tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8054138342151796467.post7621557378814661854..comments2023-07-17T22:58:18.625+09:30Comments on Read, Think, Write: And his ghost may be heardKerryn Goldsworthyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11270814460793882309noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8054138342151796467.post-1273975620206290822011-03-08T23:33:10.990+10:302011-03-08T23:33:10.990+10:30The NLA site is great, I agree! Recently I had to ...The NLA site is great, I agree! Recently I had to check a source used in a manuscript I was editing. Thanks to the NLA newspaper database I discovered that it was so, so secondary it wasn't worth quoting. Hallelujah!Barbara Tempertonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15223605974999097856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8054138342151796467.post-48702315247758490242011-03-07T09:06:26.134+10:302011-03-07T09:06:26.134+10:30Helen, I looked it up -- the song was written in 1...Helen, I looked it up -- the song was written in 1895, in Queensland. (Hence the tag 'prophecy'.) <br /><br />What this story suggests to me is that the drowning swaggie was an extremely common phenomenon. If this one was 75 and still wearing his swag it strikes me as just as likely to have been suicide.<br /><br />I was intrigued by the phrase 'a stranger in these parts' which I've often heard (and said myself) in an exaggerated American accent as a joke -- but it was clearly not, in 1908, any sort of cliche or indeed confined to the States.Kerryn Goldsworthyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11270814460793882309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8054138342151796467.post-36676315059345675572011-03-06T20:47:37.457+10:302011-03-06T20:47:37.457+10:30A friend of mine, Megan, who you know, was canoein...A friend of mine, Megan, who you know, was canoeing on the Torrens once long ago when her friend poked something which she thought was a green mossy floating log with her paddle. It turned out not to be.<br /><br />Eeeeeeeeeeeeewwwww.<br /><br />Do you think Whelan might have been the original Swagman? (Too lazy to look up exactly how old the song is!)Helenhttp://castironbalcony.media2.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8054138342151796467.post-44104621010623793722011-03-06T18:24:29.623+10:302011-03-06T18:24:29.623+10:30Only one problem with this scenario: the North Par...Only one problem with this scenario: the North Para River flows southwest.<br /><br />I think coppers in this era must have been given specific training in fishing dead bodies out of bodies of water. Around the same time as this, there was a purpose-built structure on the banks of the Torrens in Adelaide specifically for stationing a police officer whose entire job was to fish the suicides and the the victims of murder and accidental drowning out of the river. (Those who scoff at the idea of it being possible to drown in the Torrens might recall that one can drown in a bucket of water.)Kerryn Goldsworthyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11270814460793882309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8054138342151796467.post-21702131074559063142011-03-06T16:50:26.702+10:302011-03-06T16:50:26.702+10:30It was found to be that of a man about 75 years of...<i>It was found to be that of a man about 75 years of age, and 5 ft. 5 in. in height. The deceased was toothless and had blue eyes, grey hair, and a grey goatee beard.</i><br /><br />... who was of a caucasian appearance and was last seen floating beneath the North Para bridge in a northerly direction. Police advised that he should not be approached as he might be decomposifying and dangerous. Anyone spotting the floatee should call SA Police.Lord Sedgwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13896041676969028157noreply@blogger.com