CHAPTER 15. SONGS AND POETRY.
GENERAL PRACTICE OF SINGING. TRADITIONAL SONGS.
Like all other savage races the natives of Western Australia are very fond of singing and dancing: to a sulky old native his song is what a quid of tobacco is to a sailor; is he angry, he sings; is he glad, he sings; is he hungry, he sings; if he is full, provided he is not so full as to be in a state of stupor, he sings more lustily than ever; and it is the peculiar character of their songs which renders them under all circumstances so solacing to them. The songs are short, containing generally only one or two ideas, and are constantly repeated over and over again in a manner doubtless grating to the untutored ear of a European, but to one skilled in Australian music lulling and harmonious in the extreme, and producing much the same effect as the singing of a nurse does upon a child.
SONG OF AN OLD MAN IN WRATH. SCENE PRODUCED BY IT.
Nothing can give a better idea of the character of these people than their songs. In England an elderly gentleman, who has been at all put out of his way by encroachments and trespasses upon his property, sits over his fire in the evening, sipping his port and brooding over vengeance by means of the law; but the law is tortuous, expensive, and uncertain; his revenge is very distant from him; under these circumstances the more the elderly gentleman talks the more irate he becomes. Very different is the conduct of the elderly Australian gentleman. He comes to his hut at night in a towering passion; tucks his legs under him, and seats himself upon his heels before the fire; he calls to his wife for pieces of quartz and some dried kangaroo sinews, then forthwith begins sharpening and polishing his spears, and whilst thus occupied, sings to himself:
I'll spear his liver,
I'll spear his lights,
I'll spear his heart,
I'll spear his thigh,
etc. etc. etc.
After a while he pauses and examines the point he has been working at; it is very sharp, and he gives a grunt of satisfaction. His wives now chime in:
The wooden-headed,
Bandy-legged,
Thin-thighed fellows--
The bone-rumped,
Long-shinned,
Thin-thighed fellows.
The old gentleman looks rather more murderous but withal more pleasant, and as he begins to sharpen his second spear he chants out:
I'll spear their liver,
I'll spear their bowels,
I'll spear their hearts,
I'll spear their loins.
As he warms on the subject he ships his spear in the throwing-stick, quivers it in the air, and imitates rapidly the adventures of the fight of the coming day: then the recollections of the deeds of his youth rush through his mind; he changes his measure to a sort of recitative, and commences an account of some celebrated fray of bygone times; the children and young men crowd round from the neighbouring huts, the old gentleman becomes more and more vociferous, first he sticks his spear point under his arm and lies on his side to imitate a man dying, yet chanting away furiously all the time, then he grows still more animated, occasionally adjusting his spear with his throwing-stick and quivering it with a peculiar grace. The young women now come timidly up to see what is going on; little flirtations take place in the background, whereat the very elderly gentlemen with very young wives, whose dignity would be compromised by appearing to take an interest in passing events, and who have therefore remained seated in their own huts, wax jealous, and despatch their mothers and aged wives to look after the younger ladies. These venerable females have a dread of evil spirits, and consequently will not move from the fire without carrying a fire-stick in their hands; the bush is now dotted about with these little moving points of fire, all making for a common centre, at which are congregated old and young; jest follows jest, one peal of laughter rings close upon the heels of another, the elderly gentleman is loudly applauded by the bystanders, and, having fairly sung the wrath out of himself, he assists in getting up the dances and songs with which their evening terminates.
INFLUENCE OF THEIR SONGS.
Is a native afraid, he sings himself full of courage; in fact under all circumstances he finds aid and comfort from a song. Their songs are therefore naturally varied in their form; but they are all concise and convey in the simplest manner the most moving ideas: by a song or wild chant composed under the excitement of the moment the women irritate the men to acts of vengeance; and four or five mischievously inclined old women can soon stir up forty or fifty men to any deed of blood by means of their chants, which are accompanied by tears and groans, until the men are worked into a perfect state of frenzy.
NATIVE POETS.
A true poet in Australia is highly appreciated. Simple as their songs appear, there are in them many niceties which a European cannot detect; it is probable that what is most highly estimated by this people is that the cadence of the song, and the wild air to which it is chanted, should express well to their ideas the feelings and passions intended to predominate in the mind at the moment in which it is sung: hence we find that the compositions of some of these poets pass from family to family, and from district to district, until they have very probably traversed the whole continent; the natives themselves having at last no idea of the point where they originated, or of the meaning of the words which they sing, successive changes of dialect having so altered the song that probably not one of the original words remains; but they sing sounds analogous to these, to the proper air. And this is not confined to Western Australia, for Mr. Threlkeld, in his Australian Grammar,* says:
There are poets among them who compose songs which are sung and danced to by their own tribe in the first place, after which other tribes learn the song and dance, which itinerates from tribe to tribe throughout the country, until, from change of dialect, the very words are not understood by the blacks.
(*Footnote. Page 90.)
A family seldom make a distant friendly visit to other tribes, but they bring back a new song or two with them, and these, for a time, are quite as much the rage as a new fashionable song in England. Occasionally the songs also bear the name of the poet who composed them, though this is not often the case; there are however two or three poets in Australia who enjoy a great celebrity, but whether they are living, or belonged to ancient times, or whether they are merely imaginary beings I have never been able to discover.
DISREGARD OF EUROPEAN MUSIC. NATIVE OPINION OF EUROPEAN SINGING.
Their own songs are, according to their idea, the very perfection of harmony, rude and discordant as they are to our ears; perhaps no more extraordinary instance of the force of habit and diversity of taste than this could be advanced. A native sings joyously the most barbarous and savage sounds, which rend asunder the refined ears of the European, who turns away in agony from the discordant noise while the surrounding natives loudly applaud as soon as the singer has concluded. But should the astounded European endeavour to charm these wild men by one of his refined and elegant lays they would laugh at it as a combination of silly and effeminate notes, and for weeks afterwards entertain their distant friends, at their casual meetings, by mimicking the tone and attitude of the white man; an exhibition which never fails to draw down loud shouts of applause.
Some of the natives are not however insensible to the charms of our music. Warrup, a native youth who lived with me for several months as a servant, once accompanied me to an amateur theatre at Perth, and when the actors came forward and sang God save the Queen he burst into tears. He certainly could not have comprehended the words of the song, and therefore must have been affected by the music alone.
ADAPTATION OF DANCES TO THEIR SONGS.
The only accompaniment to their songs used in the southern parts of the continent is the clapping of hands or the beating of a short round stick against the flat board with which they throw their spears; in this latter case the rounded stick is held in its centre, between the fingers and thumb of the right hand, and its ends are alternately struck against the flat board in such a manner as to produce a rude kind of music, in time to the air they are singing. Although this appears to be so very simple an instrument it requires some practice to beat the time accurately, and by young men who desire to have the reputation of being exquisites this is considered to be a very necessary accomplishment.
Some songs have a peculiar dance connected with them; this however is not always the case, and I have occasionally seen the same dance adapted to different songs.
Having given this general outline of their songs I will now add such a selection of them as will convey some idea of the character of their poetry, at the same time there is reason to believe that a good deal of it is traditional, and may date its origin from a very remote epoch. Some of their dances have also a very peculiar mystical character about them, and these they very unwillingly exhibit in the presence of Europeans.
The following is a very favourite song of the natives to the north of Perth; it is sung to a wild and plaintive air, and relates to some action of a native who lived in that part of the continent, of the name of Warbunga. A little boy, a descendant of his, is still living, who bears the same name.
SPECIMENS OF SONGS. EXAMPLES OF SONGS FOR VARIOUS OCCASIONS.
Kad-ju bar-dook,
War-bung-a-loo,
War-bung-a-loo.
Kad-ju bar-dook,
War-bung-a-loo,
War-bung-a-loo,
War-bung-a-loo.
They then commence again, constantly repeating these words in the same order.
TRANSLATION.
Thy hatchet is near thee,
Oh Warbunga,
Oh Warbunga.
Thy hatchet is near thee,
Warbunga-ho,
Warbunga-ho,
Warbunga-ho.
A favourite song of the natives in the district of the Murray in Western Australia is:
Kar-ro yool, i, yool-a!
Kar-ro yool, i, yool-a!
etc. etc. etc.
And these words they go on singing for an hour together, in the event of the absence of any of their relatives or friends upon a hunting or war excursion.
TRANSLATION.
Return hither, hither ho!
Return hither, hither ho!
The following is a very good specimen of one of their comic songs. It is often sung by the natives in the vicinity of King George's Sound.
Mat-ta, mat-ta,
Yungore bya,
Mat-ta, mat-ta,
Yungore bya,
etc. etc. etc.
TRANSLATION.
Oh what legs, oh what legs,
The Kangaroo-rumped fellows,
Oh what legs, oh what legs,
etc. etc. etc.
FUNERAL CHANT.
Nothing can awake in the breast more melancholy feelings than the funeral chants of these people. They are sung by a whole chorus of females of all ages and the effect produced upon the bystanders by this wild music is indescribable. I will give one chant which I have heard sung upon several occasions.
The young women sing: Kar-dang.
The old women sing: Mam-mul.
Together: gar-ro.
Me-la nad-jo
Nung-a-broo.
Kar-dang.
Mam-mul.
Together: gar-ro.
Me-la nad-jo
Nung-a-broo.
etc. etc. etc.
TRANSLATION.
My young brother
My young son
(again)
In future shall I
never see.
My young brother
My young son
(again)
In future shall I
never see.
WAR-CHANTS. INFLUENCE OF SONGS IN ROUSING THE ANGRY PASSIONS OF THE MEN.
In this chant the old and young women respectively sing "my young son," and, "my young brother:" the metre and rhyme are also very carefully preserved, and the word Kardang is evidently expressly selected for this purpose; for were they speaking in prose they would use a term denoting eldest brother, youngest brother, second brother, or some similar one; whilst I have heard the word Kardang always used in this chant whether the deceased was the first, second, or third brother.
The men have also certain war-chants or songs; these they sing as they go walking rapidly to and fro, quivering their spears in order to work themselves up into a passion. The following is a very common one:
Yu-do dan-na,
Nan-do dan-na,
My-eree dan-na,
Goor-doo dan-na,
Boon-gal-la dan-na,
Gonog-o dan-na,
Dow-al dan-na,
Nar-ra dan-na.
etc. etc. etc.
TRANSLATION.
Spear his forehead,
Spear his breast,
Spear his liver,
Spear his heart,
Spear his loins,
Spear his shoulder,
Spear his thigh,
Spear his ribs,
etc. etc. etc.
Thus rapidly enumerating all the parts in which they intend to strike their enemies.
It is very rarely that any remarkable circumstance occurs but songs are composed in order to perpetuate the remembrance of it. For example, when Miago, the first native who ever quitted Perth, was taken away in H.M. surveying vessel Beagle in 1838, the following song was composed by a native and was constantly sung by his mother (at least so she says) during his absence, and it has ever since been a great favourite:
Ship bal win-jal bat-tar-dal gool-an-een,
Ship bal win-jal bat-tar-dal gool-an-een.
etc. etc. etc. etc.
Whither is that lone ship wandering,
Whither is that lone ship wandering,
etc. etc. etc. etc.
Again, on Miago's safe return, the song given below was composed by a native after he had heard Miago recount his adventures:
Kan-de maar-o, kan-de maar-a-lo,
Tsail-o mar-ra, tsail-o mar-ra-lo.
etc. etc. etc. etc.
Unsteadily shifts the wind-o, unsteadily shifts the wind-o, The sails-o handle, the sails-o handle-ho.
I will now add several other songs which are composed in different dialects; these will serve both as examples of their metre and style of poetry and as specimens for the purpose of comparison with the songs of the natives of the other portions of the continent.
Number 1.
One voice:
Djal-lee-lee-na.
Chorus:
Mong-a-da, mong-a-da,
Mong-a-da, mong-a-da,
Mong-a-da, mong-a-da.
One voice:
Eee-dal-lee-na.
Chorus:
Wun-a-da, wun-a-da,
Wun-a-da, wun-a-da,
Wun-a-da, wun-a-da.
etc. etc. etc.
They all join in the chorus of:
Mong-a-da, etc. etc.
Wun-a-da, etc. etc.
And clap their hands in time to the air to which this chorus is sung, so that the effect produced is very good. I am unable to render this song into English.
Number 2.
Dow-al nid-ja kotiay bool-a,
Woor-ar wur-rang-een,
Dow-al nid-ja kotiay bool-a,
Woor-ar wur-rang-een
Dow-al nid-ja kotiay bool-a,
Woor-ar wur-rang-een.
These lines are repeated three times more, and then follows the chorus:
Chorus:
Ban-yee wur-rang-een,
Koong-arree, wur-rang-een,
Ban-yee wur-rang-een,
Koong-arree, war-rang-een.
etc. etc. etc.
Number 3.
Kat-ta ga-roo,
Ngia
Bur-na-ri-noo.
Yar-dig-o-roo,
Ngia
Bur-na-ri-noo.
etc. etc. etc.
Number 4.
Yerib-a-balo, may-il boyne ga-ree,
Yerib-a-balo, may-il boyne ga-ree.
etc. etc. etc.
Number 5.
Mar-ra boor-ba, boor-ba nung-a,
Mar-ra gul-ga, gul-ga nung-a.
SONGS AND EXTEMPORANEOUS CHANTS.
These songs give however no idea of the manner in which they chant forth their feelings. When irritated by any passionate emotions they then pour out with the greatest volubility torrents of reproach, all in a measured cadence and with at least the same number of syllables in each line, but even the rhyme is generally preserved; the two following translations of chants of this sort are rendered as literally into English as the great difference between the languages permits.
CHANTS OF JEALOUSY AND REPROACH.
The reader must imagine a little hut, formed of sticks fixed slanting into the ground with pieces of bark resting against them, so as to form a rude shelter from the wind; underneath this were seated round a fire five persons--an old man, and his four wives; one of these was considerably younger than the others, and being a new acquisition, all but herself were treated with cold neglect. One of her rivals had resolved not to submit patiently to this, and when she saw her husband's cloak spread to form a couch for the newcomer she commenced chanting as follows, addressing old Weer-ang her husband:
Wherefore came you, Weerang,
In my beauty's pride,
Stealing cautiously
Like the tawny boreang,*
On an unwilling bride.
'Twas thus you stole me
From one who loved me tenderly:
A better man he was than thee,
Who having forced me thus to wed,
Now so oft deserts my bed.
Yang, yang, yang, yoh--
Oh where is he who won
My youthful heart,
Who oft used to bless,
And call me loved one:
You Weerang tore apart,
From his fond caress,
Her, whom you now desert and shun;
Out upon thee faithless one:
Oh may the Boyl-yas** bite and tear,
Her, whom you take your bed to share.
Yang, yang, yang, yoh--
Wherefore does she slumber
Upon thy breast,
Once again to-night,
Whilst I must number
Hours of sad unrest,
And broken plight.
Is it for this that I rebuke
Young men, who dare at me to look?
Whilst she, replete with arts and wiles,
Dishonours you and still beguiles.
(*Footnote. Boreang is the word for a male native dog.)
(**Footnote. Boyl-ya is the native name for a sorcerer.)
This attack upon her character was more than the younger female could be expected to submit to, she therefore in return chanted:
Oh, you lying, artful one,
Wag away your dirty tongue,
I have watched your tell-tale eyes,
Beaming love without disguise:
I've seen young Imbat nod and wink,
Oftener perhaps than you may think.
What further she might have said I know not; but a blow upon the head from her rival, which was given with the stick the women dig up the roots with, brought on a general engagement, and the dispute was finally settled by the husband beating several of his wives severely about the head with a hammer.
The ferocity of the women when they are excited exceeds that of the men; they deal dreadful blows at one another with their long sticks, and if ever the husband is about to spear or beat one of his wives the others are certain to set on her and treat her with great inhumanity.
CHANT EXCITING TO REVENGE.
The next translation is that of a chant sung by an old woman to incite the men to avenge the death of a young man who died from a natural cause, but whose death she attributed to witchcraft and sorcery; the natives, who listened to her attentively, called her chanting goranween, or abusing. She stood with her legs wide apart, waving her wanna, or long digging stick in the air, and rocking her body to and fro, whilst her kangaroo-skin cloak floated behind her in the wind. She was thus quite the beau ideal of a witch. The following is the sense of the words she used, at least as nearly as it is possible to express their force and meaning in English.
The blear-eyed sorcerers of the north,
Their vile enchantments sung and wove,
And in the night they issued forth,
A direful people-eating drove.
Feasting on our loved one,
With gore-dripping teeth and tongue,
The wretches sat, and gnawed, and ate,
Whilst their victim soundly slept.
Yho, yang, yho yang, yang yho.
Aye--unconsciously he rested
In a slumber too profound;
The vile boyl-yas sat and feasted
On the victim they had bound
In resistless lethargy.
Mooli-go, our dear young brother,
Where is another like to thee?
Tenderly loved by thy mother,
We again shall never see
Mooli-go, our dear young brother,
Yho, yang yho, ho, ho.
Men, who ever bold have been,
Are your long spears sharpened well?
Is the keen quartz fixed anew?
Let each shaft upon them tell.
Poise your meer-ros long and true:
Let the kileys whiz and whirl
In strange contortions through the air;
Heavy dow-uks at them hurl;
Shout the yell they dread to hear.
Let the young men leap on high,
To avoid the quivering spear;
Light of limb, and quick of eye,
Who sees well has nought to fear.
Let them shift, and let them leap,
When the quick spear whistling flies;
Woe to him who cannot leap!
Woe to him who has bad eyes!
FEMALE ENERGY IN CHANTING.
When one of these old hags has entered upon a chant of this kind nothing but complete exhaustion induces her to stop, and the instant she pauses another takes up the burden of her song. The effect some of them produce upon the assembled men is very great; in fact these addresses of the old women are the cause of most of the disturbances which take place. The above translations, without being exactly literal, are as near the original as I could render them. As they are entirely uttered on the spur of the moment there is generally abundant evidence of passion and feeling about them; and although I might have added a great variety, I think that the above will give the English reader as good an idea of the peculiar mode of address of this people as it is in my power to do.