ABORIGINAL SONGS AND DANCES

Incidents of the chase were woven into songs and dances. IN all aboriginal schools the most popular item is singing. In the settlements on the islands in the Clarence River, in the schools on the Richmond and on the reserve at Pooncarie, near the Darling, the zest for singing prevails. The children learn quickly, they have good voices, and sing really well. The popular songs of the day also appeal to the abo women. In 1895 I was spelling horses for a week at a Scalpers' camp, above Merrivale Station, near the head of the Maranoa, and was surprised to hear two' gins singing "Daisy Bell" and "Sweet Marie"- two popular songs of that time. They had beautiful voices, and entertained us by the camp-fire at night. During the day their job was to string wallaby scalps on long lines stretched between trees to dry. They wore a one-piece garment - one split down the back, and whenever the wearer stooped all the frock from the shoulders fell out to the front. There were about 60 black fellows in the camp, who hunted wallabies in the brigalow scrubs for a white boss, and all the clothes the whole mob had were two old shirts. These were worn in turn whenever a couple of them wanted to go to the home stead. In such a camp one hardly, expected to hear a faultless rendering of the songs of the period. At Taroom, on the Dawson River, at the same time, a singer with a local reputation was an aborigine named Willie. As he was the best vocalist in the district, he was always in demand for concerts, wedding parties and so forth. Among his regular associates or in a camp he was splendid, but in a lighted hall before a mixed crowd, and in a white shirt and collar, he seemed to get stage fright - unless he was given a nobbler or two of rum to start with. THE gum-leaf, with which the experts produce good flute-like music, and the possum-skin drum, used for corroboree dances, were the only musical instruments played by the blacks of the northern districts of N.S.W. But there was one in the Big Scrub days of Lismore whose musical attainments made him welcome at bush dances. His name was Charlie Brown. Among the Big Scrub timber-getters he was known as Concertina Charlie. The concertina was his favorite instrument, and on it he could beat any of the district white men, but he could also play the clarinet and other instruments. The bush blacks were rather afraid of him; but one day some of them, sneaked into his bark humpy when he was away at work. On the bunk was Charlie’s concertina. One curious intruder grasped the strap to pick it up, but as he lifted it the strange thing creaked and groaned. He dropped it in a fright and jumped back. The others clustered at the door. Then one knocked it over with a waddy, and again the instrument protested. At that they bolted for their lives, believing that a debil debil was inside it. At the Yarrabah mission station (N.Q.), which is an abo. township with its own little newspaper, called the "Aboriginal News," entertain ments are occasionally given by the blacks, who have their own brass band. One year this band supplied the music at the Atherton Show. Ulgundhi and Cabbage-tree, two of the island settlements in the Clarence, which are provided with schools for the black children, have produced many good singers. Ulgundhi is. an exclusive black-farming settlement. bIn one year the abo. growers sold over £500 worth of cane, besides big crops of beans, maize and potatoes, whilst the school, in competition with all the district schools, obtained first prize for the best display of work and products at the Lower Clarence Agricultural Society's Show. WHEN blacks were numerous on these rivers corroborees were frequently held, and on such occa sions some hew songs or variants of old ones were composed by the geniuses of the tribes. All were fond of song and dance; and the song-maker was respected for his talents. Usually hunting and other bush experiences were mimicked, the actors representing hunters and birds and animals, and the song referring to various incidents connected with them, the comic element being particularly relished. The comic poet who "made 'em laugh” was lifted to the peaks of happiness. It was success, and he looked for no other reward.. The aboriginal poet had a good sense of humor. A song I heard sung by a group of blacks related to a local settler's father, an aged man whom the blacks had noticed splitting timber. The old fellow accompanied the blow of his maul with a prolonged grunt, as though that gave it more force. In the first part of the song the singers' arms swung to and fro in imitation of the working of a cross cut saw, the vocalists at the same time making a hissing sound with their lips. In the second part, at intervals they bent and swung their arms downwards, terminating the action with a loud concerted "Whuh." That was the fall of the splitter’s maul, accompanied by the splitter’s, grunt. In the concluding part they hopped around on one foot, holdingnthe other in their hands, and finally hopped or limped away singing a distressful chant. That was where the old fellow dropped a wedge on his toes. As the audience knew the aged settler and his peculiarities the action song was a howling success. SOME of the aboriginal songs and dances originated in the days of the bunyip, and were passed down from generation to generation. An old-time maker of songs was Jacky Jacky, the heroic Hunter River native who accompanied explorer Kennedy in 1848, and who played such a noble part in that tragic expedition when his leader was killed near Escape River. His aboriginal name was Galmarra, which means maker of songs. A Russel River grass (Paspalum galmarra) was named after him by the Queensland botanist, F. M. Bailey. Among his own people, he was a great poet, and his corroborees were played or acted by all the clans of the Hunter, and prob ably farther afield. The brolga dance-the quaint quadrilles of the brolgas' or native” companions on the marshy plains were incorporated in the corroborees from the Castlereagh to North Queensland, and on some of the islands of the Great Barrier Reef. The brolga was a widely-protected bird, being held sacred by many tribes. The Castlereagh tribe had a legend that in the "dream times" of their race there was a beautiful girl named Brolga, who was far-famed for her dancing. She was kidnapped by two giants, whose incantations and wizardry changed her into a great crane. In that form she returned to dance before the camps and was recognised by certain steps that no one but she had danced. By and bye, on the plains, the one bird became many, and for ever afterwards they were known as Brolgas. In the lore of other tribes it was the festive birds of the plains that taught the blacks to dance. The ordinary corroboree was entirely for amusement, and differed from that of the bora ceremony. As much fun as possible was introduced in song and dance, combined with spectacular effect, as in a pantomime. The spectators did not always understand it - neither did the actors’ in some cases. There was a legend on the mid-eastern rivers that a great man long ago came down from the north and taught the tribes some new corroborees, enjoining them to pass on the songs and dances to their children. Sometimes a song of pleasant melody was sung to quaintly dancing feet, but in a lingo that was meaningless to most. Aboriginal traders, travelling through different territories, but always on defined trade routes, for the purpose of bartering, picked up corroboree dances and snatches of songs. The traders were more or less accomplished linguists, and this enabled them to understand a good part of what they saw and heard. LIKE theatre lovers, black audiences were always keen for something new. There was much in the lives of early settlers that was seized upon as good material for pantomimes. In a Manning River corroboree, one of the performers, a little fellow, was a cat with a wallaby tail. This originated with the tribe's first acquaintance with the domestic feline. The refrain of the accompanying song was mostly "meeow," and an imitation of "Where are you, Maria?" Incidents of the chase were woven into songs and dances by the talented members of the clan. The star artists imitated many creatures of the wild. Where the snake came in they hissed and wriggled; for the kan garoo they, crouched with hands on the ground, rose suddenly without straightening the legs, and listened; then one gave the grey beast's signal, and the troupe hopped along one behind the other, finally stampeding as a number of armed warriors dashed in from the dark for the hunting song. To imitate the kookaburra they ran, bent down with a sweeping motion, jumped in the air and laughed like the bird-which signified the killing of the snake. All blacks were mimics, and their kookaburra chorus was realistic. The frog dance of the New England blacks usually came at the end of a night's performance-to keep away bad spirits. This amusing finale was prompted by the swamp chorus after rain, when the frogs seemed to follow one another as though some genius had arranged the symphony. The troupe imitated the festive amphibians, uttering a variety of notes in a pleasing melody from the musical tenor of the chorus ters to the deep bass of the old bull frog. Now and again they all croaked together in a fortissimo crash, which was followed by a slight pause; then again each one croaked in his allotted place with varying modulations. These corroborees were rehearsed several times before the grand performance, the composers being the chief instructors. As they had no "book yabber," and thus nothing was committed to writing, the poet had to memorise his compositions-and it was a wonderful medley that he had to "carry in his head;" But there was never much variety in the tunes-a low chanting, melody to which the gins beat time with waddies on the ground, or on their possum rugs, which were drawn skin-side up across the knees, and two or three musicians played an accompaniment with gum leaves, manipulated with the fingers and lips. The slightest mistake in the song annoyed the poet and composer, and sometimes when his masterpiece, was being murdered he jumped up and stopped the performance. One night a New England mob performed before a white crowd at Tenterfield, and astonished the audience by singing popular English songs between the corroboree chants. One of the items was "Molly Riley," and it brought down the house. FROM: ABORIGINAL SONGS AND DANCES THE LAND JULY 17, 1936 E. S. Sorenson Digitisation generously supported by More Info More Info New South Wales Government