G'day Alice, Teribus,

The Bush Christening is one poem I would never think of singing - there is far too much poetry and humour in it to lock it to fixed tune! In general Banjo Paterson's poems like to stay as poems - whereas Henry Lawson's seem to cry out for tunes and this is a good example of this tendency.

"Ian Wallis's Band" would be Wallis and Matilda ... an obvious pun on one of Banjo's poems to which they did not fit the tune. I've seen them performing in recent years at AFFaK: the Australian Folk Festival at Kiama ... until the Kiama Council decided to demolish the venue - the Kiama sportsground stadium and build (yet another) tourist restaurant (... and then stuffed up their own application to themselves to do it!).

Their setting of Clancy of the Overflow is the only one I've really used. I don't think I have any books of their settings, but I'll check tonight. If no one comes up with this setting, I'll check with Dave De Santi, who directed AFFaK - and runs its successor at Albion Park, to see if I can dig up a contact.

Regards,

Bob Bolton