WelcomeI hope you enjoy travelling down these Australian highways and byways. These songs, poems, ditties, stories, yarns, toasts and snippets of history are a celebration of Australia's unique tradition. Nearly everything on this site is open slather. As a collector of traditional and public domain material my motivation is to reintroduce it back to the community from where it came. All I ask is that the original informant or copyright owner, be credited along with myself as collector. It would always be appreciated if you could recommend this site as the source. Here you will find, possibly with the help of our search engine, a deep swag of folklore, curious history, over 2000 songs, poems and ditties, various indexes and facsimile reproductions, rare photographs and illustrations, lists of superstitions, children's chants and rhymes, e-books, videos, podcasts and real time streaming. There are also numerous articles about Australian social history, folklore and music.
I believe I am in a unique position as a folklore collector in as much as I am also a performer. This allows me to collect and develop and, eventually, reintroduce songs back to the communities that created them. I have often said I am a ‘folklore recycling unit’ and if I have have a ‘mission’ in life then it is the popularisation of Australia’s folklore – both past and present. The passion has been to make our people feel ‘more Australian’ by understanding where we have come from and folklore can certainly help in that direction. The site is large, busy (over one million visitors) and updated regularly including visitor contributions (which are always welcomed and acknowledged). The ShopThe site, established in 2002, is a not-for-profit venture aimed at increasing awareness of Australian culture, particularly folklore and traditional music, however there is a 'general store' where you can buy various books and compact discs and access downloads of individual songs and complete albums. Navigating the Site
Email questions and contributions are welcome. I hope you enjoy traveling down these Australian highways and byways. |
 NOW AVAILABLE as enhanced e-books for Apple iPad and other devices (Amazon Kindle version on the way). E-books offer the same material as in the print book PLUS videos and soundbytes for every song. As a unique feature many songs offer the collected versions from the National Library of Australia's folklore archive. Most of these singers were born in the 19th century and recorded between 1952-1975 - a tap on the audio file brings the old songs into the 21st century. The two volumes are $14.99 each. Available worldwide to buy and download from the Apple iBookstore. |
There are several sections on my work as a folklorist, record producer, author, performer and oral historian including guides to my oral history (1972 onwards) and my manuscript collections (part one deposited 2004) which are housed in the National Library of Australia. 
The main site sections are listed in the general menu across the top of every page and it's a good starting point for visitors. The site Index (or map) at the left is a more detailed explanation of what's on the site. The coloured menu on the left of each page lets you know the parts to each section as well as what is in each part. You can always return to this page by clicking on INDEX in the top menu bar. 
