Summary

This short letter was written by Australian Folklorist Bill Wannan, detailing the history of this copy of the Phar Lap ballad.

Description of Content

This short letter was written by Australian Folklorist Bill Wannan, detailing the history of the copy of the Phar Lap ballad.

Physical Description

Small rectangular sheet of white paper, with a highly decorative border printed around one side. Inside this is hand typed eight lines of black text, and is hand signed in black ink underneath.

Significance

This Street Ballad is a very rare surviving example of highly ephemera material which was sold by street balladeers in Melbourne the late 19th and early 20th Century. The ballads were usually set to popular tunes of the day, such as this one set to `The Wearing of the Green'. They often highly satirical or highly emotional in nature and usually dealt with contemporary events, such as disasters, labour disputes and strikes and political and sporting figures. Although there is no author's name printed on the ballad, a search of the National Archives database reveals a work of the same name registered for copyright on May 4th 1932 by Robert Henry Kreym Borg of Melbourne.
The ballad is also an important addition to the Museum's collection of material related to the death of Phar Lap, particularly how it was commemorated in Australia. Coincidentally, it was purchased outside the Public Library in Melbourne in 1932, a building which would become the home of Phar Lap less than a year later.
The ballad is also important due to its link to Australian folklorist Bill Wannan, who was born in Victoria in 1914 and died in 2001. He published over 50 books on Australian folklore and humour, and wrote a column in the Australasian Post for over 25 years. His papers are housed with the Manuscript section of the National Library of Australia.

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