Gundagai lore is associated with

Gundagai Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town. Located along the Murrumbidgee River and Muniong, Honeys ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, a place of considerable reputed Aboriginal cultural significance, with both archaeological sites and anthropological associations related to sacred and spiritual beliefs of the local clan group and wider cultural associations. The Gundagai area is part of the traditional lands of the

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , ...

speaking people before and post European settlement, and also holds national significance to

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

. The floodplains of the Murrumbidgee below the present town of Gundagai were a frequent meeting place of Wiradjuri speaking people from nearby regions. One indication of the ancient, sacred

cultural landscape Cultural landscape is a term used in the fields of geography, ecology, and heritage studies, to describe a symbiosis of human activity and environment. As defined by the World Heritage Committee, it is the "cultural properties hatrepresent the co ...

that is North Gundagai is the

bora ring Bora is an initiation ceremony of the Aboriginal people of Eastern Australia. The word "bora" also refers to the site on which the initiation is performed. At such a site, boys, having reached puberty, achieve the status of men. The initiation c ...

that has been identified close to town. The location of Gundagai on a sizeable prehistoric highway, (the Murrumbidgee River), along with the significant and sacred Aboriginal ceremonial ground across all of North Gundagai, and other ancient archaeology, indicates it would have been an important ceremonial, mining, manufacturing and trading place for Aboriginal people before the arrival of the Europeans. As with all ancient sacred places, particularly within still continuing Australian Aboriginal culture, the sacredness of Gundagai's amazing Australian Aboriginal

continues despite colonial and later intrusion. Gundagai Aboriginal elders,

Jimmy Clements Jimmy Clements ( – 28 August 1927) was an Aboriginal elder from the Wiradjuri tribe in Australia, and was present at the opening of the Provisional Parliament House in Canberra on 9 May 1927. He explained that he was there to demonstrate hi ...

and John Noble, attended the 1927 opening of the new Federal Parliament House in Canberra by the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was Du ...

(later

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...

.) Jimmy Clements also known as King Billy whose traditional name was 'Yangar', walked forward to respectfully salute the Duke and

Duchess of York Duchess of York is the principal Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title held by the wife of the duke of York. Three of the eleven dukes of York either did not marry or had already assumed the throne prior to marriage, whilst two of ...

(later

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

), and after that the two elders were formally presented to the Royal couple as prominent citizens of Australia.

Australian dialogue meeting

Aboriginal leaders

Pat Dodson Patrick Lionel Djargun Dodson (born 29 January 1948) is an Australian politician representing Western Australia in the Australian Senate. He is a Yawuru elder from Broome, Western Australia. He has been chairman of the Council for Aboriginal R ...

and

Noel Pearson Noel or Noël may refer to: Christmas * , French for Christmas * Noel is another name for a Christmas carol Places * Noel, Missouri, United States, a city *Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community * 1563 Noël, an asteroid *Mount Noel, Britis ...

; the former Chief of the Australian Army and

Governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutional ...

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

John Sanderson Lieutenant General John Murray Sanderson, (born 4 November 1940) is a retired senior Australian Army officer and vice-regal representative. He served as Force Commander of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia from 1992 to 1993 ...

; and current Australian business leaders, met at a remote property on the

Murrumbidgee River The Murrumbidgee River () is a major tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin and the second longest river in Australia. It flows through the Australian state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, desce ...

near Gundagai in September 2008 on the first stages of an Australian Dialogue to promote constitutional reform and structural change for

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

people.

Galarrwuy Yunupingu Galarrwuy Yunupingu (born 30 June 1948), also known as James Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Dr Yunupingu, is a leader in the Aboriginal Australian community, and has been involved in the fight for Indigenous land rights in Australia throughout his c ...

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

Indigenous leader, could not be at the gathering of esteemed senior Australians but was kept informed of the progress of talks.

Natural phenomena

''A feeling of awe and reverence for that Almighty power that formed the universe'' was had in Gundagai at the appearance of ''the''

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

on Saturday 21 December 1844. In 1859 the '

Aurora Australis An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of br ...

' interfered with the operation of the Gundagai

electric telegraph Electrical telegraphs were point-to-point text messaging systems, primarily used from the 1840s until the late 20th century. It was the first electrical telecommunications system and the most widely used of a number of early messaging systems ...

. So great can be some rainfall downpours at Gundagai that old mining dams have been known to fill and burst. A

meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as micr ...

seen at Gundagai on New Year's Day, 1876 was reported to have ''lit up the streets as though with

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...

wire,'' and over four inches of rain fell in two hours during a dreadful storm at Gundagai in 1885. Very deep snowfalls and severe weather were experienced in 1899. Similar to other inland areas in Australia, the Gundagai area has often been visited by

tornadoes A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

, particularly in dry times. There has also been numerous reports of earth tremors rattling through Gundagai since European settlement.

Struck by lightning

During a

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...

near Gundagai in 1876, an electric fire-ball was seen to issue from the

clouds In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may com ...

, strike the earth, and explode with a loud noise, singeing Constable Macalister's hair and whiskers, and leaving a ''blue mark'' on his side. A ''terrific thunderstorm'' at Gundagai in March 1877 set fire to the inside of Armour's house. In November 1899, a man named Caigan was struck by

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...

and killed as he sheltered in a hollow log. A boy, Patrick Vaughan, was struck by lightning in October 1904 and ''rendered

unconscious Unconscious may refer to: Physiology * Unconsciousness, the lack of consciousness or responsiveness to people and other environmental stimuli Psychology * Unconscious mind, the mind operating well outside the attention of the conscious mind a ...

for a long time''. Two horses were struck by

in 1904 and one horse died. A few weeks later two boys were struck by lightning as they hid under a bullock hide strung over a wire fence. The electric charge travelled along the fence wire. In 1938 two dead drovers were found under a tree south of Gundagai, again the victims of lightning. Lightning killed a horse in 1946 but the rider escaped with her life though somewhat injured. A

bushfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

that caused a lot of damage was started near Gundagai in February 1906 after lightning hit a tree. John Bloomquist, who was camped in a hollow tree on the Gundagai Golf links, was horribly burned and died when the tree was struck by lightning in 1932. There has been other victims of lightning in the Gundagai area due to the ferocity of thunderstorms that can happen locally.

Etymology and dindsenchas

Some believe the name 'Gundagai' derives from the word 'Gundagair', an 1838 pastoral run in the name of William Hutchinson to the immediate north of current day Gundagai. 'Gair' was recorded at Yass in 1836 by

George Bennett (naturalist) George Bennett (31 January 1804 – 29 September 1893) was an English-born Australian physician and naturalist, winner of the Clarke Medal in 1890. Early life Bennett was born at Plymouth, England. On leaving school at 15 years of age he visit ...

and means 'bird', as in

budgerigar The budgerigar ( ; ''Melopsittacus undulatus''), also known as the common parakeet or shell parakeet, is a small, long-tailed, seed-eating parrot usually nicknamed the budgie ( ), or in American English, the parakeet. Budgies are the only spe ...

or good bird. In that context 'Gundagai' means ''place of birds'' but that placename may refer to the area to the north of Gundagai not to Gundagai town. The word 'Gundagai' is also said to mean ''cut with a hand-axe behind the knee''. Combining the two meanings results in ''the place of birds near where there is a large bend in the Murrumbidgee River that was caused by a cut in the back of the knee''. This meaning presupposes that for there to be a knee there is a leg and a body which there is. There is a large

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

figure in the landscape at Gundagai. The

figure Figure may refer to: General *A shape, drawing, depiction, or geometric configuration *Figure (wood), wood appearance *Figure (music), distinguished from musical motif *Noise figure, in telecommunication *Dance figure, an elementary dance pattern ...

has a kangaroo or dog-like head and is several kilometres in length. It has hindquarters similar to that of an emu but with a long tail and it appears to be sitting on a bend in the river that has a box shape. The image faces to the west and its head is near the Dog on the Tuckerbox area at Gundagai. This primary landscape figure marked out by the course of the Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai, is replicated in some

Sydney Rock Engravings Sydney rock engravings, or Sydney rock art, are a form of Australian Aboriginal rock art in the sandstone around Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that consist of carefully drawn images of people, animals, or symbols. Many thousands of such eng ...

and recorded in local Aboriginal cultural heritage. The 'Gundagai' placename meaning further refers to the reason for the bend in the

near the Gundagai showground at Gundagai and to the

mythological Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

landscape epic at Gundagai.

Bunyips The bunyip is a animal, creature from the Australian Aboriginal mythology, aboriginal mythology of southeastern Australia, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, stream, creeks, riverbeds, and wiktionary:waterhole, waterholes. Name The origin of ...

, understood to be where streams flood out of their usual channel in wet seasons flooding surrounding land but also drowning anyone caught on the wrong side of them, are recorded on the Gundagai floodplain; opposite 'Kimo'; and at the junction of the Tumut and Murrumbidgee rivers. The Kimo bunyip is really interesting as it is accompanied by a large slash in the earth's mantle out of which the 'Jindalee Volcanics' extruded. The area is also identified as Jones Creek

diorite Diorite ( ) is an intrusive igneous rock formed by the slow cooling underground of magma (molten rock) that has a moderate content of silica and a relatively low content of alkali metals. It is intermediate in composition between low-silic ...

. 'Kimo' is 'Mt Kimo', named for one of the

Nereids In Greek mythology, the Nereids or Nereides ( ; grc, Νηρηΐδες, Nērēḯdes; , also Νημερτές) are sea nymphs (female spirits of sea waters), the 50 daughters of the 'Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanid Doris, sisters ...

, (

Cymatolege In Greek mythology, the Nereids or Nereides ( ; grc, Νηρηΐδες, Nērēḯdes; , also Νημερτές) are sea nymphs (female spirits of sea waters), the 50 daughters of the 'Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanids, Oceanid Doris ...

or 'Kymo'), that occupies the midpoint of the 'Kimo Range', facing Gundagai High School. 'Kimo' is also known as

Nargun A Nargun, according to Gunai people, Gunai/Kurnai tribal legends, a fierce half-human half-stone creature that lived in the Den of Nargun, a cave under a rock overhang behind a small waterfall located in the Mitchell River National Park (Victoria) ...

. Charles Sturt in Chapter Two of his Murrumbidgee exploration journal, likened the 'verdant' Gundagai valley as having Diana of

Nemi Nemi is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome (central Italy), in the Alban Hills overlooking Lake Nemi, a volcanic crater lake. It is northwest of Velletri and about southeast of Rome. The town's name derives from the Latin ...

site parallels as recorded in

James George Frazer Sir James George Frazer (; 1 January 1854 – 7 May 1941) was a Scottish social anthropologist and folklorist influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion. Personal life He was born on 1 Janua ...

's '

The Golden Bough ''The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion'' (retitled ''The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion'' in its second edition) is a wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion, written by the Scottish anthropologist Sir ...

', when Sturt journeyed through the Gundagai area in 1829–1830. Mount

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the Roma ...

is the old name for what today is the hill known as 'Minjary'. Oak groves and muses featured in some succeeding cultural depictions of Gundagai no doubt assigned by early settlers who had received the benefits of an education in the

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

, such as

Charles Tompson Charles Tompson (26 June 1807 – 5 January 1883)
, ''

John Macarthur, Australian wool pioneer, who met up with Johann Wolfgang von

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...

in Europe and who with his brother

William Macarthur The Honourable Sir William Macarthur (December 1800 – 29 October 1882) was an Australian botanist and vigneron. He was one of the most active and influential horticulturists in Australia in the mid-to-late 19th century. Among the first vitic ...

had possession of Nangus Station at

Nangus Nangus is a village on the Wagga Wagga to Gundagai Road on the north side of the Murrumbidgee River. From Nangus, Junee, Gundagai, Wantabadgery, Oura, New South Wales, Oura and Wagga Wagga are accessible. Nangus is approximately due west of Gund ...

, Gundagai.

was one of the key figures of Classicism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. One pastoral holding on the western side of North Gundagai was named 'Jarno'. Jarno is a character in

's,

Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship ''Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship'' ( ger, Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre) is the second novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, published in 1795–96. Plot The eponymous hero undergoes a journey of self-realization. The story centers upon Wilhelm's ...

, a German response to the dramas of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. Gundagai also has a 'Shakespeare Terrace' that runs along the Murrumbidgee floodplain below the town that may or may not refer to the amazing grand theatre

corroboree A corroboree is a generic word for a meeting of Australian Aboriginal peoples. It may be a sacred ceremony, a festive celebration, or of a warlike character. A word coined by the first British settlers in the Sydney area from a word in the l ...

s that happened in that area, eagerly shared in the 1830s for the benefit of overlanders and travellers; or in reference to several or all works of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. Placenames such as that of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

Street that ascends Gundagai's

Mount Parnassus Mount Parnassus (; el, Παρνασσός, ''Parnassós'') is a mountain range of central Greece that is and historically has been especially valuable to the Greek nation and the earlier Greek city-states for many reasons. In peace, it offers ...

lead to sites in the local landscape that for example invoke

's '

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to ...

', viz ''... there the fearsome cavern of the awesome

Sybil Sibyls were oracular women believed to possess prophetic powers in ancient Greece. Sybil or Sibyl may also refer to: Films * ''Sybil'' (1921 film) * ''Sybil'' (1976 film), a film starring Sally Field * ''Sybil'' (2007 film), a remake of the 19 ...

lies, Whence came her prophecies''. The name 'Warramore', is given for Stuckey's Station in 1836 at today's Gundagai. 'Warramore' is linked to 'Warrawen', which is the large cut in the western side of the Monaro Plateau from near which western travelling

geological fault line In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tecton ...

s begin, and 'Warragong', which is the section of the beginning of the

Australian Alps The Australian Alps is a mountain range in southeast Australia. It comprises an interim Australian bioregion,

in the Gundagai region upon which snow sometimes falls. The junction of the Murrumbidgee and Tumut Rivers is named 'Bewuck' to note the numerous Murray Cod found in that area. As Gundagai is a place of significant

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

, Scottish and English settlement post the arrival of the Europeans,

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

and English landscape understanding or

dindsenchas ''Dindsenchas'' or ''Dindshenchas'' (modern spellings: ''Dinnseanchas'' or ''Dinnsheanchas'' or ''Dınnṡeanċas''), meaning "lore of places" (the modern Irish word ''dinnseanchas'' means "topography"), is a class of onomastic text in early Irish ...

is also evident at Gundagai. The story of the 'Ghost of Kimo Hill', (in 'Gundagai Ghosts' below), is one example of this.

Gundagai Shire Gundagai Shire was a local government area in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. On 12 May 2016, Gundagai Shire was abolished and merged with the neighbouring Cootamundra Shire to establish Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council ...

Council also had a ward system of Municipal Governance until recent times. but is now composed of eight councillors elected proportionally. 'West Ward' at Gundagai is still delineated by West Street. The ward system originates from Scotland and Eastern England where wards, that are ''watchful spirits that protect settlements from internal troubles and external dangers, ... form nightly a ring of benevolent spiritual protection against harmful spirits. Once the spirits are driven from the landscape, the protection is no longer forthcoming and the settlement is open to psychic ills''.

Beating the Bounds Beating the bounds or perambulating the bounds is an ancient custom still observed in parts of England, Wales, and the New England region of the United States, which traditionally involved swatting local landmarks with branches to maintain a shared ...

, the religious form of wards, is still practised in some parishes in the

Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn The Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn is one of the 23 dioceses of the Anglican Church of Australia. The diocese has 60 parishes covering most of south-east New South Wales, the eastern Riverina and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It st ...

. ''Cursed is he who transgresseth the bounds or doles of his neighbour''. Gundagai's Anglican parish still has 'wardens'. The Right Reverend Trevor Edwards

Vicar General A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

of the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

and

Assistant Bishop An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop. Church of England In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually retired (diocesan or suffragan) bishops – in which case they ...

of the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn, commented in September 2011, on the stories held within the walls of St John's Church Gundagai when he led the commemoration of the laying of the foundation stone of that church in 1861''Gundagai Independent'', Sheridan Street Gundagai, Thursday 29 September 2011, p.1. Outside the walls of the St John's church at Gundagai are also the stories of multiple events and aspects of culture not the least the two oak trees outside the Anglican Rectory. Gundagai's rich history of song, verse, epic sagas and notable events beginning first with that of Australian Aboriginal cultural heritage then on to multiple other

ontologies In computer science and information science, an ontology encompasses a representation, formal naming, and definition of the categories, properties, and relations between the concepts, data, and entities that substantiate one, many, or all domains ...

with the arrival of the Europeans; that are also remembered within placenames and recalled throughout landscape is evidence of the rich tapestry that is Gundagai today.

George Augustus Robinson George Augustus Robinson (22 March 1791 – 18 October 1866) was a British-born colonial official and self-trained preacher in colonial Australia. In 1824, Robinson travelled to Hobart, Van Diemen’s Land, where he attempted to negotiate ...

, Chief

Protector of Aborigines The role of Protector of Aborigines was first established in South Australia in 1836. The role became established in other parts of Australia pursuant to a recommendation contained in the ''Report of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Abori ...

Port Phillip Port Phillip (Kulin languages, Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped bay#Types, enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, ...

, commented that Gundagai was ''remarkable for its

nomenclature Nomenclature (, ) is a system of names or terms, or the rules for forming these terms in a particular field of arts or sciences. The principles of naming vary from the relatively informal naming conventions, conventions of everyday speech to the i ...

'' when passing through the town in 1844.

Bunyips

The Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai has been a place of numerous

bunyip The bunyip is a creature from the aboriginal mythology of southeastern Australia, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes. Name The origin of the word ''bunyip'' has been traced to the Wemba-Wemba or Wergaia ...

sightings.

Snake Tales

Snakes do unusual things at Gundagai such as the

eastern brown snake The eastern brown snake (''Pseudonaja textilis''), often referred to as the common brown snake, is a species of highly venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is native to eastern and central Australia and southern New Guinea. It was ...

that removed itself from the stomach of a

red-bellied black snake The red-bellied black snake (''Pseudechis porphyriacus'') is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae, indigenous to Australia. Originally described by George Shaw in 1794 as a species new to science, it is one of eastern Australia' ...

after the red-belly black had eaten it. George Bennett, English born Australian physician and naturalist, recorded at Gundagai in the 1830s that the black snake was the wife of the brown so that may have meant in the biblical sense. In 1908 there was a snake plague at Gundagai with several crawling around the main street and one entering the barber's shop. In 1924 an

that had hidden under a home, was enticed out after 'Yes, We have No Bananas', 'The Road to Gundagai' and finally 'Come into the Garden Maud', were played on the harmonica. A man was bitten on the finger by a snake in 1929 but couldn't get the snake to let go. His dog eventually dragged the snake away. The man chopped his finger off and survived. Also in 1929,

Hubert Opperman Sir Hubert Ferdinand Opperman, OBE (29 May 1904 – 18 April 1996), referred to as Oppy by Australian and French crowds, was an Australian cyclist and politician, whose endurance cycling feats in the 1920s and 1930s earned him international acc ...

famous cyclist, had a tiger snake encounter at Gundagai. The efforts of Yarri, Jacky Jacky, and two other Indigenous men Jackie Douglas and Tommy Davis in saving many Gundagai people from the 1852 floodwaters were heroic. Between them, these men rescued more than 40 people using bark canoes. Yarri and Jacky Jacky were honoured with bronze medallions for their efforts, and were allowed to demand sixpences from all Gundagai residents, although Yarri was maltreated on at least one occasion after the flood. It is claimed that the Gundagai community developed a special affinity with the

people and that the flood and its aftermath was the birthplace of

reconciliation Reconciliation or reconcile may refer to: Accounting * Reconciliation (accounting) Arts, entertainment, and media Sculpture * ''Reconciliation'' (Josefina de Vasconcellos sculpture), a sculpture by Josefina de Vasconcellos in Coventry Cathedra ...

Spirit Dog, Djirri Djirris, Killimicat Craypton and Ghosts

To the east of Gundagai, local Aboriginal cultural tradition traditionally ran downstream into the Murrumbidgee, then on to Gundagai rather than upstream to Tumut. As well as bunyip stories, Brungle Aboriginal women relate the story of the 'Mirriyolla Dog' a spirit dog that could

shapeshift In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, sorcery, spells or having inherited the ...

Willie wagtail The willy (or willie) wagtail (''Rhipidura leucophrys'') is a passerine bird native to Australia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Bismarck Archipelago, and Eastern Indonesia. It is a common and familiar bird throughout much of its range, ...

s or djirri djirris were known to listen into conversations so it was wise to not repeat confidences. A man with no head called 'Craypton' lived up on 'Killimicat' and would ride down the mountain of a night on a horse. The blue glow of the

Min Min light Min Min is a light phenomenon that has often been reported in outback Australia. History Stories about the lights can be found in several Aboriginal Australian cultures predating the European colonisation of Australia, and have since beco ...

sometimes identified as a fata morgana phenomenon, is also known in the Gundagai area and Aboriginal people were taught to run if they saw it. The Mirriyolla Ghost Dog is also known of in

Cootamundra Cootamundra, nicknamed Coota, is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. It is within the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council. At the 2016 Census, Cootamundra had a population of 6,782. ...

a few miles to the north-west of Gundagai and lives in the Bethungra Range that is partly in Gundagai Shire. This ghost dog hunts on just one night a year, the longest night. Gundagai has recorded several ghost and

will-o'-the-wisp In folklore, a will-o'-the-wisp, will-o'-wisp or ''ignis fatuus'' (, plural ''ignes fatui''), is an atmospheric ghost light seen by travellers at night, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes. The phenomenon is known in English folk belief, ...

sightings.

Will-O'-the-Wisp In folklore, a will-o'-the-wisp, will-o'-wisp or ''ignis fatuus'' (, plural ''ignes fatui''), is an atmospheric ghost light seen by travellers at night, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes. The phenomenon is known in English folk belief, ...

is Will the Smith. Will is a wicked

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

who is given a second chance by

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

at the gates to

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

, but leads such a bad life that he ends up being doomed to wander the Earth.

The Devil Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood. ...

provides him with a single burning coal with which to warm himself, which he then used to lure foolish travellers into the

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

es. One ''tall and shadowy ... supernatural visitant'' that appeared from under a culvert in Gundagai in 1869, severely alarmed a horse and its rider, and exhibited a ''livid, phosphoric light'' such as a rotting fish might display. Mrs Moroney at Jones Creek, Gundagai, was often visited by a ghost in 1873. The ghost wore a grey tweed suit and had a red beard. Sometimes one-half of him would appear to those he chose to favour with his presence, and at other times, the other half was seen. Mrs Moroney spoke to her clergyman and also the Bishop and then vacated her residence. A nearby resident, Mr Carey, then began to receive visits by the same spectre. Mr Carey corroborated Mrs Moroney's description of the ghost and dealt with it by hitting it on the head with a shovel the next time it paid him a visit. The shovel bounced off so next Mr Carey set the dogs on it and the ghost retreated through the doorway. Co-founder of the Gundagai Museum, Oscar Bell,

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

recipient for services to the community including preserving and recording Gundagai history, and President of the Gundagai and District Historical Society, told of the ghost of a little old woman that alarmed a newly arrived in Australia, Irish pastoral worker named Dennis Kilker. A ghost of the same description, (which may have been a

Cailleach In Gaelic (Irish, Scottish and Manx) myth, the Cailleach (, ) is a divine hag and ancestor, associated with the creation of the landscape and with the weather, especially storms and winter. The word literally means 'old woman, hag', and is foun ...

, or Washer at the Ford also known as a

Bean Nighe The (Scottish Gaelic for 'washerwoman' or 'laundress'; ) is a female spirit in Scottish folklore, regarded as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. She is a type of ( ga, bean sídhe, anglicized as "banshee") that haunts desola ...

, given the Celtic mythological elements in the story), was also reported by a tourist named Ryan who passed through the area in the 1960s. Bell then went on to remember the ghost of Kimo Hill, a couple of miles to the south of Gundagai, that is thought to belong to a lost or stolen child who went missing in the

area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an obje ...

, in the 1830s. 'Kimo Hill' is a child hill of the 'Kimo Range' that has become distanced from its mother hill, 'Mount Kimo', on the northern end of the

Sheahan Bridge Sheahan Bridge is a dual carriageway bridge over the Murrumbidgee River on the Hume Highway in Gundagai, New South Wales. It is the third longest bridge in New South Wales after the Macleay Valley Bridge and Sydney Harbour Bridge, which at is o ...

at North Gundagai. A young lady, Bridget Moran drowned herself in Morley's Creek near the old Gundagai

Flour Mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

, in 1887 and ever since, some people when walking past the mill report seeing the image of a sad young woman looking out from the upper windows of the building. More recently a Gundagai resident saw a ghost at the old Gundagai Gaol and wrote a song about her. In 1923, a ''Ghost Ball'' was held in the Gundagai hall with dancers clad in white costume. Gundagai also has a long and strong

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

particular to place that in no small way is due to the site of Gundagai and its many thousands of years long occupation by Australian Aboriginal people being the original foundation population that holds continuing traditional custodianship of place. In turn, as a direct result of

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...

by England from the 1800s onward, the current culturally diverse

and

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

origin dominant in numbers population evolved at Gundagai at high cost to the original inhabitants.

Notes and references

{{Indigenous Australians Australian Aboriginal deities Australian Aboriginal legendary creatures