PLEASE add to the list.
If you know of any Eccentrics, Characters or Street Sellers (and cries) please email the site.

  • SYDNEY FOLKLORE PROJECT CONTENTS
  • SECTION 17: Characters and Eccentrics

    Big cities always attract individuals we refer to as 'eccentrics' or 'characters'. They are nowadays referred to as 'homeless' or 'street people' however they are not necessarily one and the same. Arthur Stace who scribbled 'Eternity' was well known and so was Bea Miles - who was regarded as 'the scourge of taxi drivers'. I saw both of these people when I was a child and recall sitting in a bus as Bea Miles came in with a sign around her neck 'Shakespeare 1/-' – she would eyeball some poor individual and start reciting a sonnet or extract from a play and then demand her fee. Her language was more than strong – it yelled! They are both part of a long tradition of eccentrics of New South Wales.

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    Eccentrics           Swag Carriers           Street Sellers           Oddities





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