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Sister Agnes: Fairytales told in the Bush.

A warm sunny day, the Special Collections room has the fans humming and is a room with a view - of the grounds of Uni Melbourne. This room is quiet and serene and has a special aura. The past is revered and the lucky can take a look back. I came to hold a copy of Fairytales told in the Bush to see if Sister Agnes built on Ernst's narrative structure. Suggestions that Sister Agnes was inspired by Ernst are hard to believe. Her settings are not descriptive and most of the stories are those remembered from her childhood. She describes herself as a lover of fairies. They belong to her past and are not invented Australian fairytales. She claims two were told to her by King Barak, one days before he died. She paints Barak , variously called King William, last chief of the Yarra Yarra tribe' or 'Beruk (white grub in gum tree) belonging to the Wurundjeri  whose country lay along the Yarra and Plenty Rivers, as a man who will tell a story for the right price, usually a coin. She

Mr. Bunyip - an early Aussie children's book 'character'!

It has been suggested that the jokey humour of ‘Mr. Bunyip’ set the tone for the description of bunyips in later books.  To an eager Mary Somerville who has strayed from the path in a ‘Red Riding Hood like’ ramble Mr. Bunyip is not a monster who wants to eat her but is a kind hearted chap giving her some social and historical pointers. The Murray River and Melbourne contrast with the magic of the talking beast and references to the old country (England). Mary has all the qualities needed to be the 'perfect' Colonial chick. She is a good scholar, winning school prizes, obeying her father, is trustworthy, neat, prayful and rises early. The disparity between her goodness with Mr. Bunyip’s admission of alcoholism and wife beating is thought provoking. Mr. Bunyip is forgiven by his wife for this lapse into the unacceptable practice of thrashing one’s wife as he was under the influence of the evil alcohol.   However, the fish in the river who become silly and meander stunned and daz

A PhD! What's in it for me?

To be honest it won’t further my career, add an extra dollar or two to my salary and in fact, most of those I meet wonder why I would waste my holiday reading on topic related books rather than the latest Nick Hornby. Inquiry-based curriculum develops deeper understandings around concepts. Watching students develop critical and creative thinking skills is one of the pleasures of teaching. A PhD is the ultimate inquiry requiring flexible thinking, persistence and when working full time – exemplary time management!  Luckily, the nature of my topic lends itself to holiday ventures into State Libraries and Public Records Offices and I do small amounts of reading and writing during the term – just chipping away rather than spending hours. Embarking on a PhD is a chance to ‘ practise what I preach’ and model depthful inquiry to students. Besides, the opportunity to be a historian as well as a researcher is there and finding that small piece of necessary evidence is both rewarding and f

An Australian Prince

The 'princes' of Australian fairytales were often miners and stockmen glorifying the bushman character. Reflecting the appeal and allure of the outback male we find that i n  Australian Fairytales  (Frank Atha Westbury, 1897:35) the 'prince' is a shy youth called Nugget with an appealing bush toughness and lack of social graces. He rescues a princess whose hand in marriage is well above his station and is quite 'smitten.'                                                                                 ' It  was  amusing  to  see  the  attention  the  Nugget  bestowed  upon  the  fair  young  creature  by  his  side,  and  to  note  the  tell-tale  blushes  which  ever  and  anon  suffused  her  face  as  their  eyes or  their  hands  chanced  to  meet.' This princess is transported home, not on a magic carpet or coach but on a means of transport common in the colonies - a donkey! Rather than castles, Australian palaces were more likely to be a mans

Sometimes fairytales aren't

When looking for Australian fairytales I used title as my first classification method but this was not always successful.  I initially included ‘Up the Moonpath’ a story by Macdonald in Childhood in Bloom and Blossum. This was a souvenir book of the Children's Hospital bazaar complied and edited by Joshua Lake and published in 1900. On page three the editor suggests that ' This book is a contribution to the Children's Hospital by the Art and Literature of Melbourne.'   Image of Children's Hospital ( circa 1909) Though fairyland is presented as being at the end of the shimmering moonpath that ‘ ran across the lake and faded out to a faint glow in the distance, just under the moon ’ and is peopled with ‘ bright little people l ’ it is not really fairyland but a book about the death of a child and fairyland is a metaphor for heaven.  Ita takes her place in fairyland (heaven) and another little ‘King’ arrives to take her place in her mother’s be

Tassie Tales

Opening one of the last remaining copies of the first Tasmanian fairytale book at the Tasmanian State Library was a memorable moment.  Although accessing was made difficult by the expectation that I should print a copy of the book details on paper before entering - not noted on their website and after devesting myself of bags etc downstairs to enter- a tad difficult without money or a photocopy card. Beatrice Wilcken's book  written on a visit to Tasmania when staying with friends is a delight. Reprinted twice (1890/1891) before she returned to NSW and later to Germany it seems to be her only foray into print.  A reviewer said, A little, and nicely bound and ornamented book, has just been published, entitled Fairytales, Fables and Legends, by Mrs. Beatrice Wilcken. These tales, we understand, have met with so much approbation privately that the author has been persuaded to publish them, and we think they will meet with a very favourable reception from the public also. The various

A gorilla in an Australian fairytale!

How beastly! What's a gorilla doing in an Aussie fairytale? Reading Australian Fairytales, written in 1897 by Atha Westbury,  I find 'Twilight '( definately not about vampires) is a 'Beauty and the Beast'  ripoff set in Melbourne.  A gorilla seemed an odd choice for an antipodean 'Beast' until i discover  that a gorilla arrived in the colony of Victoria in 1865. This one though was truly immobilised in an action pose guaranteed to terrify the fainthearted and small children (including me a hundred years later).   The  display at National Museum at The University of Melbourne obviously fired the imagination of Melburnians and Westbury.  Read more:  Gorillas at the Museum