Sticking up of the Goulburn Mail, artist unknown, published by Ebenezer and David Syme, March 28, 1867, State Library of Victoria
TROOPERS, TRACKERS and BUSHRANGERS
VIRTUAL EXCURSION
TEACHER NOTES
PRE-SESSION
Presented by
PLEASE DO THE FOLLOWING BEFORE YOUR LAW OF THE LAND VIRTUAL EXCURSION
WITH SYDNEY LIVING MUSEUMS:
•Photocopy the morse code alphabet.
There should be enough copies to share one
between two students. Please give out the
alphabet during the videoconference session
only when requested to by the presenter.
•Photocopy the lyrics of ‘The Wild Colonial Boy’
and practise singing the ballad with your
students. For this session the students will only
need to know the first two verses and the
chorus. Click here for a recording of the song:
https://soundcloud.com/sydlivmus/
wild-colonial-boy-warren-fahey
•Photocopy the kepi template provided onto A3
paper and distribute it to students so they can
each make their own kepi before the virtual
excursion. They will be asked by the presenter to
put on their kepis at some point during the session.
•Read through and familiarise your
students with the song ‘Brave Ben Hall’
and the newspaper article ‘The reign of
terror’. Click here for an audio recording of
the documents: https://soundcloud.com/
sydlivmus/sets/law-of-the-land-readings
The documents will be referred to during
the session. A glossary has been provided
for both documents, as well as additional
questions, should you wish to do further work
on the documents after the virtual excursion.
•Prepare for the bushranger name activity.
Some bushrangers chose names that
made them sound like the romantic hero
of a novel, eg, Captain Moonlite, Captain
Thunderbolt, Captain Starlight. Ask your
students to choose the names they
would use if they were bushrangers.
•Organise the students into groups of three or
four and arrange the classroom so each
group sits together during the session. The
presenter will lead them in an activity that
they will work on within their groups and
each group will be asked to nominate a
spokesperson to report back to the class.
•A number of educational videos relating to the
Law of the Land virtual excursion have been
posted on the Sydney Living Museums website.
Follow this link to view videos on the development
of weapons during the bushranging era:
http://sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/stories/
troopers-trackers-bushrangers-andtheir-weapons
AFTER THE VIRTUAL EXCURSION
Two additional exercises have been included
for you to work through with your students
to help consolidate learning from the
virtual excursion. You will find details in a
separate document called ‘The Law of the
Land: Teacher Notes – Post Session’.
TEACHER NOTES – PRE-SESSION
1
ACTIVITY
PRE‑SESSION:
POST‑SESSION:
Before your virtual excursion please read
through the two documents ‘Brave Ben Hall’
and ‘The reign of terror’ with your students and
familiarise them with the language and the
vocabulary. Alternatively you can listen to a
recording of the documents by clicking on this
link: https://soundcloud.com/sydlivmus/sets/
law-of-the-land-readings Your students will
be asked some questions during their virtual
excursion to see if they can tell from which
perspective each document has been written.
If you would like to do more work on these
documents after the session, here are some
additional questions that you may find useful:
The documents illustrate the battle that was going
on for the hearts and minds of the public. The
official line as presented in the newspaper article
portrays bushrangers as violent, hard-hearted
criminals. It hopes to win over people and enlist
their help in capturing the bushrangers. Equally,
the bushrangers need the support of the local
population to survive in the bush and evade
capture. Ballads are a powerful way of putting
across the bushrangers’ points of view but they
tend to romanticise their exploits by emphasising
their good points and ignoring their imperfections.
•Who wrote the document?
•Find a reference to the police in the
documents. Does the writer have a
positive or negative view of the police?
•Does the writer have a positive or
negative view of bushrangers?
•Are there any clues that tell you when
the document was written?
•Whose point of view is the writer
trying to communicate?
•Who was the intended audience?
Extension questions:
•Is the writer stating facts or opinions?
Do they use evidence to support their ideas?
•Is the language emotive or persuasive?
This link will provide you with some
strategies for reading texts with children:
http://www.history.org.uk/resources/
primary_resource_3638,3641_130.html
TEACHER NOTES – PRE-SESSION
2
MORSE CODE ALPHABET
A·–
B–···
C–·–·
D–··
E·
F··–·
G––·
H····
I··
J·–––
K–·–
L·–··
M––
N–·
O–––
P·––·
Q––·–
R·–·
S···
T–
U··–
V···–
W·––
X–··–
Y–·––
Z––··
TEACHER NOTES – PRE-SESSION
3
THE WILD COLONIAL BOY
There was a Wild Colonial Boy, Jack Doolin was his name
He was born and bred in Victoria, in a place called Castlemaine
He was his father’s only son, and his mother’s pride and joy
And dearly did they always love the Wild Colonial Boy
At the early age of sixteen years, he left his father’s home
And through Australia’s sunny climes as a bushranger did roam
He robbed the wealthy squatters, their flocks he did destroy
And a terror to Australia was the Wild Colonial Boy
So come away my hearties, we’ll roam the mountainside
Together we will plunder, together we will ride
We’ll cross the wild Blue Mountains, and gallop over the plains
And we scorn to live in slavery, bound down by iron chains
In eighteen hundred and sixty-two he commenced his wild career
With a heart that knew no danger, no foeman did he fear
He stuck up the Beechworth Mail coach, he robbed Judge MacEvoy
Who trembling cold, gave up his gold, to the Wild Colonial Boy
One morning as he rode his horse, the mountainside along
Listening to the kookaburra’s pleasant laughing song
He spied three mounted troopers: Davis, Kelly and Fitzroy
With a warrant for the capture of the Wild Colonial Boy
‘Surrender now Jack Doolin, you see there’s three to one
Surrender in the Queen’s name, you plundering highwayman’
Jack drew a pistol from his belt and he flashed the little toy
‘I’ll fight but not surrender’, cried the Wild Colonial Boy
Anonymous
TEACHER NOTES – PRE-SESSION
4
BRAVE BEN HALL
Ever since the good old days
Of Dick Turpin and Duval,
Knights of the road were outlaws bold,
And so was bold Ben Hall.
He never robbed a needy man,
His records best will show,
Staunch and loyal to his mates,
And manly to the foe.
Until he left his trusty mates,
The cause I ne’er could hear,
The bloodhounds of the law heard this
And after him did steer.
They found his place of ambush,
And cautiously they crept,
And savagely they murdered him
While the victim slept.
Yes, savagely they murdered him,
The cowardly blue-coat imps,
Who were laid onto where he slept
By informing peeler’s pimps.
No more he’ll mount his gallant steed,
Nor range the mountains high,
The widow’s friend in poverty –
Bold Ben Hall, goodbye.
Extract from traditional Australian song, composer unknown
TEACHER NOTES – PRE-SESSION
5
The Bathurst Times
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euismod nibh a risus consectetur tempor ac a ipsum. Sed condimentum vel nulla ac feugiat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aenean placerat viverra tortor vel rhoncus. Duis sit amet ligula ultricies, venenatis eros ac, ultricies mauris. Morbi eleifend, neque vitae sollicitudin tristique, massa odio sodales.
Established 1858
ILLUSTRATED
WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
WEDNESDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 1863
Price 6d
THE REIGN
OF TERROR
Half-a-dozen
heartless,
reckless,
blood-thirsty
scoundrels are masters
of this western territory,
and hold, at their good
will and pleasure, the
lives and properties of all
our citizens who reside
beyond the boundaries of
a populous township.
Mere boys though they
be, they are, beyond all
question, masters of the
situation, and the fact
is a deep disgrace to
our civilisation.
One
unfortunate
storekeeper, Mr Hosie, of
Caloola Creek, has been
deprived of money and
property and is brought
to the verge of ruin, and,
notwithstanding
that
the district is almost
swarming with police,
their career appears to be
ABOVE: One of the reckless scoundrels, Ben Hall.
one undisturbed series of
successes so far, indeed,
from the police keeping
them in check, they have
commenced apprehending
the police, and habitually
hold them in the most
thorough
contempt.
They handcuffed Hosie
TEACHER NOTES – PRE-SESSION
and three or four other
men with the handcuffs
taken from the police the
day before.
They care no more for the
police than if they were so
many gadflies.
TBT
6
GLOSSARY FOR
‘BRAVE BEN HALL’
GLOSSARY FOR
THE BATHURST TIMES ARTICLE
blue-coat a Mounted Trooper,
who wore a blue coat
apprehend arrest (someone) for a crime
blood-thirsty having or showing
a desire to kill and maim
bold willing to take risks; confident
and courageous
Dick Turpin (1706–1739), English
highwayman. He stole cattle, horses and
deer, and was hanged for his crimes
Duval Claude Du Vall (1643–1670) was a Frenchborn gentleman highwayman in Britain
foe enemy or opponent
contempt the feeling that a person or a thing
is worthless or beneath consideration
deprive to prevent (a person or place)
from having or using something
gadfly a person who annoys or criticises
others in order to force them into action
habitual done as a habit
gallant brave; heroic
imp a small, mischievous devil or sprite
manly having those qualities
traditionally associated with men,
such as courage and strength
heartless showing a complete lack of
feeling or consideration for other people
master a person who has complete
control of something
needy lacking the necessities of life; very poor
peeler UK, slang, archaic police officer.
UK Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel helped
to create the modern police force in 1829,
leading to officers being known as ‘bobbies’
(England) and ‘peelers’ (Northern Ireland)
pimp Australian, informal a telltale or informer
savagely cruelly and viciously
staunch strong, steady and loyal
notwithstanding in spite of
populous having a large population;
densely populated
reckless not caring about danger or the
consequences of one’s actions; rash or impetuous
ruin the complete loss of position or means; the
downfall, destruction or decay of anything
scoundrel someone who is dishonest
or dishonourable; a villain
verge edge
steed horse
steer follow a course in a specified direction
trusty reliable or faithful
TEACHER NOTES – PRE-SESSION
7