Streets of Forbes

Last updated

"Streets of Forbes"
Single by Weddings Parties Anything
from the album The Big Don't Argue
A-side "Streets of Forbes"
B-side "Missing in Action"
Released1989
Genre Folk rock
Label WEA
Songwriter(s) traditional
Producer(s) Jim Dickinson
Weddings Parties Anything singles chronology
"Darlin' Please"
(1989)
"Streets of Forbes"
(1989)
"The Wind and the Rain"
(1989)

"Streets of Forbes" is an Australian folksong about the death of bushranger Ben Hall. The song is one of the best-known elements of the Australian folk repertoire. It has been recorded by many folk and popular artists and groups including Martin Carthy, The Bushwhackers, Gary Shearston, Niamh Parsons, June Tabor, Steam Shuttle, and Weddings Parties Anything. [1] Paul Kelly made his public debut singing the Australian folk song 'Streets Of Forbes' to a Hobart audience in 1974. [2] [3] The Streets of Forbes is usually listed as traditional or anonymous, but Gary Shearston writes that "there are reasons for thinking John McGuire, (Ben Hall's brother in law), may well have been the original author". [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Lyrics

Come all of you Lachlan men
and a sorrowful tale I'll tell,
concerning of a hero bold
who through misfortune fell,
His name it was Ben Hall, a man of high renown,
Who was hunted from his station, and like a dog shot down.
Three years he roamed the roads, and he showed the traps some fun,
One thousand pounds was on his head, with Gilbert and John Dunn.
Ben parted from his comrades, the outlaws did agree,
To give away bushranging and to cross the briny sea.
Ben went to Goobang Creek, and that was his downfall
For riddled like a sieve was the valiant Ben Hall,
'Twas early in the morning upon the fifth of May
That the seven police surrounded him as fast asleep they lay.
Bill Dargin he was chosen to shoot the outlaw dead,
The troopers then fired madly and they filled him full of lead,
They rolled him in his blanket and strapped him to his prad,
And they led him through the streets of Forbes, to show the prize they had.

Explanation

The song recounts how Ben Hall left his station and became a bushranger for 3 years, and was then shot dead by police in 1865.

The song paints Ben Hall in a sympathetic light, and portrays the police as corrupt, brutal and cowardly.

Cultural references

Forbes is a small town in New South Wales, a state of Australia. At the time of Ben Hall, Forbes was part of the Colony of New South Wales, in turn part of the British Empire.

"Lachlan men" refers to people living near the Lachlan River, which runs through Forbes.

A station is a large Australian livestock farm.

"Traps" and "troopers" are old Australian terms for the police.

Gilbert and John Dunn were two other bushrangers who were members of Ben Hall's gang.

Bushrangers were rural outlaws in colonial Australia, who typically engaged in robbery and theft.

Goobang Creek is a small tributary of the Lachlan River.

The Bill Dargin (also known as Billy Dargin) mentioned in the song was an Aboriginal Australian tracker employed by the police to find Ben Hall.

"Prad" is old Australian slang for a horse. [7]

"One thousand pounds" refers to the British pound, the currency of Australia during colonial times. In 1910 it was replaced by the Australian pound. In 1966 the Australian dollar became the official currency.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bushranger</span> Australian outlaws active during the 19th century

Bushrangers were originally escaped convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who used the bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities. By the 1820s, the term had evolved to refer to those who took up "robbery under arms" as a way of life, using the bush as their base.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Gilbert (bushranger)</span> Australian bushranger

Johnny Gilbert was an Australian bushranger who was shot dead by the police at the age of 23 near Binalong, New South Wales on 13 May 1865.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Hall (bushranger)</span> Australian bushranger

Ben Hall was an Australian bushranger and leading member of the Gardiner–Hall gang. He and his associates carried out many raids across New South Wales, from Bathurst to Forbes, south to Gundagai and east to Goulburn. Unlike many bushrangers of the era, Hall was not directly responsible for any deaths, although several of his associates were. He was shot dead by police in May 1865 at Goobang Creek. The police claimed that they were acting under the protection of the Felons Apprehension Act 1865, which allowed any bushranger who had been specifically named under the terms of the Act to be shot, and killed by any person at any time without warning. At the time of Hall's death, the Act had not yet come into force, resulting in controversy over the legality of his killing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Gardiner</span> Australian bushranger (1830–1882)

Frank Gardiner was an Australian bushranger who gained infamy for his lead role in the a robbery of a gold escort at Eugowra, New South Wales in June 1862. It is considered the largest gold heist in Australian history. Gardiner and his gang, which included bushrangers Ben Hall, John O'Meally, Johnny Gilbert, Henry Manns, Alexander Fordyce, John Bow and Dan Charters, made off with a pile of cash and 77 kilograms of gold, worth about $10 million today. After several years in prison for the robbery, Gardiner was exiled and moved to the United States, where he died in or about 1882.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarke brothers</span> Australian bushrangers

Brothers Thomas and John Clarke were Australian bushrangers from the Braidwood district of New South Wales. They committed a series of high-profile crimes which led to the enacting of the Felons' Apprehension Act (1866), a law that introduced the concept of outlawry in the colony and authorised citizens to kill bushrangers on sight. Thomas was proclaimed an outlaw on 31 May 1866.

The Goobang Creek, a perennial stream of the Lachlan sub–catchment, part of the Murrumbidgee catchment of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Shearston</span> Musical artist

Gary Rhett Shearston was an Australian singer-songwriter and Anglican priest. He was a leading figure of the folk music revival of the 1960s and performed traditional folk songs in an authentic style. He scored a top 10 hit in the United Kingdom in 1974 with his cover version of Cole Porter's song "I Get a Kick out of You". From the 1990s he also worked as a priest in rural New South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Dunn (bushranger)</span>

John Dunn was an Australian bushranger. He was born at Murrumburrah near Yass in New South Wales. He was 19 years old when he was hanged in Darlinghurst Gaol. He was buried in the former Devonshire Street Cemetery in Sydney.

"Jim Jones at Botany Bay" is a traditional Australian folk ballad dating from the early 19th-century. The narrator, Jim Jones, is found guilty of poaching and sentenced to transportation to the penal colony of New South Wales. En route, his ship is attacked by pirates, but the crew holds them off. When the narrator remarks that he would rather have joined the pirates or indeed drowned at sea than gone to Botany Bay, Jones is reminded by his captors that any mischief will be met with the whip. In the final verse, Jones describes the daily drudgery and degradation of life as a convict in Australia, and dreams of joining the bushrangers and taking revenge on his floggers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Pottinger</span> Australian police officer (1831–1865)

Sir Frederick William Pottinger, 2nd Baronet was a police inspector in New South Wales, Australia, who gained fame for his fight against bushrangers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Daley</span>

Patrick Daley, known informally as 'Patsy' Daley, was a 19th-century Australian bushranger. Daley was the younger cousin of John O’Meally, a member of Frank Gardiner’s gang of bushrangers who robbed the gold escort near Eugowra in June 1862. By early 1863 Patsy Daley had joined with O’Meally and Ben Hall in a series of robberies carried out in the Young district. Daley was captured in March 1863 and sentenced to fifteen years hard labour. He was released in 1873. Daley married and settled in the Cobar district, becoming a successful businessman and hotel-owner.

The Gardiner–Hall Gang was an informal group of bushrangers who roamed the central west of the Colony of New South Wales, Australia in the 1860s. Named after leaders Frank Gardiner and Ben Hall, the gang was involved in numerous shootouts and robberies, including Australia's largest ever gold robbery, at Eugowra Rocks. The gang had its origins in 1861; its demise came with the execution of John Dunn in 1866.

Ben Hall is a 1975 Australian TV series based on the bush ranger Ben Hall. It stars Jon Finch as Ben Hall, Evin Crowley as Biddy Hall, John Castle as bushranger Frank Gardiner, Brian Blain as Sir Frederick Pottinger, Jack Charles as Billy Dargin and John Orcsik as John Gilbert (bushranger). Neil McCallum was the creator-producer and the series editor was Colin Free.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Vane (bushranger)</span> Australian bushranger

John Vane was an Australian bushranger who joined with the John Gilbert's gang for a short period during 1863. He rode with Gilbert, Ben Hall, John O’Meally and his friend Mick Burke, all of whom eventually met violent deaths. Burke, who had been Vane's childhood friend, died in a violent gun-fight at 'Dunn's Plains', near Rockley. Vane managed to avoid the fate of his companions when he gave himself up. In 1905 Vane collaborated with author and newspaper editor, Charles White, in recording his recollections of the period he spent as part of the bushranging gangs led by Gilbert, Hall and O’Meally. Vane’s biography, edited by White, was published in 1908.

<i>The Legend of Ben Hall</i> 2016 film

The Legend of Ben Hall is a 2016 Australian bushranger film. Written and directed by Matthew Holmes, it is based on the exploits of bushranger Ben Hall and his gang. The film stars Jack Martin in the title role, Jamie Coffa as John Gilbert, and William Lee as John Dunn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John O'Meally</span> Australian bushranger

John O'Meally, known informally as 'Jack' O'Meally, was an Australia bushranger. He was recruited to join the Gardiner–Hall gang to carry out the gold escort robbery near Eugowra in June 1862, Australia's largest gold theft. O'Meally became a member of the group of bushrangers led by Johnny Gilbert and Ben Hall, which committed many robberies in the central west of New South Wales. Considered to be the most violent and hot-headed of the group, O'Meally was probably responsible for two murders during this time. The gang managed to evade the police for long periods and became the most notorious of the bushranging gangs of the 1860s. Jack O'Meally was shot and killed during an attack on the 'Goimbla' station homestead in November 1863.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Escort Rock</span> Historic site in New South Wales, Australia

Escort Rock is a heritage-listed geological formation at Escort Way, Eugowra, Cabonne Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of a group of historic sites labelled the Ben Hall Sites for their association with bushranger Ben Hall, along with Ben Hall's Death Site, the Bushranger Hotel, Cliefden, the Grave of Ben Hall and Wandi. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 8 October 2010.

Bushranger Hotel is a heritage-listed hotel at 24 Church Street, Collector, Upper Lachlan Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of a group of historic sites labelled the Ben Hall Sites for their association with bushranger Ben Hall, along with Ben Hall's Death Site, Cliefden, Escort Rock, the Grave of Ben Hall and Wandi. It was built from 1860 to 1861. It is also known as Kimberley's Commercial Hotel and Kimberley's Inn. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 8 October 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grave of Ben Hall</span> Historic site in New South Wales, Australia

The Grave of Ben Hall is a heritage-listed headstone of bushranger Ben Hall at Forbes Cemetery, Bogan Gate Road, Forbes, Forbes Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of a group of historic sites labelled the Ben Hall Sites for their association with bushranger Ben Hall, along with Ben Hall's Death Site, the Bushranger Hotel, Cliefden, Escort Rock and Wandi. It is also known as Ben Hall's Grave. The property is owned by Forbes Shire Council. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 8 October 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Hall's Death Site</span> Historic site in New South Wales, Australia

Ben Hall's Death Site is a heritage-listed site at Billabong Creek, Ben Halls Road, Forbes, Forbes Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of a group of historic sites labelled the Ben Hall Sites for their association with bushranger Ben Hall, along with the Bushranger Hotel, Cliefden, Escort Rock, the Grave of Ben Hall and Wandi. It is also known as Blowclear Pastoral Run and Ben Hall's Place. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 8 October 2010.

References

  1. "Weddings Parties Anything discography". Musicmoz. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
  2. Nimmervoll, Ed. "Paul Kelly". Howlspace – The Living History of Our Music (Ed Nimmervoll). Archived from the original on 26 July 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  3. Horsburgh, Susan (4 June 2007). "Song lines". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 17 August 2008.
  4. "Only Love Survives". Gary Shearston. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
  5. "Streets of Forbes". Sheet music plus. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
  6. "Ben Hall and the outlawed bushrangers". Department of Water, Heritage and the Arts. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
  7. ""Prad" - Grose 1811 Dictionary". From Old Books. Retrieved 2 October 2008.