From the first general literary work published (Michael Howe: The last and worst of the Bushranger’s of Van Diemen’s Land printed in Hobart in 1818)[1] and the first known play written and performed (The Bushrangers by Henry Melville performed in Sydney in 1834)[1] bushrangers have had a presence in the Australian arts.
Other novels about bushrangers which date from that period include.....
In the earliest literary works, bushranger stories were generally..... told from a high morality point of view......
"stock in trade of the novel of pioneer settlement, even to the near guiltless victim who turns bushranger"http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020506b.htm?hilite=bushranger
but the folk music of the time paints a different picture. The music of the convicts, the "treason songs" which they were not allowed to sing, represented bushrangers as a rebellious, romantic element. While this convict music originally represented hostility toward the British crown and Australian colonial authority, their later use was to voice the defiance of a militant working class. .... was sung at the Eureka Stockade, .... "Bold Jack Donohue" was sung by during the shearer's strike of 1891.[2] The revolutionary tone of the bushranger ballads has continued to resonate, even beyond Australia's borders. The song, Jim Jones, for example, was sung in the early 1970s by Bert Lloyd at a rally in London for the release of Angela Davis. [2]
Jim Jones...
...For night and day the irons clang and like poor galley slaves
We toil and moil and when we die must fill dishonoured graves
But bye and bye I'll break my chains into the bush I'll go
And join the bold bushrangers there Jack Donahoo and Co
And some dark night when everything is silent in this town
I'll kill the tyrants one by one and shoot the floggers down
I'll give the law a little shock remember what I say
They'll yet regret they sent Jim Jones in chains to Botany Bay.
"They include The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), arguably the world's first feature film. Films about bushrangers, were popular until banned by censors who were concerned about the effect on public morals.
Surviving fragments of some of these bushranger films including the Kelly film, Robbery Under Arms (1907) and Thunderbolt (1910) are available on a ScreenSound Australia release titled Bail Up!" http://simplyaustralia.net/issue6/screensound6.html
Robbery Under Arms, by Thomas Alexander Browne (writing as Rolf Boldrewood) was published in serial form in the Sydney Mail from 1882 to 1883.[3] It is an early description of the life and acts of fictional bushrangers. It has been the basis of several films and a television series. [3]
Ned Kelly was the subject of the world's first feature length film, The Story of the Kelly Gang, released in 1906. [4] In the 1970 release Ned Kelly, he was protrayed – to limited popular acclaim – by Mick Jagger. Kelly has been the subject of many more movies, television series, written fiction and music.
Dan "Mad Dog" Morgan was the subject of a feature film, Mad Dog Morgan (1976), starring Dennis Hopper.[5]
Ben Hall and his gang were the subject of several Australian folk songs, including "Streets of Forbes".
- ^ [4]
- ^ http://folkstream.com/reviews/waters/waters2.html
- ^ "Robbery Under Arms". Australian Scholarly Editions Centre. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
- ^ Hogan, David. "World's first 'feature' film to be digitally restored by National Film and Sound Archive". Retrieved 2006-10-24.
- ^ "Mad Dog Morgan (1976)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-04-17.