The Bush Undertaker
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The Bush Undertaker
"The Bush Undertaker" is a short story by Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson. Along with "The Drover's Wife", "The Bush Undertaker" is one of Lawson's first sketches, and is among the stories for which he first gained attention as an accomplished writer. The story concerns an eccentric old man, who lives alone with only his dog for company, and his discovery and treatment of a friend's deceased body. Plot summary The sketch begins with old man preparing dinner for himself and his beloved dog, Five Bob. Dinner consumed, the man gathers a pick and shovel and travels to a "blackfellow's grave about which he was curious." He digs up the bones, places them in a bag, and starts for home. He discovers the body of a man, parched by the intense Australian sun. After close examination, the deceased man is determined to be a friend of the old man, an alcoholic named Brummy. The old man, somewhat ingeniously, devises a way of carrying Brummy back home, but he is startled by numerous larg ...
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Henry Lawson
Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period and is often called Australia's "greatest short story writer". A vocal nationalist and republican, Lawson regularly contributed to '' The Bulletin'', and many of his works helped popularise the Australian vernacular in fiction. He wrote prolifically into the 1890s, after which his output declined, in part due to struggles with alcoholism and mental illness. At times destitute, he spent periods in Darlinghurst Gaol and psychiatric institutions. After he died in 1922 following a cerebral haemorrhage, Lawson became the first Australian writer to be granted a state funeral. He was the son of the poet, publisher and feminist Louisa Lawson. Family and early life Henry Lawson was born 17 June 1867 in a town on the Grenfell goldfields of ...
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The Drover's Wife
''The Drover's Wife'' is a 1945 painting by Australian artist Russell Drysdale. The painting depicts a flat, barren landscape with a woman in a plain dress in the foreground. The drover with his horses and wagon are in the background. The painting has been described as "an allegory of the white Australian people's relationship with this ancient land." Henry Lawson's 1892 short story " The Drover's Wife" is widely seen as an inspiration for the painting, although Drysdale denies that."The Drover's Wife: Henry Lawson helps create our Mona Lisa"
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Sketch Story
A sketch story, literary sketch or simply sketch, is a piece of writing that is generally shorter than a short story, and contains very little, if any, plot. The genre was invented after the 16th century in England, as a result of increasing public interest in realistic depictions of "exotic" locales. The term was most popularly used in the late nineteenth century. As a literary work, it is also often referred to simply as ''the sketch''.'' The Penguin Henry Lawson Short Stories'' (first published 1986); with an introduction by John Barnes, Camberwell, Victoria: Penguin Books Australia, pp. 1-16 Style A sketch is mainly descriptive, either of places (travel sketch) or of people (character sketch). Writers of sketches like Washington Irving clearly used the artist as a model. A sketch story is a hybrid form. It may contain little or no plot, instead describing impressions of people or places, and is often informal in tone. In the nineteenth century, sketch stories were frequently p ...
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Brummy Hewson
Brummy Hewson also known as Brummy Hughson or Brummy Usen is a recurring fictional character in the works of writer and bush poet, Australia's Henry Lawson. Brummy is described as a swagman or bush traveller. In the story ''Bush Undertaker'' he is described as a good worker, yet had ''wasted his money on alcohol'', although much about his identity is wrapped by Lawson in myth and subterfuge. Elsewhere he is called a bushranger. Indeed, in the book ''While the Billy Boils'' a tale of Brummy is recounted by a nameless swagman A swagman (also called a swaggie, sundowner or tussocker) was a transient labourer who travelled by foot from farm to farm carrying his belongings in a swag. The term originated in Australia in the 19th century and was later used in New Zeala ..., when the reader is left with the feeling that the nameless swagman telling his tale may actually be the supposedly deceased Hewson. Brummy Hewson may have been based on John "Brummy" Hewson, a claims minder and ...
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Goanna
A goanna is any one of several species of lizards of the genus '' Varanus'' found in Australia and Southeast Asia. Around 70 species of ''Varanus'' are known, 25 of which are found in Australia. This varied group of carnivorous reptiles ranges greatly in size and fills several ecological niches. The goanna features prominently in Aboriginal mythology and Australian folklore. Being predatory lizards, goannas are often quite large, or at least bulky, with sharp teeth and claws. The largest is the perentie (''V. giganteus''), which can grow over in length. Not all goannas are so large; pygmy goannas may be smaller than the arm of an adult human. The smallest of these, the short-tailed monitor (''V. brevicauda''), reaches only in length. They survive on smaller prey, such as insects and mice. Goannas combine predatory and scavenging behaviours. They prey on any animal they can catch that is small enough to eat whole. They have been blamed by farmers for the death of sheep, tho ...
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Alcoholic
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predominant diagnostic classifications are alcohol use disorder (DSM-5) or alcohol dependence (ICD-11); these are defined in their respective sources. Excessive alcohol use can damage all organ systems, but it particularly affects the brain, heart, liver, pancreas and immune system. Alcoholism can result in mental illness, delirium tremens, Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome, irregular heartbeat, an impaired immune response, liver cirrhosis and increased cancer risk. Drinking during pregnancy can result in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Women are generally more sensitive than men to the harmful effects of alcohol, primarily due to their smaller body weight, lower capacity to metabolize alcohol, and higher proportion of body fat. In a small number ...
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The Antipodean
''The Antipodean'' was an annual Australian illustrated literary periodical first published in 1892. It was edited by George Essex Evans in 1892, 1893 and 1897, with co-editors John Tighe Ryan (1892-3) and Banjo Paterson (1897). The publisher was George Robertson & Co. In its early years, the periodical published works such as: * ''The Bush Undertaker'' (1892), by Henry Lawson * ''The Geebung Polo Club'' (1893), by Banjo Paterson * ''My Gulf Helmet'', by George Essex Evans under the pseudonym "Christophus" * '' A Daughter of Maoriland'', by Henry Lawson References External links ''The Antipodean'' Trove, National Library of Australia Volume 3* ttp://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=ODT18931223.2.69 PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. ''Otago Daily Times'', Issue 9929, 23 December 1893, Page 4 LOCAL AND GENERAL. '' Evening Post'', Volume LIV, Issue 114, 10 November 1897, Page 4 The Antipodean ''The Queenslander ''The Queenslander'' was the weekly summary and ...
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Blackwood's Magazine
''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine''. The first number appeared in April 1817 under the editorship of Thomas Pringle and James Cleghorn. The journal was unsuccessful and Blackwood fired Pringle and Cleghorn and relaunched the journal as ''Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine'' under his own editorship. The journal eventually adopted the shorter name and from the relaunch often referred to itself as ''Maga''. The title page bore the image of George Buchanan, a 16th-century Scottish historian, religious and political thinker. Description ''Blackwood's'' was conceived as a rival to the Whig-supporting '' Edinburgh Review.'' Compared to the rather staid tone of ''The Quarterly Review'', the other main Tory work, ''Maga'' was ferocious and combative. This is due primarily to the work of its principal writer John Wilson, who ...
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1892 Short Stories
Year 189 ( CLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Silanus and Silanus (or, less frequently, year 942 '' Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 189 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Plague (possibly smallpox) kills as many as 2,000 people per day in Rome. Farmers are unable to harvest their crops, and food shortages bring riots in the city. China * Liu Bian succeeds Emperor Ling, as Chinese emperor of the Han Dynasty. * Dong Zhuo has Liu Bian deposed, and installs Emperor Xian as emperor. * Two thousand eunuchs in the palace are slaughtered in a violent purge in Luoyang, the capital of Han. By topic Arts and sciences * Galen publishes his ''"Treatise on the various temperaments"'' (aka ...
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Short Stories By Henry Lawson
Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as the Short Arts, entertainment, and media * Short film, a cinema format (also called film short or short subject) * Short story, prose generally readable in one sitting * ''The Short-Timers'', a 1979 semi-autobiographical novel by Gustav Hasford, about military short-timers in Vietnam Brands and enterprises * Short Brothers, a British aerospace company * Short Brothers of Sunderland, former English shipbuilder Computing and technology * Short circuit, an accidental connection between two nodes of an electrical circuit * Short integer, a computer datatype Finance * Short (finance), stock-trading position * Short snorter, a banknote signed by fellow travelers, common during World War II Foodstuffs * Short pastry, one which is rich in butte ...
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