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Lyr Req: Bill Maddock, Cairns
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Lyr Req: Bill Maddock, Cairns |
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Subject: To Bob Bolton RE Ron Edwards/Bill Maddock From: GUEST,Brett Langtree Date: 15 Feb 11 - 06:02 AM To Bob Bolton You posted the thread below regarding two poems collected by Ron Edwards in 1991 from my Grandfather Billy Maddock. I was pleasently surprised to learn that he had allowed someone to record these poems as everytime a member of the family would ask to write them down he would not allow it. Billy's memory is not that great these days and he as actually forgotten a lot of them. I attempted to obtain a copy of the Australian Folklore Society Journal, Issues 1 to 20. (The Rams Skull Press, Kuranda, Queensland, Australia, 1993 – edited by Ron Edwards.) as listed in your thread, however am having a lot of trouble trying to locate them. I am obviously particularly interested in the 11 poems (well the other 9) that Ron Edwards collected from Billy? Was wondering if you could help me out with this. My email address is b.langtree@muir.ie. I know that the family would be very greatful to be able to preserve this very import part of my Grandfarthers character. The Mudcat Café TM Thread #40206 Message #586525 Posted By: Bob Bolton 06-Nov-01 - 01:50 AM Thread Name: Lyr Req: any song about the Kokoda Trail Subject: Lyr Add: ONLY A Q G'day again chrisj, Here are a few items that relate to the query about songs from the Kokoda Campaign. These turned up while I was chasing something unrelated - but contributed by some veterans of that part of the World War, to a friend, folklorist Rob Willis. The first relates to the vexed question of the "Chockos" – the Militia … conscripts fighting alongside the volunteers of the A.I.F. The second is included because it relates to that same terrain -–the high passes and dense jungle – now holding isolated pockets of Japanese forces determined not to suffer the dishonour of surrender. I was chasing up something quite different, when I came across these two sets of words in a bound set of the These come from a series of eleven items collected in 1991 from Queenslander Bill Maddock. The Journal is printed without music and it is not clear whether either of these were songs or poems, as Bill did both. (I need to get in touch with Ron Edwards on other matters, so I will try to clear that up … whenever. Regards, Bob Bolton ONLY A Q As I sit and I write, a scene I can see On the top of the mighty Tamboo. A scene that made an impression on me And I hope it does on you. Two lonely graves exactly the same, Fashioned from rude bamboo. But one had an X in front of his name' And the other - only a Q. But lest we forget let us drink that toast, And honour the mighty dead. But which of them should we honour the most, When both for this country bled. Each gave his life, he could give no more, Each fought for his country too. But one had an X in front of his name, And the other - only a Q. Will the ghostly sentry turn him, When he stands before the gate? Will his wounds be his pass? Or the letter engraved on the metal tag? Is it true that they will scorn him? Do dead men, like the living, brag? But one had an X in front of his name, And the other - only a Q. Collector's Note: "This was collected by Ron Edwards from Bill Maddock of Cairns, Queensland, 20 October 1991. He said that one of the boys wrote it during the war in P(apua/) N(ew) G(uinea). He explained that the soldier's serial numbers were prefixed with either a Q or an X. The men with the X were enlisted, but those with a Q had been conscripted and, as a result, were looked down upon by some members of the public." Bill Maddock, born 18 June 1925, was modelled after the old style bush poet and yarn spinner. He had a yarn for every occasion, and a joke for every circumstance, and he had a good collection of songs and recitations. Most of these were popular songs of the day, but amongst his repertoire were a number of other interesting items. … He had served in the Army as a young man during the Second World War, mainly in New Guinea, and a lot of his items were learned then, but he also had songs and recitations that he had picked up while working as a carpenter and builder around Cape York, the Gulf Country and in the Cairns area." Another of Bill's items relates to the general scene of the Kokoda – but comes from the tail end of the campaign against the Japanese – when the last pockets of resistance were being "mopped up" – often against fanatical resistance. BTW: I like the way that the usaul image of the Pearly Gates and the patriarchal St Peter have turned into "the ghostly sentry ... When he stands before the gate? Mopping up We're nineteen dead in the Bunie trail, Ten more on the jungle track, And all day long there's a steady stream, Of our wounded flowing back. We fought all night by the Hongari, With never a bite or sup, But tomorrow's back page news will quote; "Our soldiers are just mopping up". Collector's Note: "Collected by Ron Edwards from Bill Maddock of Cairns, Qld, 19 Oct 1991. This was composed in Borneo in 1945, by either Tiger Connell or Hank Hansen, Bill wasn't quite sure." |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bill Maddock, Cairns From: Jim Dixon Date: 18 Feb 11 - 07:38 PM Apparently you are trying to attract Bob Bolton's attention. The easiest way to do that at this point is to send him a personal message. Any Mudcat member can do this; I see you are not a member—at least, you are not logged in as a member. Setting up a membership for yourself is easy, but, since you might not have known that, I have sent Bob a message myself directing his attention to this thread. I see that the last time Bob Bolton posted a message at Mudcat was on Feb. 14. He has been posting at least once a week since Jan 5. Therefore, I hope it won't be long until you hear from him. In the meantime, since I have some experience at finding the kind of thing you are looking for, I might be able to help. I've got to do something else first—keep watching this space. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bill Maddock, Cairns From: Jim Dixon Date: 18 Feb 11 - 10:17 PM When I search in Google Books for certain distinctive phrases from the poem, for example "And the other - only a Q" it turns up a book called "Australian Folksong, Volume 8" by Ron Edwards (Kuranda: Rams Skull Press, 1994). This book is not viewable online, but WorldCat.org shows me that copies are held by the National Library of Australia, the State Library of Queensland, and Curtin University. (There may be others near you, but those are the libraries in Australia whose catalogs are accessible through WorldCat.org.) I assume you are in Australia. WorldCat.org also tells me that "Australian Folklore Society Journal" is held by the National Library of Australia, Monash University Library, the State Library of Victoria and Curtin University Library. If you can't conveniently visit any of these libraries, I recommend you print out this information and take it to your local public library, or any library where you have borrowing privileges, and ask a librarian whether they can help you get a book. Sometimes libraries will photocopy selected pages for you and mail them to you, for a fee. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bill Maddock, Cairns From: Bob Bolton Date: 23 Feb 11 - 12:36 AM G'Day Brett (.. and Jim D - thanks for the heads-up!), Unfortunately, Ron passed away a year or two back. I know that his 'publishing house' was a complicated makeshift in the home he built from mudbick (in the process, writing several good manuals on the technique!). I can look at the full version of the Folk Song Index (I have that on a CD-R ... cheaper, less space-gobbling ... and more complete than my earlier paper editions. Unfortunately, I don't think that as many items have their music attached ... particulary those Ron field-collected ... but there may be references to whether Ron's transcriptions were used in his folk music magazine - or other related publications. I'll have a good look through both paper and electronic sources ... sometime ... maybe tonight! Regards, Bob (Unfortunately my home "connection" is (not ...) served well by telstra's "slack string and tin-can" ...! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bill Maddock, Cairns From: Bob Bolton Date: 23 Feb 11 - 04:58 PM G'day again Brett, I accessed my CD-R version of Ron Edwards Australian Folk Song Index (about 2350 pp) and ran a search for I copied off the text and notes (and the music panels from two of his songs that were not just stated to be to 'standard tunes'. The full group runs to ten A4 pages - but I have also trimmed that to a set of Item NAMES and NOTES that I can just get away with pasting here: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "BETTING THE ROLL ON ROMA or HUNGRY JOE (With music transcribed by Ron Edwards) 1b. Collected by Ron Edwards from Bill Maddock of Cairns, Qld, 19 October 1991. Bill had learned it in Cooktown c.1948-49. He did not know it by this title, and in fact had no name for the piece. This is another parody of the original BETTING THE ROLL ON ROMA. Australian Folklore Society Journal No. 20, August 1992, page 6/337. BLOODY, BLOODY, BLOODY (Two 3-line stanzas) 2. Title BLOODY, BLOODY, BLOODY. Collected by Ron Edwards from Bill Maddock of Cairns, Qld., 19 October 1991. He had learned it while in the army during the Pacific war and could only remember two verses. Australian Folklore Society Journal, No.20, August 1992, page 344; reprinted Diggers' Songs 1996, page 157. FANNY BAY (Tune; Galway Bay Four 4-line stanzas) 3. A longer version was collected by Ron Edwards from Bill Maddock of Cairns, Qld., 20 Oct 1991. Australian Folklore Society Journal, No.20, August 1992, page 11/342. As follows; HEAVE AWAY (Tune; On Top of Old Smokey With panel of music transcribed by Ron Edwards) 3. Collected by Ron Edwards from Bill Maddock of Cairns, Qld., 19 Oct 1991, titled HEAVE AWAY. This song has some connection with HEAVE AWAY as given in The Bastard from the Bush, Brad Tate, page 36, and is also a longer version of HAUL AWAY, which may be found in the Big Book of Australian Folk Songs, page 164. Australian Folklore Society Journal, No.20, August 1992, page 9/340; Diggers' Songs 1996, page 150. I WORE A TUNIC Four stanzas (With panel of music transcribed by Ron Edwards) LITTLE BIT OF EGG, A (Tune; Wee Doch & Doris - Four stanzas) A little bit of egg for breakfast. Collected by Ron Edwards from Bill Maddock of Cairns, Qld. 22 October 1991 and 8December 1991. *Australian Folklore Society Journal, no 20, Aug 1992, p.336; reprinted in Diggers'Songs 1996, p 149. MAGGY MAY (Six stanzas – well known tune?) 15. Collected by Ron Edwards from Bill Maddock of Cairns, Qld, 19 Oct 1991. Bill learned this song in the army in 1943. When he sang it he launched into another song HEAVE AWAY as if the two were part of the one song. Australian Folklore Society Journal, No. 20, August 1992, page 9/340, without music, reprinted in *Australian Folk Song page 1391 1994, with music arranged Edwards. MOPPING UP We'd nineteen dead on the Bunie trail. Collected by Ron Edwards from Bill Maddock of Cairns, Qld., 19 October 1991. He thought that this was composed in Borneo in 1945 by either Tiger Connell or Hank Hansen, Bill wasn't quite sure. Australian Folklore Society Journal, No. 20, August 1992, page 341; reprinted in Diggers' Songs 1996, page 157. THE BULL STAG (Ten stanzas) 4. Collected by Ron Edwards from Bill Maddock of Cairns, Qld, 19 Oct 1991. I collected a number of songs from him in very strange circumstances, while crossing the edge of the Tibetan plateau between Xining and Songpan in October 1991. As our bus clawed its way cautiously around yet another landslide he would suddenly be reminded of another song, and I was only too willing to take my mind off the crumbling road ahead in order to jot down the words. He gave this one the title The Bull Stag. He had learned it in the 1940s and changed it slightly to include the name of a prominent Cairns butcher of the day (I have changed the name slightly here). "Didn't he take offence?" I asked. "No, Bob loved it, he used to ask me to recite it." Australian Folklore Journal No. 20, Aug. 1992, page 7 (p.338 in bound edition). As follows; ONLY A Q (Six stanzas) As I sit and write, a scene I can see on the top of mighty Tamboo. Collected by Ron Edwards from Bill Maddock of Cairns Qld., 20 October 1991. He said that one of the boys wrote it during the war in PNG. He explained that the soldier's serial numbers were prefixed with either a Q or an X. The men with the X had enlisted, but those with a Q had been conscripted and as a result were looked down upon by some members of the public. Australian Folklore Society Journal No. 20 1992, page 337. THE PYJAMA GIRL (8 Stanzas - Tune; Funiculi-Funicula) Oh my name is Antoni Agostini, and I'm in strife, I killa my wife. Australian Folklore Society Journal, No. 20, August 1992, page 342. Collected by Ron Edwards from Bill Maddock of Cairns, Qld., 19 Oct 1991. Bill said of this one "This is an old Italian song from around the Tully area, a canecutter's song." The Pyjama Girl case was a sensation in its day, but I can only recall it vaguely, being quite young at the time. A partly burnt body of a woman wearing pyjamas had been discovered in a drain and this was kept by the police in Melbourne in a bath of formalin for some time, I think it was a matter of years, until her husband was recognised by chance by an observant policeman in Sydney. I have no access to the facts of the case at this time, but I recall the husband's name as being Agostini or similar. The mystery here is what connection this song has with a totally different item called Antonio Agostini collected by Don Laycock (no other details supplied) and printed in The Best Bawdry page 132, 1982. Both items use the same tune and also have the same first line, but are quite different in content. SWAB 'EM ALL (Tune: Bless 'em All Two stanzas) Swab 'em all, swab 'em all, when they win or play up in the stall. Collected by Ron Edwards from Bill Maddock of Cairns, Qld., 19 Oct 1991. Composed in 1946, Bill put it like this: "I wrote that, or we did, in the tent. We were still in the army and just come home from the war. There was a lot of talk at the time about swabbing racehorses". Australian Folklore Society Journal, No. 20, August 1992, page 10 (page 341 in the bound edition); reprinted in Diggers' Songs 1996, page 156." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Since these were only represented by paper notes, it's probably that they aren't lodged in any national collection ... Ron's aim, first & foremost, was to get the material out and published ... not filed away! I have also converted the full selection to PDF - for convenient supply to you (it's only 123 KB in PDF) ... and I can email to a suitable addie. If you join Mudcat, you have access to the Mudcat PM (Personal Message) system that let's you send an individual message to any member ... and lets them reply directly to you ... without revealing personal details to the public gaze ... and it's both a fun site nad an education in the wider fold world! Regards, Bob |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bill Maddock, Cairns (LYR ADD?) From: Bob Bolton Date: 23 Feb 11 - 05:06 PM G'day again ... Hmmm... That ought to have been 'typed' as: ... "and it's both a fun site and an education in the wider folk world!" I ought to have also said that I can supply any of these lyrics (and the two tune transcriptions) to the DT, if they are of interest! Regard(les)s, Bob |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bill Maddock, Cairns From: GUEST Date: 06 Mar 12 - 11:14 PM Thanks you very much for this guys. I was actually living in Ireland at the time I started my search but have since returned to Oz. Unfortunately last year my Grandfather Bill Maddock passed away and I and Bill's family are very grateful to have some of his lyrics to remember him by. I was also lucky enough to obtain a copy of the Australian Folklore Society Journal, No. 20 which I have shared with the rest of the family. Thanks again Brett Langtree |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bill Maddock, Cairns From: Bob Bolton Date: 07 Mar 12 - 07:43 PM G'day Brett, I'm happy to hear that Ron Edwards' astonishing ability to collect our folklore and song under almost any circumstances has given back to your family so much by which to remember your Grandfather. We all are going to miss Ron's special talent in gathering up songs & folklore ... and getting it straight out and into the hands, minds and hearts of folklorists / singers / reciters ... and all with a belief in preserving and honouring whatever makes us Australians! Regards, Bob Bolton |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bill Maddock, Cairns From: GUEST Date: 24 Jun 18 - 08:50 PM THE PYJAMA GIRL My father was a Victorian detective on that case. The husband, Antonio, was not recognised by a Sydney detective year slater. The story is much odder than that! He was a waiter at a restaurant frequented by the Victorian Commissioner of Police for lunch and one day Antonio took the Commissioner aside and confessed to him. Found guilty of manslaughter of a manipulative and taunting wife, the meek and mild Antonio served a few years, was released then returned to Italy for the rest of his life. |
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