Lyr Add: Bunyip in the Slack Tub (Aussie poem

Subject: Bunyip in the Slack Tub (Aussie poem)^^
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 13 May 01 - 11:44 PM

G'day,

bbc is after Aussie songs and poems about animals. Well, here is a poem by my mate, John Warner, about that most Australian animal The Bunyip (the Aboriginal haunter of bog and billabong). John is a wonderful singer/songwriter and covers a lot of territory - including great songs for kids. Have a look at this site run by Mudcat's Mandola Man: Walters and Warner.
THE BUNYIP IN THE SLACK TUB
John Warner ©
I'll tell you of a blacksmith cove,'
My word you can rely on,
He kept a forty-gallon cask,
To quench the red hot iron,
'Twas made of goodly oaken staves,
Well hooped about the chime,
He'd never seen it less than full,
Since his grandfather's time.

One day he forged a wagon bar,
Of a piece of three by one,
He quenched it in the slack tub,
Pulled it out and half was gone,
And as he looked upon it,
And his hoary head did shake,
He blinked and then looked closer,
There were tooth marks round the break.

Tooth marks in good Port Kembla steel,
The shaken smith did stare.
Then looked into the bubbling cask,
"What's going on in there?".
I dread to tell what next befell,
For to him it did seem,
Sulphurous smelling bubbles rose
And globs of purple steam.

A fat, green, bulbous head arose,
With horns of dreadful size,
All dripping with a noxious slime,
Then two atrocious eyes,
The blacksmith, he turned white with fright,
As if he'd seen a ghost,
As if near death, he gasped for breath,
And slumped against a post.

"G'day mate!" said the bunyip,
"I've come here to complain.
The muck that's piled up in your tub,
Has caused me grief and pain:
'There's no room for my family there,
With all your junk about,
Remember long this bunyip's words,
Clean up or else, WATCH OUT!"

The smith, the striker and their mates
All heaved with might and main,
And ninety year old water sloshed and
Gurgled down the drain.
There were nuts and bolts and wagon tyres,
They spread from wall to wall,
But as for bunyips, when they looked,
There were none there at all.

This poor old blacksmith spends his days,
Around at Ryan's pub.
He wanders round the tap room,
Puts an ear to every tub,
And visitors may wonder
What it is he wants to hear,
He's making sure no bunyip's there,
Before they draw his beer.

Regards,

Bob Bolton^^

link fixed by a joe clone

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bunyip in the Slack Tub (Aussie poem
From: Joe_F
Date: 14 May 01 - 07:37 PM

Has "The Bunyip & the Whistling Kettle" by John Manifold perhaps been set to music?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bunyip in the Slack Tub (Aussie poem
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 14 May 01 - 11:23 PM

G'day Joe F,

I am sure I've heard it sung ... probably to a tune by John Manifold himself, since he was a musicologist, . I will check around the traps for that one.

the final poem is an interesting shift of poetic image - Manifold was inspired by the sight he had in bombed, WWII London of a first floor flat (that's the one next up from the ground floor, for Americans) ... roofless and missing 2 walls ... with a kettle still whistling on the gas stove.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bunyip in the Slack Tub (Aussie poem
From: GUEST,creekwalker
Date: 15 May 01 - 02:56 AM

god bless you man... ever since growin up in Philadelphia, I have been plauged with the question, what is a bunyip. there was a saturday mornin TV show inthe early 60s, called Bernie the Bunyip. looked sort of like a hand puppet version of Goofy of disney fame. no green slime tho. maybe he was cleaned up for kids Tv

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bunyip in the Slack Tub (Aussie poem
From: Charley Noble
Date: 15 May 01 - 09:11 AM

What a delightful poem! I wonder if there's a bunyip in my systems folder...

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bunyip in the Slack Tub (Aussie poem
From: GUEST,bbc at work
Date: 15 May 01 - 11:50 AM

Bob, you are really something! Thanks again!

bbc

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bunyip in the Slack Tub (Aussie poem
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 May 01 - 01:13 PM

Bob, is there a tune to this, or is it strictly a recitation?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bunyip in the Slack Tub (Aussie poem
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 15 May 01 - 11:31 PM

G'day Joe,

Although John Warner is a very entertaining singer, I have only ever heard him do this as a poem.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bunyip in the Slack Tub (Aussie poem
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 15 May 01 - 11:42 PM

Creekwalker, it was Bertie the Bunyip, and I'm glad somebody else remembers him! Somehow I don't think he was related to the Aussie one. Remember Sally Starr? Gene London? Pete Boyle (father of the actor Peter Boyle)? Happy the Clown?

Aloha,
Mark

PS, I can now buy Tastykakes in Hawaii

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bunyip in the Slack Tub (Aussie poem
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 16 May 01 - 11:48 PM

G'day Mark (and Creekwalker),

I don't know where your puppet got the name Bunyip from - I don't know of any other usage apart from the Australian creature of Aboriginal myth. We use the word widely, but it came from the Wemba-wemba word banib, a language of people who lived west of modern Melbourne, Victoria - in the southeast corner of Australia.

Another name for a similar creature of Aboriginal myth is the Yowie, although this is more terrestrial - very much like the American Big Foot or the Tibetan Yeti.

I'm afraid American media sometimes just grab names and persona from round the world and do with them as they will. A bad example being Tazzie (sp ?), the alleged Tasmanian Devil or Warner Bros cartoons. They do get a reasonable feel for the shape, within the constraints of cartoon anthromorphism, but they have him brown ... and devils are clearly black, with white patches (and spectacular red ears, when the sun hits them from behind!).

Regards(les)s,

Bob Bolton

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bunyip in the Slack Tub (Aussie poem
From: Mountain Dog
Date: 17 May 01 - 12:27 PM

For several pictures of the bunyip, go here.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bunyip in the Slack Tub (Aussie poem
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 17 May 01 - 06:02 PM

And here, contrariwise, are some pictures of Bertie the Bunyip. (I just discovered them thanks to Google...looks like I'm going to have to explore that site some more. WRCV-TV Channel 3, oh my!)

Bob, the popular name for the character is "Taz". I remember him from the Warner Bros. cartoons of the 60s, then called "The Tasmanian Devil". For some reason he became very popular in the the last decade's renaissance of Warner Bros. cartoon characters. As far as the Bunyip character, I imagine that Lee Dexter, the puppeteer who created Bertie, had heard of the Australian legend and liked the name.

Aloha,
Mark