The White Hat Melbourne Newsletter

Archived Newsletter No.132 - 24 June 2005

Contents

New shows
Scarf Lane market
Melbourne’s Robinson Crusoe
Concerts
Dance
The Five Dimensions of Melbourne
Public lecture
Reader feedback
Country Victoria
The White Hat Quiz

New shows

Dirty Dancing has opened at the Princess, Circus Oz is under the heated big top at Birrarung Marr, Leader of the Pack opens soon at the Casino, Tap Dogs has moved into the Comedy and as a result Menopause has moved to Her Majesty’s for its final few weeks. Details at Theatre in Melbourne.

Scarf Lane Market

If you get excited about scarves (and don’t we all) there is a week long market and exhibitions at Fed Square and the ‘Flinders Quarter’ (Have you noticed how the marketers have invented ‘quarters’ and ‘precincts’ and ‘villages’ in Melbourne that we never knew we had?)

Melbourne's Robinson Crusoe

In 1803 Captain Collins (someone should name a street after him) sailed into Port Phillip Bay with the intention of establishing a penal colony near present day Portsea. The attempted settlement was a disaster and Captain Collins upped anchor and took his convicts off to Hobart instead. The Port Phillip area remained unsettled by white man until thirty-two years later, John Batman put together a party with a view to settling the area. Having examined a large tract of land and completing his contentious rental ‘treaty’ with local Aborigines, he sailed back to Launceston leaving a small party of men at Indented Head just inside the entrance to the bay. Imagine the surprise of this party when out of nowhere a huge ‘wild white man’ wandered into their camp at 2 o’clock on 6 July 1835. It took some time to piece the story together because this white man, William Buckley, had lost most of his use of English. He was a transported convict who had escaped from the Portsea settlement thirty-two years earlier, had a remarkable tale of survival and ended up living with the local Aborigines and learning their language and their ways. (In fact Buckley’s chances of survival under these circumstances were so slim that he entered the language – “You’ve got Buckley’s chance, mate!” Later when a department store opened in Melbourne called Buckleys & Nunn the saying was extended to – “You’ve got two chances mate. Buckley’s and none”). William Buckley was used by the fledgling settlement of Melbourne as a translator and emissary with the local Aborigines but he was often treated with suspicion and even downright disdain but those whose power was threatened by his specialist knowledge. He could see the Aboriginal culture in which he had spent much of his adult life being quickly and irrevocably eroded and he could do nothing about it. After a couple of years he left Melbourne for Hobart and never returned. His later life was spent as a man between two cultures who could belong to neither of them. We have several major sources of information of Buckley’s life with the Aborigines, but as they are contradictory on some points and all contain vested interests they provide interesting detective work for historians. For that reason we will return to Buckley’s story in another newsletter as well as suggesting some weekend trips to places associated with Buckley’s remarkable wanderings.

Concerts

The RAAF Band has a free concert next week at BMW Edge (or “The Edge” as ABC announcers call it with a slightly distasteful air). Gareth Koch gives a concert of classical and flamenco guitar and the Australian Chamber Music Competitions get under way in South Melbourne. There is also a classical concert by a group of doctors calling themselves Corpus Medicum. Check at the box office to see whether bulk billing is available. Details at Classical Music in Melbourne.

Dance

Next week the annual 3D dance festival in Carlton commences and Hazelwood (in the Latrobe Valley) has an international festival of dance. Details at Dance in Melbourne.

The Five Dimensions of Melbourne

Four Dimensional Melbourne

Many people are familiar with the three dimensional aspects of getting around Melbourne and where everything is, but not everyone has a sense of time and place. If you are to believe recent television specials on Melbourne, then you would think it is made up of bimbos (and their male equivalents) playing dress-ups and dedicated to a life lived relentlessly on the surface and at “now”. If, on the other hand you look at the musicals on offer you would be convinced that much of Melbourne is focused on where life stopped for them somewhere in the (not so recent) past. And in Melbourne you can usually find an actor wheeled out in front of the cameras with a limited backward looking vision who will proclaim that things should be kept just the way they were when sustainability and energy efficiency weren’t issues you concerned yourself with (actors, when unscripted, always use a preposition to end their sentences). However, most great Melbournians had a world view that encompassed the past, the present and the future. John Monash was one of the few Melbournians who attempted to maintain the heritage of the Old Melbourne Cemetery, was the driving figure behind creating The Shrine in St Kilda Road while creating an electricity grid that would serve Victorians well into the future. William Buckley was painfully aware of the cultural past of the Aboriginal people, could see what was happening in early Melbourne and project the implications into the future. Percy Grainger made arrangements of music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, worked with major figures of his day like Greig and Duke Ellington and invented electronic music machines that pointed into the future.

If you can stand in a piece of Melbourne and have a sense of the past, present and future then you have a feeling for four dimensional Melbourne. In coming weeks we will suggest a few good places for doing this. I find it encouraging that this year's Archibald Prize winner shows a Janus like figure looking both into the past and into the future.

Publc Lecture

There is a public lecture at the State Library on Edward La Trobe Bateman (cousin of Governor La Trobe) with lots of information about gold rush Melbourne. Details at Forums in Melbourne.

Reader feedback

“Dear Mr Hat (may I call you White?)
My favourite graffito came from a wall near East Richmond station. It read (as near as I can recall): "Fight groing Fascist state" under which a more educated vandal had written: "and misguided education??" with a large arrow pointing to the word "groing" (a word I always vaguely imagined would make a good description for a football injury). Your work is always enjoyable but I think you should point out to your unsubscriber, Margaret, (we have deleted the next suggestion as this is a family newsletter).
Regards, Daniel”

“Graffiti seen on the side of a bridge crossing a major road into London in the 70's -"Jesus Saves" next to which someone had written "With the Woolich" (building society), Regards,Jan”

Jan – we have seen a variant where underneath the words “Jesus Saves” someone has written “Moses Invests”.

“Greetings.
I often get as much enjoyment from the Readers Feedback section as with the rest of the newsletter - It's an amazing resource for the dinner party conversation - Well don't we all like a laugh at others mistakes now and then This week - Apparently White Hat when it involves getting in touch with oneself you are in fact "Ignorant and uninformed" (will we mention here about tautology? no bless her! she wouldn't have a clue) So much so that 'unsubscribing' being the harshest of penalties for you - AND in capitals no less! Thanks for the laugh.
Keep it up White Hatations!
Love'ya work
K”

“Hi Whitehat, Can't believe people are soooo serious about things. Why not take the newsletter for what it is - informative, sense of humour, serious, a bit of everything. Gosh....(being nice here)...... people annoy me and good riddance to them. Have a fab weekend and keep entertaining and informing us easy going, happy, not too serious suckers oops (readers) Julie”

Country Victoria

Warrnambool has a Fun 4 Kids Festival, Wangaratta has a textile festival, Kilmore has a Celtic festival, Mildura has hot air balloons and Maroopna Country Music Club has a family day. Details at Country Victoria.

The White Hat Quiz

How well do you know Melbourne?

Firstly a reminder of last week’s quiz.
 

Please note: This section of the newsletter has been removed as it forms part of a forthcoming publication or because it is forms part of our Questing activities. If you find yourself on a tour where the guide is White Hat Accredited they are likely to know the answer to many questions you may have in this area. All guides on White Hat Tours are White Hat Accredited.

Now to this week’s quiz.

William Buckley’s name has entered our colloquial language. However there are a few other Victorians who share that honour. Complete the following:

1. As game as …
2. Up there …
3. He’s got more front than … (the store named after the man)
4. She’s had more farewells than …
5. It’s a joke … (a bit trickier that one)
6. Finally, an unfounded rumour is often referred to by the name of a blacksmith from Shepparton. Why?