Complete Book of Australian Folk Lore

Ure SMith, Sydney, NSW, 1976. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good Condition/Very Good. For such a young country, Australia has a strongly developed and unique folk lore heritage. With its origins in an amalgam of the more rebellious elements of British society, the Australian character quickly developed traits that were more than a mere sum of its antecedent parts. Ties with England, Scotland, Ireland and America flavoured the development of much of our folk material: the tunes of our folksongs are those the early settlers (both convict and free) brought with them from the old countries, and many of these can also be found in North America; the words, of course, are very much our own. The tall story (the bush lie) is perhaps the most distinctively Australian form-and is still flourishing. Rhyme and rhythm are great aids to memory. So, in a society that was largely illiterate, verse was a popular form, and the poems and ballads have a drive and simple directness of language that is their particular charm. The influences that shaped our folk lore, the songs, stories and poems, and through them the way we see ourselves-our Australian character-can be traced from the early days of settlement. Using material written at the time, this book looks at the history that shaped our tradition-the initial struggle for survival, the sufferings of the convicts, the isolation from all that was familiar, the distances tramped from one job to the next, the necessity for "sticking together" which formed the code of mate-ship, the struggles of the squatters and the free selectors, the excitement of the gold rushes and the hardships of the diggers, and especially the daring exploits of the bushrangers. Around the campfires, on the diggings, in the shearers' huts, men made their own entertainment; they sang, told yarns and recited. In this way our heritage of folk material was created, circulated, and kept alive through changing social conditions, ultimately to be collected and shared among all Australians. It is our belief that this is the most authentic and representative collection ever published. 429 pages. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: 2-3 kilos. Category: Australian::Australian History; History; ISBN: 0725403381. ISBN/EAN: 9780725403386. Inventory No: 265460.. 9780725403386