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Banjo Paterson: is he still the bard of the bush? Banjo Paterson: is he still the bard of the bush?
(7 months later)
Best known for the folk song Waltzing Matilda and the ballads The Man from Snowy River and Clancy Best known for the folk song Waltzing Matilda and the ballads The Man from Snowy River and Clancy of the Overflow, Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson is the most famous – certainly the most publicly performed – Australian writer who has ever lived.
of the Overflow, Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson is the most famous – One hundred and fifty years after Paterson's birth (the anniversary is 17 February), the poet looms as a giant in Australian culture – albeit one viewed increasingly from a distance. The once strident national myth that his verse did so much to create these days is subdued, though it continues to influence the way many Australians view themselves and how they are viewed from overseas.
certainly the most publicly performed – Australian writer who has ever lived. In addition to serving as the unofficial national anthem, Waltzing Matilda – a song about an itinerant farm worker who steals a sheep and kills himself to avoid being arrested for theft – has been recorded by artists as various as Bill Haley and his Comets and André Rieu. In 1981 the Australian country singer Slim Dusty's cover version became the first song to be played from space by astronauts. Other artists have appropriated and quoted from it, such as Tom Waits in his song Tom Traubert's Blues and Eric Bogle in And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda – which was covered by many acts including the Pogues.
One hundred and fifty years after Paterson's birth (the anniversary is 17 February), the poet looms as a giant in Crocodile Dundee, Steve Irwin and the Hugh Jackman character Drover in Baz Luhrmann’s film Australia are the popular modern equivalents of Paterson’s tough, resourceful, free-spirited bush men. The Man from Snowy River was a movie blockbuster commercially successful enough to spawn a big-budget sequel, in all representing a hefty dividend from one short ballad about a rider with a stock whip who tamed a mob of wild horses.
Australian culture – albeit one viewed increasingly from a distance. The once strident national myth that his verse did so much to create these days is subdued, though it continues to influence the way many Australians view themselves and how they are viewed from overseas. The Australian outback, as recreated by Paterson, is in its own way as potent and anachronistic a myth as the American west. Paterson’s “vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended” is a landscape whose central figures are tall white men and their equally capable, sinewy horses, with women and Indigenous Australians placed to one side, if present in the picture at all.
In addition to serving as the unofficial national anthem, Waltzing Matilda – a song about an Paterson himself was an accomplished horseman – the nickname Banjo was borrowed from a local thoroughbred. He was raised in the bush, though never quite succeeded in living the pastoral dream himself. The son of a Scottish immigrant father and “native-born” mother, Paterson trained as a lawyer in Sydney and spent much of his adult life working as a journalist and editor.
itinerant farm worker who steals a sheep and kills himself to avoid He was appointed a Reuters correspondent after covering with distinction the Boer war for the Australian press. During the first world war, he served in the Australian army as a remount officer whose job was to match army riders with replacement horses after theirs were killed in battle.
being arrested for theft – has been recorded by artists as various as Bill Haley When the enormous commercial success enjoyed by numerous editions of his poems enabled Paterson to buy a 40,000 acre farm, the rural idyll proved unsustainable after a few years.
and his Comets and André Rieu. In 1981 the Australian country singer Slim Dusty's cover version became the first song to be played from space by astronauts. Other artists have appropriated and quoted from it, such as Tom Waits in his song Tom Traubert's Blues and Eric Bogle in And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda – which was covered by many acts including the Pogues. Not so the Australia of the mind generated by Paterson’s verse. During the nationalist cultural foment that took place in the 1890s, Paterson engaged, via the pages of the radical literary magazine the Bulletin, in a debate in poetry with Henry Lawson, the other great early writer of the Australian bush, over which was superior, the city or the country.
Crocodile Dundee, Steve Irwin and the Hugh Jackman character Drover in Baz Luhrmann’s film Australia Where Paterson took a Romanticist view of the outback – Wordsworth was an influence – Lawson favoured a social realist perspective, emphasising the harshness of the environment and the inequality between (poor) selectors and (rich) squatters, rather like the homesteaders and ranchers in the US west. For all its faults the modern city, argued Lawson, was where the egalitarian dream of a democratic Australia could more likely be achieved.
are the popular modern equivalents of Paterson’s tough, resourceful, In the literary joust between Paterson and Lawson over the basis for Australian national identity, the former won out in terms of sales. The audience warmed to his wistful humour and underlying optimism, and could not bear too much of Lawson’s grim reality.
free-spirited bush men. The Man from The fact that relatively few Australians have ever lived in the bush and thus experienced for themselves the isolation, monotony and physical hardships worked to Paterson’s advantage.
Snowy River was a movie blockbuster commercially successful enough to His outback is the stuff of myth, though at the same time his vision is never merely fanciful. According to the leading contemporary Australian poet Les Murray, Paterson, even at his broadest, “carries us into a legendary Australia he did much to create, a country in part bygone, in part fictional, in part still there”.
spawn a big-budget sequel, in all representing a hefty dividend from one short Paterson assumed a stature in public life not dissimilar to that occupied by Rudyard Kipling. Indeed, the two writers became friends. Visiting Kipling at home in England in 1901, Paterson reported Kipling as observing: “You people in Australia haven’t grown up yet. You think the Melbourne Cup is the most important thing in the world."
ballad about a rider with a stock whip who tamed a mob of wild horses. While the horse is absent nowadays from the Australian collective consciousness – except for around Melbourne Cup time – Paterson lingers as a cultural icon, his portrait appearing on the $10 note. His poems are not recited as often as they used to be, though there is no shortage of spoken-word CDs and amateur performances of the best-known works available on YouTube. In 2009 a new species of dinosaur was named Banjo after its remains were discovered in Queensland.
The Australian outback, as recreated by Paterson, is in its own Nothing much appears to have been planned officially for the 150th anniversary of Paterson’s birth. In the small New Wales town of Orange, not far from where he was born, a Paterson festival has been organised and there are plans to unveil a life-sized bronze statue of the poet sitting on a bench.
way as potent and anachronistic a myth as the American west. Paterson’s According to a report in the Port Macquarie News, the presence in the town of an ABC TV film crew there to make a documentary on the Paterson anniversary has occasioned a warning from one Orange council member, urging his fellow councillors to maintain their dignity. “We don’t want to turn it into a shemozzle where we look like hicks,” Reg Kidd said.
“vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended” is a landscape whose central figures It is not hard to imagine Paterson taking that line as the inspiration for a mock epic celebrating the comic side of Australian rural life.
are tall white men and their equally capable, sinewy horses, with women and
Indigenous Australians placed to one side, if present in the picture at all.
Paterson himself was an accomplished horseman – the nickname Banjo
was borrowed from a local thoroughbred. He was raised in the bush,
though never
quite succeeded in living the pastoral dream himself. The son of a
Scottish
immigrant father and “native-born” mother, Paterson trained as a lawyer
in
Sydney and spent much of his adult life working as a journalist and
editor.
He was appointed a Reuters correspondent after covering with
distinction the Boer war for the Australian press. During the first world war, he served in the Australian army as a remount officer whose
job was to match army riders with replacement horses after theirs were killed in battle.
When the enormous commercial success enjoyed by numerous
editions of his poems enabled Paterson to buy a 40,000 acre farm, the rural
idyll proved unsustainable after a few years.
Not so the Australia of the mind generated by Paterson’s
verse. During the nationalist cultural foment that took place in the 1890s,
Paterson engaged, via the pages of the radical literary magazine the Bulletin, in a debate in poetry with
Henry Lawson, the other great early writer of the Australian bush, over which
was superior, the city or the country.
Where Paterson took a Romanticist view of the outback –
Wordsworth was an influence – Lawson favoured a social realist
perspective, emphasising the harshness of the environment and the
inequality
between (poor) selectors and (rich) squatters, rather like the
homesteaders and
ranchers in the US west. For all its faults the modern city,
argued Lawson, was where the egalitarian dream of a democratic Australia
could more
likely be achieved.
In the literary joust between Paterson and Lawson over the
basis for Australian national identity, the former won out in terms of sales. The audience warmed to his wistful humour and underlying
optimism, and could not bear too much of Lawson’s grim reality.
The fact that relatively few Australians have ever lived in
the bush and thus experienced for themselves the isolation, monotony and
physical hardships worked to Paterson’s advantage.
His outback is the stuff of myth, though at the same
time his vision is never merely fanciful. According to the leading
contemporary Australian poet Les Murray, Paterson, even at his broadest,
“carries us into a legendary Australia he did much to create, a country in part
bygone, in part fictional, in part still there”.
Paterson assumed a stature in public life not dissimilar to
that occupied by Rudyard Kipling. Indeed, the two writers became friends.
Visiting Kipling at home in England in 1901, Paterson reported Kipling as
observing: “You people in Australia haven’t grown up yet. You think the
Melbourne Cup is the most important thing in the world."
While the horse is absent nowadays from the Australian
collective consciousness – except for around Melbourne Cup time – Paterson
lingers as a cultural icon, his portrait appearing on the $10 note. His
poems are not recited as often as they used to be, though there is no shortage
of spoken-word CDs and amateur performances of the best-known works available
on YouTube. In 2009 a new species of dinosaur was named Banjo after its remains were discovered in Queensland.
Nothing much
appears to have been planned officially for the 150th anniversary of Paterson’s
birth. In the small New Wales town of Orange, not far from where he was born, a
Paterson festival has been organised and there are plans to unveil a life-sized
bronze statue of the poet sitting on a bench.
According to a report in the Port Macquarie News, the presence in the town of an ABC TV film
crew there to make a documentary on the Paterson anniversary has occasioned a
warning from one Orange council member, urging his fellow councillors to maintain
their dignity. “We don’t want to turn it into a shemozzle where we look like
hicks,” Reg Kidd said.
It is not hard to imagine Paterson taking that line as the
inspiration for a mock epic celebrating the comic side of Australian rural
life.