Hay and Hell and Booligal

Last updated

"Hay and Hell and Booligal"
by Banjo Paterson
Written1896
First published in The Bulletin
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Publication date25 April 1896
Full text
Wikisource-logo.svg Hay and Hell and Booligal at Wikisource

Hay and Hell and Booligal is an 1896 poem by the Australian bush poet A. B. 'Banjo' Paterson who wrote the poem while working as a solicitor with the firm of Street & Paterson in Sydney. [1] It was first published in The Bulletin on 25 April 1896. [2] The poem was later included in Paterson's collection Rio Grande's Last Race and Other Verses , first published in 1902. [3]

Contents

The phrase "Hay and Hell and Booligal" and its more common variant "Hay, Hell and Booligal" is used figuratively in the Australian vernacular "to designate a place of the greatest imaginable discomfort". [4]   The phrase was popularised by Paterson's poem, but the expression pre-dates his work.

Hay is a town in south-western New South Wales on the Murrumbidgee River.  Booligal is a town on the Lachlan River, 76 kilometres (47 miles) north of Hay by road.  The road connecting the two townships (nowadays a section of the Cobb Highway) crosses a flat expanse of country known as the One Tree Plain.  In the earlier expression "Hay, Hell and Booligal", and also Paterson's adaptation of the phrase, "Hell" corresponds to the One Tree Plain, on the stock route between Hay and Booligal. [5]

Early newspaper references

Woodblock engravings published in the Illustrated Australian News in January 1889 showing the effects of drought in the region between Hay and Booligal and scenes from each township. OnTheRoadFromHayToBooligal.jpg
Woodblock engravings published in the Illustrated Australian News in January 1889 showing the effects of drought in the region between Hay and Booligal and scenes from each township.

In 1888 much of New South Wales was experiencing a devastating drought, after a succession of dry years across south-eastern Australia. In early December 1888 a first-hand account of the effect of the drought on the western Riverina districts entitled 'The Riverina Drought: The Murrumbidgee to the Lachlan' was published in The Age newspaper in Melbourne. In the long article the "special reporter" describes the road between Hay and Booligal as being "sprinkled with carcases [of sheep] more or less close together all the way" and includes the following: "The drovers and teamsters who do this route reckon that it covers the hottest place known to fact and imagination, for they say the line of track is Hay, Hell and Booligal…". [6] The article was re-published in at least four Victorian and South Australian newspapers during the following week. [7]

The phrase “Hay, Hell and Booligal” in the above passage describes the “line of track” from Hay to Booligal via the One Tree Plain. By conflating the One Tree Plain with Hell, and singling it out as “the hottest place known to fact and imagination”, the writer (in reporting a saying of “drovers and teamsters”) is apparently contrasting the rigours of crossing the One Tree Plain (especially during the summer months) with the comparative river-side comforts and amenities to be found at the two named townships (Hay and Booligal).

Soon after the December 1888 article was published an artist from the Melbourne newspaper, Illustrated Australian News, made “a special journey to the Riverina district” and recorded his journey in an article and illustrations published in that newspaper in mid-January 1889.  The use of the phrase “Hay, Hell and Booligal” in this article presents a distinct shift in meaning from that of the December 1888 article in The Age.  In describing Booligal the passage reads: “Added to this, both flies and mosquitos are more plentiful than anything else, so that, when the climate is taken into consideration, Booligal seems to fully earn its place in the comparison instituted by residents and visitors, who place it thus — Hay, Hell and Booligal”. [8]   The writer uses the phrase “Hay, Hell and Booligal” to describe an ascending scale of discomfort and misery culminating with Booligal (in comparison to the earlier article which used the phrase to describe the stages of the journey and conflating the One Tree Plain with Hell).  The artist/writer, as his article attests, crossed the One Tree Plain at night by coach “to avoid the heat of the day” (to be compared with a much slower journey by a drover or teamster, much or all of it of necessity during the day).

In a report published in the Riverine Grazier (Hay) in early February 1889 a correspondent from Booligal expressed disappointment and annoyance at the coverage of his township in the article and illustrations in the Australian Illustrated News. "The bye-word 'Hay, Hell, and Booligal,' suggests Milton's 'lower depth' and miseries unspeakable" the correspondent wrote; "surely the disadvantages of our position are sufficiently numerous and irksome, without the exasperating addition of seeing them published far and wide with scarcely a word on the other side in favor of our much abused village". [9]

Paterson's poem

There seems little doubt that A. B. Paterson was influenced by the article and illustrations regarding the drought-ravaged Hay and Booligal districts published in January 1889 in the widely-read Australian Illustrated News.

Hay and Hell and Booligal by 'The Banjo' was first published in The Bulletin on 25 April 1896. [2]   Paterson's poem compares Booligal unfavourably with the nearby town of Hay, and even Hell itself, recounting a litany of problems with the township — heat, sand, dust, flies, rabbits, mosquitos, snakes and drought — with humorous intent. [10]

The poem concludes with the lines:

"We'd have to stop!"  With bated breath
We prayed that both in life and death
Our fate in other lines might fall:
"Oh, send us to our just reward
In Hay or Hell, but, gracious Lord,
Deliver us from Booligal!"

— A. B. 'Banjo' Paterson, Hay and Hell and Booligal

It is doubtful that A. B. Paterson ever visited Booligal or Hay. In 1943 the Hay newspaper, the Riverine Grazier, included the following: "we think we are right in saying that Banjo only paid Booligal one visit, and that was years after he wrote his familiar lines". [11]   However a search of the local newspaper files finds no reference to a visit by Paterson during his lifetime (an event that, had it occurred after 1902, would most certainly have received a mention).

Local reactions to the poem

The local newspaper at Hay, the Riverine Grazier, re-published the verse Hay and Hell and Booligal by "The Banjo in The Bulletin" on 1 May 1896, within a week of it first being published in The Bulletin. [12] In the same newspaper in early June 1896 a correspondent writing from Mossgiel reported that residents of Booligal considered they had been “subjected to indignity” and that “Booligal regards ‘The Banjo’ as a very indifferent poet”. A "leading resident" was reported as saying "poet's license be hanged, he's got no license to tell lies". The report concluded: "I am afraid you have done your circulation a serious injury by reprinting that poem, which was an excellent one in many respects, but calculated to get Booligal's hair off". [13]

Perceptions of Hay township were also influenced by Paterson’s poem. A writer for the Sydney Stock and Station Journal visited Hay in July 1896 and prefaced the report with these comments:

"Banjo" has written a poem in the "Bulletin"' entitled "Hay, Hell and Booligal," and you'd wonder what an influence a thing like that has on men's minds. I like "Banjo's" writings, and when you like a man his sayings influence you a good deal. I went out to Hay, for the first time, with a bit of a misgiving in regard to it, but I've been converted. Hallelujah!  Hay is a good place, a pretty place, a jolly place… There are no flies on the Haytians! [14]

In November 1912 an article appeared in Hay's Riverine Grazier extolling the resilience of the districts around Hay after a period of below average rainfall.  The article began with these comments:

There is no district which has suffered more from being falsely decried than the Hay district. Banjo Patterson wrote "Hay, Hell, and Booligal !" and so potent is a catchy phrase, and so hard to shake off an unwarrantable nickname, that many people who have never been in the district think that the Australian poet must have had some warrant for coupling Hay and Booligal with the infernal regions. Those who know the district and its splendid capacities, know better… [15]

In May 1936 the newly-built Booligal War Memorial Hall was opened with a fund-raising ball attended by local and district residents. 'Banjo' Paterson ("the man who put Booligal on the map") had been especially invited to attend the function. In an interview with Roger Sheaffe, the president of the hall committee, Paterson explained that he could not attend "as he was getting too far on in years to make the journey". The poet had remarked, "I suppose Booligal has grown into a fine big town now", to which Sheaffe wryly replied, "No, it never recovered from the blow you dealt to it in its youth". Paterson "autographed a number of copies of his works" for the occasion, which were sold at the hall opening to benefit the building fund. [16]

When A. B. Paterson died in 1941 the following remarks were included in his obituary in the Riverine Grazier newspaper:

Paterson's "Hay, Hell and Booligal" did not add to the poet's popularity in the districts mentioned, but the line which is still quoted by people ignorant of the actual conditions, was probably only used by the poet as a catchy phrase. [17]

The phrase in Australian vernacular

The phrase "Hay and Hell and Booligal", or its more common variant "Hay, Hell and Booligal", has become part of Australian folklore and has found a place in the Australian vernacular, largely due to the popularity of 'Banjo' Paterson's poetry. In February 1897 a correspondent to The Bulletin, in canvassing possible sites for a Federal capital, discussed the “mean summer temperature” of Bourke and included the aside: “(How much cooler than Hay, Hell, and Booligal is not stated)”. [18] In May 1897, a year after the publication of the poem and with the Riverina once again experiencing drought conditions, a report in The Age in Melbourne included the following sentence:

On previous occasions the country between the Murrumbidgee and the Lachlan has been referred to... as Hay, Hell and Booligal, and though the comparison as indicated by the position of the words may not be exact, there is, this year at all events, a modicum of truth in the laconic expression. [19]

The phrase is generally used as a signifier for a place of extreme heat and discomfort.  The following is an example from 2013:

We have all heard the old saying – there are few places hotter than Hay, Hell or Booligal. Well there was no place to evade the heat at Alma Merino stud, north-west of Booligal, last Wednesday. [20]

The author and folklorist Bill Wannan titled his collection of Australian bush humour Hay, Hell and Booligal (first published in 1961). [21]

Recordings

A recording of Paterson's poem recited by Hay school-teacher, Sam Willis, was released in 1972. Willis' recitation was the B-side of 'Hay Centenary, 1972' by Jimmie Webster and The Starlites, a single released by EMI (Australia) Ltd. (PRS-2304). The record was released in celebration of the centenary of local government at Hay. [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banjo Paterson</span> Australian journalist, author and poet

Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author, widely considered one of the greatest writers of Australia's colonial period.

The Willandra National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Far West region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 19,386-hectare (47,900-acre) national park is situated approximately 580 kilometres (360 mi) west of Sydney and comprises flat grassy plain bounded to the north by Willandra Creek, which is a tributary of the Lachlan River.

"Clancy of the Overflow" is a famous Australian poem written by Banjo Paterson and first published in The Bulletin, an Australian news magazine, on 21 December 1889. The poem is typical of Paterson, offering a romantic view of rural life, and is one of his best-known works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hay, New South Wales</span> Town in New South Wales, Australia

Hay is a town in the western Riverina region of south western New South Wales, Australia. It is the administrative centre of Hay Shire local government area and the centre of a prosperous and productive agricultural district on the wide Hay Plains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riverina</span> Region in New South Wales, Australia

The Riverina is an agricultural region of southwestern New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop into one of the most productive and agriculturally diverse areas of Australia. Bordered on the south by the state of Victoria and on the east by the Great Dividing Range, the Riverina covers those areas of New South Wales in the Murray and Murrumbidgee drainage zones to their confluence in the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Hope, New South Wales</span> Town in New South Wales, Australia

Mount Hope is a settlement in western New South Wales, Australia. It is situated on the Kidman Way, 95 kilometres north of Hillston and 160 km south of Cobar. During the 1870s, a copper mine commenced operations at Mount Hope. In the mid-1880s, a proposed township in the area was officially surveyed and named Nombinnie, but the name has seldom been used. In the meantime, the town of Mount Hope sprang up, closer to the mine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunbar, New South Wales</span> Town in New South Wales, Australia

Gunbar is in the Riverina district of south-western New South Wales in Australia, on a wide bend of the Mid-Western Highway between Goolgowi and Hay. It is part of the Carrathool Shire local government area, administered from Goolgowi. At the 2006 census, Gunbar had a population of 97 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rankins Springs</span> Suburb of Carrathool Shire, New South Wales, Australia

Rankins Springs is a village in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia in Carrathool Shire and on the Mid-Western Highway. At the 2011 census, Rankins Springs had a population of 299 residents living in 145 private dwellings. This dropped to 174 in 2016, but rebounded to 208 in 2021. The settlement is strung out along the Mid-Western Highway and adjacent railway line. The main agricultural activities of the district around Rankins Springs are the growing of crops such as wheat and oats, and beef-cattle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hay Shire</span> Local government area in New South Wales, Australia

The Hay Shire is a local government area in the Riverina area of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Shire comprises 11,326 square kilometres (4,373 sq mi) and is located adjacent to the Sturt, Mid-western and Cobb Highways. The area includes the towns of Hay, Booligal and Maude.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Booligal</span> Town in New South Wales, Australia

Booligal is a village in the Riverina area of western New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It is located on the Cobb Highway, on the Lachlan River north of Hay. Booligal is a part of Hay Shire local government area.

The Fact of the Matter is a poem by prolific Australian writer and poet Edward Dyson (1865–1931). It was first published in The Bulletin magazine on 30 July 1892 in reply to fellow poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson. This poem formed part of the Bulletin Debate, a series of poems by Lawson, Paterson, and others, about the true nature of life in the Australian bush.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Booroorban</span> Town in New South Wales, Australia

Booroorban is a village in the central part of the Riverina. It is in the Edward River Council local government area and on the Cobb Highway between Hay and Deniliquin, around 769 kilometres (478 mi) south west of the state capital, Sydney. At the 2016 census, Booroorban had a population of 33.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pretty Pine, New South Wales</span> Town in New South Wales, Australia

Pretty Pine is a community in the central part of the Riverina and situated about 17 kilometres south of Wanganella and 18 kilometres north-west of Deniliquin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mossgiel, New South Wales</span> Former town in New South Wales, Australia

Mossgiel is a location in New South Wales, Australia, in Carrathool Shire. It was a township on the coach route between the Lachlan and Darling Rivers, 50 km southeast of Ivanhoe near the junction with the road to Hillston. The settlement experienced a steady decline during the 20th century. Nowadays Mossgiel township consists of one house and a community hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One Tree, New South Wales</span> Town in New South Wales, Australia

One Tree is a location on the Cobb Highway on the flat plain between Hay and Booligal in the Riverina district of New South Wales, Australia. In 1862 a public house was built there, originally called Finch's Inn and the locality developed as a coach changing-stage and watering-place between the Murrumbidgee and Lachlan rivers. One Tree village was surveyed and proclaimed in 1882, though the location remained as just an amenity on the plain, centred on the hotel.

<i>The Riverine Grazier</i>

The Riverine Grazier is an English language newspaper published in Hay, New South Wales from 1873. The paper absorbed the Riverina Times, Hay Standard and Journal of Water Conservation in October 1902.

The Hay Standard was an English language newspaper published in Hay, New South Wales, from 1871 to 1900. It was the first newspaper published at Hay.

The Riverina Times is an English language newspaper published in Hay, New South Wales, from November 1900 until 1902. The full title of the newspaper was Riverina Times, Hay Standard and Journal of Water Conservation. It was published by John Andrew, a publisher and newspaper-proprietor at Deniliquin and Hay from the 1860s. The Riverina Times was essentially a continuation of The Hay Standard, first published at Hay in 1871.

<i>In the Days When the World was Wide and Other Verses</i> First book of poems by Henry Lawson

In the Days When the World Was Wide and Other Verses (1896) is the first collection of poems by Australian poet and author Henry Lawson. It was released in hardback by Angus and Robertson in 1896, and features the poet's widely anthologised poems "The Free Selector's Daughter", "Andy's Gone with Cattle", "Middleton's Rouseabout" and the best of Lawson's contributions to The Bulletin Debate, a famous dispute in The Bulletin magazine from 1892-93 between Lawson and Banjo Paterson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yandumblin, New South Wales</span>

Yandumblin is a rural locality of Hay Shire Council and a civil parish of Nicholson County, in the Riverina region of Australia.

References

  1. ↑ Ladd, Mike. "Hay, Hell and Booligal". Headspace. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2008.
  2. 1 2 The Bulletin, 25 April 1896, Vol. 17 No. 845, page 9.
  3. ↑ Paterson, Andrew Barton 'Banjo'. Rio Grande's Last Race and Other Verses. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
  4. ↑ Moore, Bruce (editor), Australian National Dictionary (2nd edition; 2016) ( ISBN   978-0-19-555026-9).
  5. ↑ Pierce, Peter (general editor), The Oxford Literary Guide to Australia, Oxford University Press, 1987, page 47; see also Dempsey, E. J., 'Hay But No Hell: Exploding a Libel', Evening News (Sydney), 28 June 1922, page 13.
  6. ↑ The Riverina Drought, The Age (Melbourne), 4 December 1888, pp. 5-6.
  7. ↑ Republished in: The Drought in Riverina, Ballarat Star, 6 December 1888, page 4; The Riverina Drought, South Australian Advertiser, 7 December 1888, page 5; A Picture of Riverina Drought, Leader (Melbourne), 8 December 1888, page 38; The Riverina Drought, South Australian Weekly Chronicle, 8 December 1888, page 23.
  8. ↑ From Hay to Booligal, Illustrated Australian News (Melbourne), 12 January 1889, page 10.
  9. ↑ Booligal, Riverine Grazier (Hay), 1 February 1889, page 2.
  10. ↑ "Booligal". SMH Travel. Sydney Morning Herald. 8 February 2004. Retrieved 1 October 2008.
  11. ↑ Hay, Hell and Booligal, Riverine Grazier, 7 September 1943, page 2.
  12. ↑ Hay, and Hell, and Booligal, Riverine Grazier (Hay), 1 May 1896, page 4.
  13. ↑ The Back Country, Riverine Grazier (Hay), 2 June 1896, page 4.
  14. ↑ The Hay Show: The Irrigation Works, by 'The Globe Trotter', Sydney Stock and Station Journal, 7 August 1896, page 6.
  15. ↑ 'Our Poor District", Riverine Grazier (Hay), 15 November 1912, page 2.
  16. ↑ Booligal War Memorial Hall, Riverine Grazier (Hay), 8 May 1936, page 2.
  17. ↑ "Banjo" Paterson Dead: Popular Australian Poet, Riverine Grazier (Hay), 7 February 1941, page 4.
  18. ↑ ’That Federal Capital’, The Bulletin, 6 February 1897, Vol. 17 No. 886, page 8.
  19. ↑ The Great Drought: Effects in Riverina, The Age (Melbourne), 22 May 1897, page 9.
  20. ↑ Stock & Land (Melbourne), 9 May 2013, page 7.
  21. ↑ Hay, hell and Booligal / Bill Wannan, National Library of Australia Catalogue website, National Library of Australia; accessed 24 September 2023.
  22. ↑ Jimmie Webster and The Starlites, Sam Willis (3) - Hay Centenary, 1972 / Hay, Hell and Booligal, Discogs website; accessed 10 October 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.