Word: swagman
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
What are the country's myths or shared stories? The land that rode to riches on the backs of sheep has been shorn of many of its farmers and farm markets. The swagman, that mythical figure who roamed the rural vastness at the turn of the century carrying only a rolled-up blanket, a tin mug and a packet of tea, is now but a name for a Melbourne night spot. A society that once boasted aggressive classlessness had 31,000 millionaires by 1990. Some experts are . worried that Australians can no longer develop a common sense of pride. Ivan...
...tougher on the vagrant than all previous civilizations. Hitler herded Europe's gypsies into Dachau and Buchenwald along with the Jews; the Soviets liquidated the bez-prizornye; the Welfare State frowns on the free-roving tramp; the American hobo has nearly died out, and even the Australian swagman, so mournfully celebrated in the national song, has become almost extinct...
...SHIRALEE, by D'Arcy Niland (250 pp.; William Sloane; $3.50), takes its title from an old Australian word for the bundle of belongings swagmen carry as they tramp about the land. Macauley, at 35, was a proud and able swagman, i.e., itinerant sheep-station hand, who hated cities, where you always need "a penny for the slot and a key for the door." But he had a city wife until, on a visit home, he found her with another man. Breaking the bloke's jaw wasn't enough for Macauley; in a spiteful rage against his wife...
...from job to job on the back tracks of the bush, his churlishness toward his burden slowly changed to brusque tenderness. Macauley's growing-up is obviously meant to be the heart of the story, but the book's strength lies in its Cineramic picture of the swagman's life-taking a turn at shearing, cutting burrs, fencing or digging spuds. To Macauley this was the only life, for "you have a hundred roads to choose from and a hundred towns to put the finger on." Australian Novelist Niland, who has been a swagman himself, tells...
...recognized and respected among the barons of the underworld. He became an intimate of Arnold Rothstein, the great gambler and criminal banker; he gained the esteem and affection of Tammany Swagman Jimmy Hines. When Al Capone and the other big men of gangland met in the famous Atlantic City peace conference of 1929, Frank Costello took a leading part in calling for cartels in the 'rackets instead of armed competition-a role which gained him the title of "The Prime Minister of the Underworld...