Open your eyes to Australia
© Jim Low
Jim Harper was born in Coonabarabran in May, 1878. As a child, he moved to Angledool in northern New South Wales with his parents James and Lillias Harper. This area was first settled by Europeans in the late 1840’s, after Sir Thomas Mitchell’s exploration in 1846. Angledool was originally Angledool Station and later became a private township. Continue reading “Jim Harper of Mulga Land”
© Jim Low
It was the last day of 2008. I was enjoying a leisurely stroll around the historic township of Windsor, one of ‘Macquarie’s Five Towns’, in the New South Wales Hawkesbury region. While stopping to explore a second-hand shop which reclaimed the ample space of a lost congregation in their old church, I came across a cardboard box full of photographs.
© Jason Roweth
While the legend of Ned Kelly and his gang is a subject of fascination for many Australians (including myself), the remarkable deeds of Frank Gardiner, Ben Hall, Johnny Gilbert and their scores of associates remain a true inspiration – especially for those of us who live in central-western NSW!
Continue reading “The Game is Getting Lively!”© Jim Low
In 1972 I purchased a copy of Alex Hood’s Boomerang Songster No 1, Australian Folk Songs. It contained songs from Alex’s LP recording The First Hundred Years, which included the song The Exile of Erin. This convict lament, its setting the foot of the Blue Mountains at Emu Plains, had caught my attention when I first heard Alex’s recorded version of it. There had been a penal settlement established at Emu Plains in Governor Macquarie’s term in office. In April 1827 there were over 134 convicts housed there.
As I started learning to sing Australian traditional folk songs, I made a point of including The Exile of Erin in my repertoire. Continue reading “Rev John McGarvie and The Exile of Erin”
