia Larriikin series of nostalgic recordings. Original notes, correspondence etc.
21. 20. Warren Fahey’s notes and article on Australian content on radio in response to 1995 APRA and PPCA ‘most played’ report.
Various clippings related to record industry.
Industry photographs of Warren Fahey
Fax from Denis Handlin (Chairman of Sony Music) congratulating Warren Fahey on television appearance.
Larrikin (yellow) catalogue
1977/78 Folkways mail order catalogue
Photograph of Warren Fahey and Eric Bogle at the presentation of the songwriter’s first Gold Record.
Plastic bag one: selection of photographs related to Larrikin.
Plastic bag two; selection of various photographs related to Folkways Music.
22. 21. Photograph
(a) Warren Fahey with Ralph Peer Jnr, son of the famous pioneer country music publisher USA. Also Matthew Dunlevy, MD Peer Australia and u/known UK head of Peer. At Midem 1998.
(b/c) WF and various Festival Mushroom staff at artist signing
(d) Larrikin/Folkways staff Xmas photo 1984
23. 22. Large black folder with all correspondence related to Festival’s purchase of Larrikin.
24. 23. Spin Record catalogues. Rock reissue series devised and produced by WF at Festival
Plus. Signed framed photographs of WF & Adam Brand include. Photo of Adam’s first gold disc presentation.
Plus Plastic bag with various photographs of Undercover Music signings of Prop, Coda and AlterBoy
BOX 2 SERIES 1 1 – 17
WARREN FAHEY PERFORMANCE HISTORY.
Warren Fahey has a long history as a performer both solo and with his band, The Larrikins. He has appeared at festivals throughout the world and toured extensively throughout Australia. The Larrikins (1970-1995) were represented by Musica Viva. The band toured toured internationally with the Department of Foreign Affairs Cultural Program including the first such tour of the South Pacific. The band also represented Australia at the Commonwealth Arts Festival, Edinburgh, and the prestigious Vancouver Festival. Warren Fahey hosted the first State Dinner in the new Parliament House, Canberra, and has performed for the Governor General, State Premier Dinners and weddings, wakes and whatevers. As a broadcaster he scripted, presented and produced many series for ABC radio including ‘The Australian legend’, ‘While The Billy Boils’, ‘A Merry Progress’ and ‘Navvy on the Line’. He has released several recordings of Australian folk music
1. The Larrikins Musica Viva tour posters for WA/NT and Broken Hill tour 1977 with Tom Rummery, Liora Claff, Kate Delaney, Steve Eliis and WF
2. Larrikins tour to Indonesia: Jakarta, Jogjakarta, Surabaya, Bali.
Cathie O’Sullivan, Jacko Kevans, Dave de Hugard, Declan Affley (returned after Jakarta) and WF.
Poster for The Larrikins performance in Jakarta for the Association of Australasian Women’s Annual Dinner Dance 1976
Menu card for dinner AAW
Letter from Musica Viva to Australian Embassy in Jakarta
Telex and Musica Viva letter regarding Indonesian visas.
Original import cards (for musical instruments)
Arts program from Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta.
Green leaflet promotion the TIM university concert.
Ticket from TIM concert
Program card for Tim concert
Australian Information Service Press Release about Larrikins tour
Similar press release in Indonesian language.
Australian Cultural Centre’s briefing notes on water, begging and advising not to go barefoot!
Yellow Larrikins concert poster
Tempo Magazine Jakarta with review
Topic 69 Magazine review of concert
Letter of introduction for overland tour by Cultural attaché Gavin Bromilow.
Letter from Australian Embassy post tour.
Thank you card from AAAW
Map of Indonesia used by group on tour
3. Larrikins tour of remote areas for Musica Viva and regional arts councils: Sydney, Adelaide, Broken Hill, Adelaide, perth, Newman, Roeburn, Karatha, Derby, Port Hedland, Wickham, Goldsworthy, Shay Gap, Broome, Kunnanurra, Darwin, Snake Bay, Bathurst Islands, Maningrida, Gove, Katharine, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs, Sydney. 1977
Larrikins: Liora Claff, Phil Moore, Jacko Kevans, Gordon McIntyre & WF
Musica Viva tour itinerary
Country Copy WA Arts Council program
Final MV itinerary sheet and contract
Local poster Gove performance “Don’t say nuthin’ ever comes to Gove, mate”
WA Arts School booking form used on tour
Folder of letters from children in Pilbara district
Clipping from Goldfields Express
4. Warren Fahey solo performances.>
National Trust of Australia Heritage Quiz program.
Historic Houses Trust ‘Domestic Revolution’ leaflet
QE2 ship program with WF lecture on cover ‘The Man from Tumba Bloody Rumba’
Performer ticket for 40th anniversary of Bush Music Club Festival.
Memo regarding ‘Diggers’ promotion 1990s
Warren Fahey’s passport 1978 onwards
Warren Fahey ‘is a jack of all trades’ promo leaflet.
Warren Fahey temporary driving license for Indonesia. 1976
Program Aulos 1977
5. Performance by Larrikins at first official dinner at the new Parliament House and to welcome the Irish Prime Minister, Charles Haughey, to Australia. Compere Warren Fahey. 1988.
Seating arrangement booklet
SMH clippings
Dorian Wild clipping.
6. The Larrikins. Victorian Arts Council Tour 1978
Jacko Kevans, Cathie O’Sullivan, Ian White, Peter Hobson and WF
Leaflet promoting Bullockies Ball, Geelong
Victorian Arts Council itinerary (3453 klms)
Victorian Arts Council newsletter
Clipping from Shepperton
7. NSW regional Musica Viva tour 1979
Jacko Kevans, Dave de Hugard, Bob McInnes, Cathie O’Sullivan, WF
Leaflet advertising Bathurst concert
Bathurst Baroque News
Bathurst Baroque Society subscription concert series program
SMH review of Orange Regional Arts Festival
Bathurst concert newspaper advertisement.
8. Larrikins 1977 Western Districts tour
Letter from Warren District Hospital
Program Warren Craft Festival
Orange Civic Theatre program
School letters from Canowindra
Letter from Hon Sec Warren Arts and Crafts Association
Warren Craft Festival Poster
9. WF 1994 various
National Trust – Larrikins on the Goldfields Program
Various correspondence and run sheets
10. Centre of Continuing Education: WF
Proposal for lecture series
Course details
Presenter’s notes
Imagining the Market Conference of arts administrators Sydney 1998
Warren Fahey’s keynote speech notes.
11. Letter of appreciation and photograph from Parramatta City Council where WF hosted Community Awards
12. Larrikins: Songs That Made Australia Concert
Cathie O’Sullivan, Dave de Hugard, Cleise Pearce, Michael Atherton + WF
Larrikins ‘In Concert’ for ABCFM
Colour leaflet ‘Curios of Old Sydney’ concert for City of Sydney
Larrikins at The Basement leaflet
Various press/reviews from Larrikins at the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games
Wedding invitation Jim Fingleton and Janet – Jim was a member of the Wild Colonial Boys – one of the first bush bands. He is also related to the cricket legend Jack Fingleton.
Larrikins poster from Gosford city.
Warren Fahey leaflet promoting solo at Hornsby folk club.
13. ABC leaflet of Larrikins series on cassette
ABC script
Larrikin ABC sample royalty report
ABC Guide 1974 page 2 with promo of early Larrikin performance of an Anzac Day special script produced by WF
ABC Guide 1974 page 8 promo of the first world music series presented on Australian radio. 13 programs scripted by Warren Fahey ‘A Merry Progress’
ABC leaflet ‘The Australian Legend’ scripts by WF and performances by Declan Affley and spoken word by Peter O’Shaughnessy
Photo of WF and David Gulpilil and Folkways manager Denis James.
14. File of various ABC working scripts and correspondence pertaining to radio programming.
Draft script prepared by Hugh Anderson for ‘The Digger’s Bride’ – this was never broadcast.
15. Plastic: various photographs/slides and negatives of The Larrikins including ‘That’s Australia’ ABC TV series, in Port Vila and larrikins in ABC studio with Yossi Gabbay (engineer for many Larrikin recordings)
16. file. Various photos and slides of The Larrikins plus individual shots and also ABC studio photos
17. file Larrikins 1980 Dept of Foreign Affairs tour to South pacific region. Itineraries.
Plus white plastic phot album of Sth Pacific tour
BOX 3 SERIES 1 1 – 25
AUSTRALIAN FOLK REVIVAL
Warren Fahey has been at the forefront of the Australian folk revival since 1958 when he would visit Sydney folk clubs in his school uniform! He was in a unique position to collect ephemera of the revival, especially posters, catalogues, tickets etc, because of the specialised nature of his Folkways Music Store and the fact that he served on several early committees including a stint as the first national co-ordinator of Australian Folk Federation, was an active performer and folklorist and, most importantly, possessed a bowerbird mentality. He also ran four of Sydney’s most successful pioneer folk clubs (The Elizabeth Hotel, The Boar’s Head Tavern and the Edinburgh Castle).
1. Program Port Phillip Folk Festival 1967. 2nd National Folk Festival
Program Moreton Bay Folk Festival, Brisbane. 3rd National Folk Festival 1969
Program 1st Port Jackson Folk Festival and 4th National FF 1970
Poster 6th national folk festival (NFF) Monaro. Canberra (poster designed by musician and illustrator Garry Greenwood) 1972
Program 7th National FF. 2nd Port Jackson FF Sydney 1973
Program 9th National FF
Program 10th National FF Canberra 1976
Program 11th National FF Adelaide 1977
Program 12th National FF Fremantle 1978
Program 13th national FF Melbourne 1979
Program 16th NFF 1982
Program booklet 18th NFF 1984
Program Maleny FF 1991/2 (include Larrikins)
Program 26th National FF Canberra 1992
Program 29th National FF 1994 >
(Note: other programs etc appear in following folders)
2. Program 2nd Moreton Bay FF, 1973 Brisbane
letterhead from 9th National FF Sydney 1975
Strip colour car sticker 1972 Monaro FF Canberra
2 x Strip colour car sticker Port Jackson FF. Sydney 1970
2 x Strip colour car sticker Port Jackson FF. Sydney 1973
Strip colour car sticker ‘Finger Pickin’ Good’ Adelaide NFF. 1971
Performer’s ticket and concert voucher. Adelaide FF (11th national FF) 1977
Program 2nd national Folk Alliance Convention. 1998
Poster 1968 Grand Moomba Folk Music Concert (Produced by Glen Tomasetti)
4 copies Program Port Jackson Festival (Produced by Warren Fahey)
3. Newsletter of the NSW Folk Federation Vol 6 1971
10 1971
June 1972
23 1972
24 1972
March 1973
20 1973
(above with ‘report’ from WF on the Australian Folklore Unit)
Copy Number 1 (and possibly only edition) of ‘Leaf’ magazine edited by Colin Dryden for the Sydney Folk Song Magazine circa 1968.
4. copy of ‘Crazy Music’ magazine No 6 1975 (Australian Blues Society)
Country & Western Spotlight Magazine June and March 1977 and 1976
5. two copies of poster for the Brisbane concert by A.L.Lloyd presented by Bob Michell.
Program of the 1972 tour by Sydney Carter (Lord of the Dance)
Program 1970 1st Wagga Wagga Folk Festival (produced by Noel Raynes)
Program NSW Folk Federation Concert 1970 (2 copies)
Program of Sydney Folksong Festival 1967 with Colin Dryden, Marion Henderson etc
Program for ‘The Christmas Time’ concert featuring Declan Affley, Marion Henderson, Roger Montgomery and Warren Fahey – 1969
Program for ‘The Christmas Time’ concert Melbourne production with Peter Dickie, Danny Spooner etc
6. Nariel Creek poster with arly pictures of bushranger 1972
Large Nariel Creek poster 1971
Tradition Books catalogue (probably only edition), Edited by Wendy Lowenstein circa 1970 Melbourne.
‘Traditional Dances in Australia’ compiled by the assoc of Australian Dancers 1955 with notes by John Meredith
Booklet from Nariel Creek Festival with Kippel family photographs
Leaflet promoting 1977 Nariel Creek Festivals.
7. Australia Music Centre list of Australian folk recordings 1979 (Bulletin no. 10)
1971 Workers Educational Assoc program 1971 including Folklore Today course presented by WF
WEA Folklore Today 1972 course leaflet
The Paddington Journal 1970 with article on Australian Folk Trust
Newsletter of the NSW Folk Federation No 45.
Speewah Magazine issue number 1, 2, 3 & 4. 1997 now defunct.
8. Singabout Songster No 1 circa 1958
Gumsucker’s Gazette 1963 vol 4 no 1, 5, 9, 8, 7. 6. 11. 3 & 2
9. Gumsucker’s Gazette Festival edition 1963
Australian Tradition Magazine index issue edited Wendy Lowenstein. 1970
Free Reed Magazine (the concertina player’s magazine) 1974 with Australian reference.
Cornstalk Gazette (NSW Folk Federation) 1996 containing debate over A L Lloyd’s role in Australian folk revival. July & March issues.
Australian Tradition Newsletter 1996 with article on the Sunshine Railway Disaster ballad.
The Concertina Newsletter 1973 edited Neil Wayne (UK) and containing Australian article by Frank Pitt of Melbourne.
Christmas Card from Neil Wayne to WF
Songs from the Kelly Country songbook published by Bush Music Club – 2nd edition 1965
Songs from Lawson BMC songbook publsihed late 1960’s
(forward by Dame Mary Gilmore)
Songs of the Shearers songbook published BMC 1970
Bush Music Club Mulga Wire Magazine no 6/1978, no 5/1978, no 2 and 3/1977, no 22/1980 and June/1977
NSW Folk Federation newsletter No 87/1980
10. Coaldust Magazine Number 1. from the Newcastle Folk Club 1974
plus numbers march, June and December 1977
Leaflet Rum Cull’s Ceiledh Band
Leaflet with Folkways Music advertisement promoting Newcastle ‘branch’ operated by Pam and Norm Merrigan
‘Folksmith’ magazine Alice Springs 1972
Program Mudjimba Folk Festival Queensland produced by Queensland Folk Federation.
Issue Number 1 Vol 1 and two copies of No 1. vol 2. of ‘Idiom’ magazine published by Newcastle Folk Club (Purple Parrot Folk Club) 1969
Warren Fahey’s membership card of the Purple Parrot Folk Club (at Newcastle Technical College Union). 1969
Program 6th Newcastle Folk Festival. 1970
Leaflet from University of Newcastle promoting their Residential School ‘Folksongs of Britain and Australia’ conducted by Danny Spooner and the Maitland Bush Band 1974
Illawarra Song Book circa 1970s.
11. Leaflet promoting the Edinburgh Folk Club hosted by WF 1970
A sheet plus envelope containing several Sydney Morning Herald advertisements for the Edinburgh Folk Club and indicating guest singers like Declan Affley, Marion Henderson, Peter Parkhill etc
Press clipping ‘Australians it seems, don’t make very good folk singers’ – quoting Noel Raynes who ran one of Sydney’s first folk clubs.
First review of Wild Colonial Boys 1970
Press clipping from Sun Herald on Australian folksong 1972
Clipping with story on Australian folk revival 1971
Paddington Journal with Folk Federation ‘notes’ 1975
Clipping on the National FF 1971 at Flinders Uni
12. Roneoed songbook ‘A Collection of Australian Women’s Songs’ compiled by Christine Boult 1976
Loaded Dog Songbook (this is a Sydney folk club) edited Patrick Keegan 1986
Pioneer Peformers No 3 1994 and the catalogue 1993
Paddy lay Back. Songbook published by Queensland Folk Federation edited Alan banister 1990’s
Stringybark & Greenhide folk magazine Vol 3 No 4 1981 and Vol 5 No 3 1984.
13. Speewah Magazine Vol 1 No 1 1954
14. Journal of the Australian Folk Lore Society and edited by Wattle Records founder Peter Hamilton.
15. The Lagerphone Tutor. Self-published.
Foc’s’le Magazine Vol 3 No 1 (West Australian)
16. letter from South Australian Folk Federation sec Barbara Walter to the newly formed Australian National Folk Trust 1974
letter from Ron Edwards on letterhead Fieldworkers in Folklore 1974
Letter from Cliff Gilbert Purssey Prez of Victorian Folk Song & Dance Society about ANFT 1974
Letter from Bob Pommeroy regarding the proposed Forbes Folk Festival circa 1974
Letter from Darts Kelimocum 1974 about the Elizabeth Folk Club, Sydney.
Press release Kirk gallery, Redfern, concert 1974 “The Ultimate Singer Songwriter Concert’
17. Program notes for ‘And Then We Closed Down’ – a workshop on drinking in Australia presented by Bloodwood, Alice Springs, 1975
NSW Folk Federation newsletter No 76, 1979
Leaflet 2nd Carcoar Folk & Traditional Bush Music Festival 1979
Leaflet 3rd Ben Hall Festival Caroar, NSW, 1979
Leaflet Country Dance with Blackwattle band, Balmain, NSW, 1979
Small and large Leaflet ‘The Boree Log’ Australian Folk Club. Carlton, Victoria 1979
Large poster featuring Simon McDonald promoting The Boree Log and Carlton (Victoria) International Market.
Town Crier Magazine, Perth, WA, Vol 5 1977
Program 3rd WA Folk Festival 1973
Program 4th WA Folk Festival 1974
Flyer from 4th WA Folk Festival listing program of workshops by Humphrey McQueen, Colin McJannett, Gordon McIntyre
18. NSW Folk Federation annual concert 1971 at Elizabethan Theatre, Newtown, featuring Declan Affley, John Francis, Bernard Bolan etc
Flyer for John Huie’s Tavern, The Rocks. (an early folk venue)
Membership application form for NSW Folk Federation 1970
Press release, NSW Folk Federation for ‘Australia’s on the Wallaby’ produced by WF 1970.
Leaflet Folk Song Concert 1971 Elizabethan Theatre, Sydney.
Advertisement for 2nd Port Jackson Folk Festival 1973
Warren Fahey’s weekend ticket to 2nd PJFF 1973
Envelope with various press (SMH) advertisements for the Boar’s Head Folk Club, Sydney, 1971, showing guest singers and musicians.
Press release launching Boar’s Head Folk Club 1970
Admission ticket to the Folk Centre, 177 Ann St, Brisbane, late 1960s showing Wayfarers as house band.
Wild Colonial Boys (the original bush band) poster and press photograph and promotional leaflet
Folk Song Concert. Sydney, 1970s. at Sydney Conservatorium of Music featuring Al Head, John Currie, Trevor Sutton, Phyl Lobl, Gary Tooth (ex Wayfarers), Rhonda Mawer and ‘bush and irish bands’.
19. Report of Music Momentum Conference on multi cultural music 1984
Program Port Phillip Folk Festival, melb, 1968
1961 English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) magazine with article by A L Lloyd on copyright and folksong
Booklet on the Kirkby Malzeard Sword Dance ed Douglas kennedy and published by EFDSS 1947
Directory of folk music organizations published by International Folk Music Council 1967
Port Phillip District Folk Festival 1967 program including lengthy articles on folk music revival by Ewan MacColl and Ian Campbell.
20. Weekend ticket to the Bush Music Club Festival, Wilberforce, NSW, 1994 at Aust Pioneer Village
Press clipping from USA magazine Dirty Line about Australian ballads 1999
Application form from Victorian Folk Music Club
Membership card (Warren Fahey number 3) Town Crier Folk Club, Sydney, circa 1970s
Combined Hunter Valley Folk Music Clubs Festival program 1970
21. Various items concerning performance group The Larrikins.
letter 1975 offering the Larrikins a USA tour through McIntosh Productions
Corro with department of Foreign Affairs about support for touring USA
Letter to Michael Edgley of Edgley & Dawe re Larrikin tour
Sydney Opera House contract 1975
WEA ‘Folklore Today’ series of talks by Warren Fahey 1975. contract.
Corro Yvonne Larson, Uni of NSW, re talks on folk music 1975
Letter proposal Youth Hostels Assoc 1975 regarding Folk Weekend.
Letter to Folk Federation of SA. WF resigning as Executive Director of Australian National Folk Trust. Plus various corro re the ANFT.
Wild Colonial Boys 1974 royalty report from EMI<
Contract between WF and Teaching Resource Centre for use of folk materials in education kit
Letter EMI regarding recording projects
The Larrikins in 1974 Richard Brooks, Tony Suttor, Andy Saunders, phyl Lobl & WF at Opera House.
Letter Richard Collins regarding 1970s Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger tour of Australia >
Town Crier Magazine (WA) 1976
Program 6th WA Folk Festival at Bunbury
Letter Stuart Heather Tasmanian Folk Festival 1976
Letter from Harvey Green 1974 – Green ran the door at Sydney’s first revival folk club in the 1960s. Elizabeth Hotel.
Letter from Mike & Carol Wilkinson – two early UK performers who were instrumental in the early folk revival and also celebrated performers.
Letter from Ken Maynard (cartoonist) 1970
Letter from Denis Tracey (singer) 1971
Letter Danny Spooner (singer) 1971
Letter pat & norm O’Connor (early folklore collectors) 1971
Leaflet from WA Folk Dances 1981
Program 15th National folk Festival, Brisbane 1981
Canberra Monaro Searchlight Hard tack Weekend Folk Festival supplement 1981
Program for Ard Tack Festival 1979
Various folk revival press clippings
Letterhead from 9th national Folk Festival 1975 –
Warren Fahey letterhead when Exec of Australian Folk Trust
Cornstalk Gazette magazine 1974 containing article on WF collecting project and also a song about ‘Football’ by Eric Bogle.
Cornstalk gazette 1974 containing the first printed version of Eric Bogle’s ‘And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda’
22. file. Various photographs of per5formers including Colin Dryden, Margaret RoadKnight, Jean Lewis, White Nelli, Jamie Carlin, Col McJannett plus photos of festivals and bush dances
23. file. Various photos and colour negs of The Wild Colonial Boys – the first commercial bush band circa 1965 Plus press clippings after their performance in Mick Jagger Ned Kelly film
24. file. Program of 23 National Folk Festival in Qld
plus adv letter + receipt
Map of festival
Plastic car sticker
25. file. Australian folk directory 1986
1969 Purple Parrot Foolk Club concert prog & press clipping
Trooper Scanlon’s gold pan band – business card
1975 Int Folk Music Council Conference program
BOX 4 SERIES 1 1 – 19
FOLKLORE
Warren Fahey started to collect Australian folklore almost immediately he became interested in the folk revival in the late nineteen fifties. At first it was an unconscious hobby however, in the early nineteen sixties, he planned a more organised program and established the Australian Folklore Unit. He undertook a twelve month field collecting trip in the early seventies where he taped songs, stories, poems and music in NSW, Queensland and Victoria and these tapes are housed in the NLA. As a performer he performed in all States and continued his collecting work. He continues to collect, especially by correspondence, and in 2004 he embarked on a two year program to collect the folklore associated with Sydney as a city. His folklore findings are published in books and broadcast in radio and television programming. His early collecting was assisted by the Australia Council, Myer Foundation, Ian Potter Foundation, ABC and the NLA. His present work is assisted by the City of Sydney, Latent Image Films and the State library of NSW. The NLA is also participating and assisting his current work.
Nine plastic folders of Xerox folklore collected 1978 – 1996 and assembled in categories as follows:
* Have a Nice Day: because everyone wants to screw you
* The Elbow Bender’s Art
* Age Shall Not Weary Them
* Twisted Cartoons
* Life: be in it
* Fill in the Form and Follow the Dotted Line
* A Woman’s Work
* It’s A Male Thing
* Man’s Best Friend: the car
* The Boss Is An Arsehole
* The Unknown Pervert
* At Your Service
* Boy, Was I Drunk Last night
* Make a List
* Hit any Button to Continue
* Season’s Greeting
* Notice to All Staff
* You Ugly Mug
* 1 x Folder (plastic) containing essay by WF on Xerox Lore. Never published. Essay relates to this collection and general Xerox lore. As far as collector knows this is the largest such sampling of this particular lore.
1. File of internal folk correspondence from 1976 including letters to/from folklorists and informants:
* Shirley Andrews (dance historian)
* Colin McJannett (folklore collector)
* Geoff Wills (Union Records)
* Bob Michell (folklore collector)
* Ron Edwards (folklorist)
* Ram’s Skull Press (folklore press)
* The Bushwackers (performers)
* Sally Sloan (traditional singer)
* Brad Tate (folklore collector)
* Jan Wositsky (original Bushwacker member)
* Wendy Lowenstein (folklore writer/oral historian)
2. File of collected ‘Chain letters’ 1985-1990
3. A series of articles by WF on folklore
Review article for Labour History on John Meredith’s ‘Wild Colonial Boy’ (Red Rooster Press).
Article WF ‘Music From The Back Paddocks’
Article ‘The Song is (hopefully) Mightier Than The Sword’
Article: The Guitar in Australia
Article: Graffiti as folklore
Article: Where Do Astronauts Go On Their Holidays?
Letter re Australian Folklore magazine/Prof John Ryan
List of dated books on Australian folklore
4. membership application form for Australian Folk Association
5. File on Ralph The Rover. Poems. (Ralph Coverlid, Rutherglen). Sent to WF in 1977
6. Union list of NLA collection as at 1972
7. Complete file of yarns. 1994. Contains many letters with yarns sent to WF as part of the 2BL Great Aussie Yarn contest.
8. Roneoed early reminiscences “The Wimmera and Mallee’ by Robert Staplethorpe (born 1855) written 1925. sent to WF by family.
9. folio ‘Working Class Songs’ as sung by the Sydney Trade Union Club Singing Group’
10. Graham seal’s collection of WW1 songs and lore with accompanying letter to WF
11. The story
12. Two extremely rare custom 33.3 rpm (1960s) recordings on Mutual Records and featuring the music of Mike Leyden. Leyden was a musical collaborator with many left-wing artists including Dorothy Hewett with whom he composed ‘Weevils In the Flour’.
Songs on discs:
* The Chessboard of Vietnam
* Peace, Bread and Roses (Chris Shaw)
* Verwoed They Cry
* Time to be Singing (Jeannie Lewis)
* Banks of Newfoundland (Ken Raffe)
* Brother, Raise Your voices (Graham Turner)
* Long Time Ago (The Young Folk)
* Shadows on the wall (Jeannie Lewis)
* Sweet Song For Kate (Dick Hackett/the Singing Wharfie)
* Atomic lullaby ( Chris Shaw0
* Art Ban (Dick Hackett/The Singing Wharfie)
* Weevils In The Flour (Ken Raffe)
13. Australian Folk Trust newsletter 1988
Australian Folklore Society Journal 1988 with Ron Edwards letter to Hugh Anderson.
Letter from Pamela Rosenberg Australian Folk Trust 1988
Program of the Australian Folk Trust National Folklore Conference 1988 signed by Ron Edwards
Letter from Ron Edwrads with outline of Australian Folklore Society 1979
2nd national Folklore Conference program, Lindfield, NSW 1986
14. 1983 reprint ‘The Future of American Folklore Studies’ edited by Jeanne Harrah-Conforth and Thomas Walker. Signed by Alan jabbour who went on to become the Executive Director of the Smithsonian Folklife Program, USA
15. Various press clippings related to folklore and revival.
16. Letter from Ron Edwards about the 3rd National folklore Conference in 1988
Letter from Lee Baillie re Australian Folk Trust
Corro with Ron Edwards about ‘rights’ and folklore.
Australian Folk Society newsletter 1985
Folk Song and Dance Society of Victoria/letter
17. File of general; folklore correspondence with folklorists 1976
* Brad Tate
* Ron Edwards
* Bob Michell
* Geoff Morgan
* Paul Stuart
* Bob Moll
* Peter Parkhill
* Wendy Lowenstein
* Peter Orlovich (lecturer on archives, NSW uni)
* Peter O’Shaughnessy (sending bertha lawson’s original notes to Peter’s recording of Henry Lawson works)
* Dave Matthias (traditional musician)
* Verdon Williams (Dept of Further education)
* Joe Fernside (songwriter/woy Woy Train)
* Dave De Hugard
* Shirley Andrews
* Laurel Heath (about Old Bullock Dray)
18. Original music of Nat Trimarchi 1988
political songs
Various collecting letters
List of Australian recordings prior to 1971
Letter from Jenny Kang regarding Thunderbolt/Frank Ward
Clipping/Bulletin with letter from WF
Letter from Tony Foxworthy 1969 Director EFDSS requesting article on Australian music
Various corro regarding WF collecting trip 1974
NLA folklore collecting reimbursement docket
Myer Foundation letter offering $1000 grant to WF for collecting
4 x green manilla files of collected Xerox works.
1 x yellow file marked ‘Xerox lore’
Plastic file with WF’s transcribed Australian Folklore Unit notes that accompany tape collection
19. file photographs of Wendy Lowenstein, Shirley Andrews, Harry Cotter, Harry Cotter withy Tom Rummery, Denis Kevans, Dave Matthias, Bert Kippell, Australian Folklore Unit van, John Meredithy, Warren Fahey recording Sally Sloan, etc
BOX 5 SERIES 1
ASSORTED FOLKLORE RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Being books related to folklore and especially publications that appear not to have been registered. Many are custom published and some are international publications that include important Australian references.
Plastic: ‘Freedom Songs’ published by Eureka Youth League circa early 1960s. North Melbourne
Combined University Songbook pub. H J R Dutton of NSW Uni Union.
Songs of People’s Struggles song book circa 1960s
Mongrel melodies 56 parodies by Greg Snook 1997 private press
Mongrel melodies Vol 2 intro and signed by WF
Our Bloodstained Past. Larry Dulhunty 1984 ‘Factual Australiana’. Larry was a songwriter, stockwhip and pistol showman and also ‘observer’ of Australian society.
The Flute Player 1988. private press. Australian tunes.
Australian Traditional Songs for hammered dulcimer, autoharp and fiddle by Mary Schneider.
Printed USA 1985
Australia in Black & White. 1994. Geoff Hendrick on country music
Musical Traditions Magazine 1983 with review of recording ‘Bush Traditions’ LRF007
Six Australian Bush Songs by Richard Bayliss. Printed in UK.
Field & Farrow – songs of farm and work. EFDSS 1968 edited Tony Wales.
Sydney University Song Book (Quack Quack). These rare publications had coloured covers and contained songs, parodies and jokes pertaining to university life. Issues 1949, 1948, 1931, 1932 and 1930.
Melbourne Ward’s Legends of the Mountains. Published in Medlow Bath, Katoomba. Mel was a real ‘identity’ in the area and a self-professed expert on Aboriginal myths. He appeared on early TV and published small pocket books like this one.
Little Souvenir Book of Mountain Verse. Eileen Simpson. I believe Eileen was Mel Ward’s partner (or wife) and they both operated a small craft gallery at the Three Sisters where mel talked about Aboriginal life in the area.
Notes on Music. Ross Welsh 1985. Private press with musing on music.
When the Whistle Blows. Songs of early feminist songwriter, Sue Edmonds, and published privately by Coalition on Employed Project, Wollongong.
The Life & Songs of George ‘Pop’ Maynard. Collected by Ken Stubbs. 1968 EFDSS
Journal of the EFDSS 1959
English Folk Songs. Ralph Vaughan Williams. EFDSS mid 1960s.
Broadside King Song Book. Custom press. Circa late 1960s
Come For To Sing magazine USA Vol 8 No 3 1982 with various Australian songs published and an interview with Martyn Wyndham Read on Australian music.
Come For to Sing magazine Vol 9/3 with Aust. article by Kel Watkins.
Musical Traditions Magazine UK Mag 6 (1986) and 4 (1985)
Small private publication for folklorists.
Folk Roots Magazine UK 1995 with Australian content.
Sing Out magazine USA 1985/1987 Vol 35/1
Isis in Search. Book by Joan Mas 1966. poetry.
The Return of Will ‘O the Wisp. Compilation of rural verse Fumma District.
Monash Bushwalking Club Song Book. 1972. Signed copy No 9.
Honi Soit Song Book 1955 edited by Chris Ringstrad and Brian Hennessy
Commonwealth Bank Ex Servicemen’s Dinner reunion at Hotel Wentworth. 1935. menu
Eastern Suburbs Sailor’s and Soldier’s 23rd annual dinner, Bondi, 1951 menu card signed by some of the members.
Argo catalogue. Short-lived and important UK folk label. 1971
EFDSS journal 1956
American Folklore Society program and abstracts for 1976 convention where WF was first Australian delegate.
Hobble Chains, Bullock Drays & Beyond. 1972. Osborne Davis, Mittagong. Strange book about Unidentified Flying Objects.
Songs from Papua New Guinea. 1975. Accompanies recording of same name (in Larrikin LP collection)
Sheet music: wattle Blossom Maid by Helen l Daw.
Folder: Historian Michael Cannon’s chart of Immigration to Australia. Sent to WF by Cannon.
1. Green Folder: containing assorted sheet music including ‘The Bonzer Boys from Aussie’ and ‘It is the Men’
2. Folder: Click Go the Shears sheet music by John Meredith and arranged Alfred Hill.
3. ‘With the Dinkums’ No 1. 1918. by Private Fred Knowles.
Raemakers cartoon book. Uk. Wartime images. 1916.
‘Bobby I Hardly Knew You’. signed copy of John Quiggen’s book of original political songs.
Anyone Can Play. Book. Songs of Tim Guster
Lyrebirds, Coots & Cockatoos. Vol 2. compile of original songs from residents of Monaro district.
Green folder: Joy Durst Songbook in original 1970s cover. Joy was an early member of the folklore collecting project in Victoria and worked with Norm O’Connor.
Plastic: Joy Durst Folio No 1 and 3. these were published separately from above.
Brown folder of assorted sheet music including Snake Gully Swagger and songs by Florrie Ford (Music Hall) and Elsa Stralia (Popular music)
BOX 6 SERIES 1 1 – 7
WATTLE RECORDINGS
Wattle Records was established in 1955 during the height of the so called ‘folk revival boom years’. It was an extremely brave initiative and one that bore some important results and especially the Wattle Archive Series. Warren Fahey, being a record producer and label owner, had a particular interest in this pioneer label and especially since both wattle and Larrikin were housed in the Sydney suburb of Paddington. Peter Hamilton, founder of Wattle, delivered (via his partner) a bundle of documents pertaining to the label when he was relocating to the North of NSW in the 1990’s.
The Wattle label was established in 1955 by Peter Hamilton. Their first office was in Sydney central, Cathedral Street, and then relocated to Paddington, NSW.
1. Press release and general statement on label policy. Also lists distributors in Australia.
Original 1955/6 Wattle catalogue outlining releases.
Carinia, Sydney-based distributor of Wattle, listing of Australian folk recordings including the Wattle releases.
2. Statement 1957 from the International Folk Music Council on copyright in folk music. Clipping from 1957 Broadcasting & Television Magazine. Regarding local copyright issues.
Submission by Copyright Owners Reproduction Society Ltd to the Australian Copyright Committee of Enquiry. Wattle was an active member of CORCL.
Association of Record Manufacturers 1958 circular 58/40 with signed letter by (Sec.) Jack Sturman.
Original High Court of Australia Finding Report 1958
Submission (including Wattle) to Copyright Law Review Committee 1958.
Second Submission by Charles Moses on behalf of ABC
Letter and circular from Jack Sturman Dec 1958 cicular 58/38
Wattle Records Submission 1959 pointing to ‘Australian folk song is in danger of extinction’.
Letter from Peter Hamilton 1957 to Braodcasting Control Board asking the Board’s ruling on Wattle’s release of two Anglo Australian folksongs from the repertoire of Sally Sloan: If I Were A Blacklbird/Green Bushes as published on Wattle 78rpm. A15
Letter from ABCB responding to above 1957 “There are insufficient grounds for regarding the recording of these songs as works of composers who are Australian’
3. ABC Radio scripts by Edgar Waters (script and narration) for Wattle Archive. ‘Quality Street’ No 1 ‘Folk Songs and Factories’
‘Quality Street’ No 4. ‘The Australian Folk Song’ ‘The Flash Stockman’
4. Workers Education Association (WEA) Weekend School of Folk Music directed by Frank Moorehouse 1962 (13/14/15 July) and lectures by Edgar Waters and Peter Hamilton.
‘Work in Progress’ Seminar 29 Oct 1959. Presented by Edgar Waters at Research School of Social Studies History Dept. Presentation notes.
Comprehensive notes (assumingly by Edgar Waters) on folk music. Has margin notes.
Qulaity Street broadcast scripts:
* ‘Singing Sailors’
* ‘Wool & Gold’ No 2.
* ‘Land of Lags’ No 1
* ‘The Stringybark Cockatoo’ No 3
5. This appears to be a ‘dummy’ for a proposed songbook to be published by Wattle titled ‘Folksongs of Australia – and other countries’
Photostat of Australian Goldrush Songs booklet notes.
“ : Convicts and Currency Lads
“ Traditional Singers Vol 1
“ Folk Songs Of Australia
“ Old Bark Hut
Various reviews of Wattle recording releases 1957
6. Original record booklets that accompanied Wattle releases
3 copies American Songs of Protest/John Greenway 1957
6 x Workin’ on a Building/John Greenway. 1957
1 x Old Bark Hut
1 x traditional Singers & Musicians of Victoria Archive series no 1
1 x Across the western Plains/A L Lloyd
1 x Banks of the Condamine/A L Lloyd
1 x Convicts and Currency Lads/MacColl 7 lloyd
Letter from David Crisp to WF 1977 re Wattle catalogue check.
7. John greenway’s ‘dedicated and signed’ self published ‘Folklore Scholarship in Australia’ and reprinted from American Folklore magazine 1961 Vol 74 No 294
Original John greenway reviews in Western Kentucky Folklore Archive Journal with Prof D K Wilgus label followed by Wilgus reviews of various Wattle releases.
Journal of American Folklore reviews
Plastic bag from Earlwood Record Bar who were a major Wattle retail outlet in the 1950s.
BOX 7 SERIES 1 1 – 15
WARREN FAHEY AS WRITER, AUTHOR AND PERFORMER
PLUS ASSOCIATED PERSONAL FOLDERS
Plastic folder: framed memo from Harry M Miller. Signed 1974
Framed caricature of WF by Mick Joffe 1988
Wood and metal award made to WF as Prez of the Paddington Chamber of Commerce and presented as part of the Bicentennial for the Main Street project.
1. Folder of letters and clippings related to the publication of ‘Eureka – The Songs That Made Australia’. This book was fist published by Omnibus and then reprinted as ‘The Songs That Made Australia’ with a new cover by Harper Collins.
2. FOLDER: letters and clippings related to the publication of ‘The Balls of Bob Menzies’ 1987. Includes author’s national tour itinerary for Harper Collins and the launch invitation to media (by Hon Jim McClelland)
Letter from songwriter and activist, Don Henderson.
First draft of a stage presentation based on the book.
WF bio sheet that accompanied the book to media.
3. Documents pertaining to publication of ‘When Mabel Laid The Table’ (a social history of eating & drinking in Australia) published by State Library of NSW Press
Colour print of cover
Author’s talk notes for presentations based on book
Sample royalty report
4. Documents related to the publication of ‘Diggers’ Songs’ (Australian Military History Press)
Letters to AMHP, press release and list of invitees to launch.
Letters from Ken Clift (author), Commander manning RAN, Graham Seal, Ron Edwards and Rupert Goodman Plus various contributor letters.
Author’s talk notes and list of songs performed
Article by author ‘The Songs The Diggers really Sang’
‘Ratbags & Rabblerousers’ (published 2001 Currency Press), an updated version of ‘Balls of Bob Menzies’ taking the survey from 1901-2000. Colour cover for promotion and accompanying flyer.
5. PLASTIC WALLET: George Patrick Fahey (father) ‘Australian Soldier’s Pocket Book’
WF original membership book for the Youth Hostels Association of NSW showing Australian hostel visit stamps from 1964-1973
WF 1980 International Certificate of Vaccination
Invitation to the 1st Annual Paddy Pallin Address 1995 (from YHA).
6. Copy of Warren Fahey’s citation when declared ‘Republican of the Year’. 1987. Presented Citizens for Democracy.
Letter from Premier of NSW regarding Bicentennial Celebrations.
Kit and letter from the Advance Australia Award Committee advising WF’s 1988 award.
Certificate from the Mo Awards 1993.
7. Red Folder – various letters of congratulations on WF’s Order of Australia 1997
Various documents related to above.
8. Letter from Australia Gallery, Sydney and copy of Kerrie Lester retro with notes by WF 1999
Letter of reference from Newcastle technical College Union on WF’s departure as Activities Officer.
9. Various WF press cuttings: social, political, international. Including Paddington where WF was Prez of the Chamber of Commerce for over a decade and initiated Australia’s fist main Street project.
10. A copy of ‘Sydney magazine’ featuring a column by WF
CLIPPING: article on Woolloomoooloo Wharf’s history by Wf for Vogue Entertainment & Travel
Various Heckler columns for Sydney Morning Herald.
11. Script Program 16 of ‘While The Billy Boils’ produced by WF for ABC RN
12. Script ‘The Folklore of Sport in Australia’ (for 8th National Folk Festival) 1974
13. Signed letter from Joy McKean with questions and answers by Slim Dusty and used by WF in writing the singers life story for the 5CD EMI Box set 2000
14. WF’s blood doner card 1965-67
Play the Game – a WW1 poem sent to WF
WF’s first business card when Activities Officer at the Students Union, Tighes Hill Technical College. Newcastle 1967/8
BLACK FOLDER: various articles by Wf for BRW, Vogue, Harpers bazaar magazine etc
15.FILE. Photographs of John Dengate and Brendan Frost (ABC producer) with WF at launch of Ratbags & Rabblerousers in Hyde Park.
Photo of WF at launch of Diggers at City of Sydney RSL.
Daily Tele article by WF on The Domain
1932 Reunion Dinner 1932 of Terrigal Cheerios and SS Layoff Girls. Signed.
Jack Keatings Ballroom novelty card.