At Brighton Historical Society (Bayside Art of Words Literary Festival) today I began my talk about Olga Waller (Ernst) who was a resident of Brighton, with a brief exploration of early Australian fairytales. A small group of Australian
writers realised the importance of setting narrative firmly in distinctly
recognisable localities for Australian children. Ethel Turner and Mary Grant Bruce, contemporaries of Ernst, chose a different genre. Of the total children’s books
published between 1870 and Ernst's Fairytales of the Land of the Wattle
only about a dozen were fairy tales.
The fairies in Rosalie's Reward live in the
rundown flower garden of a cottage near the Ballaraat goldfields and
when the 'fairy godmother' appears it is in the form of an old (and rich) miner. J.R.Lockeyeare’s Mr. Bunyip is a kind hearted
chap giving some social and historical pointers to an eager Mary Somerville who
has strayed from the path in a ‘Red Riding Hood like’ ramble. Charles Marson invents
a rather cruel fairyworld of goblins and hill trolls living in underground
caves in Australia. However, his use of distinctly Australian descriptions must
have endeared the tales to his readers: a character is found sitting on an
old kerosene tin, another is described as ‘no taller than a good-sized gum
tree’. Henry Byron Moore wrote How the cruel imp became a good fairy, and
other stories. The cruel imp is mean to Australian creatures. He cuts the crests off cockatoos, worries magpies, ties a
melons to kangaroo’s tail, roasts a dog alive and in consequence, is himself,
condemned to be basted on a spit with extra longs thrown on for ‘telling
stories’ and eaten. (Bedtime reading????) Relenting the Queen gives him a chance to redeem himself
which is a slow process taking innumerable pages as he has a few relapses!
There may be more fairy tales as yet undiscovered. As
the publishing industry in the colonies was in its infancy some children’s
books with small print runs such as Ernst's and/or localised distribution may have disappeared entirely. Deborah Stevenson (2011) has a theory that I'd call the 'Loved to bits' factor. If children like a book it is read over and over again perhaps adding to its eventual demise. Perhaps only the less appreciated books survive.
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