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Bushranger country


There is something about the slope of the land and the trees near the Abercrombie Caves camping area that always reminds me of the Tom Roberts painting Bailed Up.

This is something I have not mentioned yet.  With so much gold around it is not surprising that bushrangers (highwaymen, armed robbers) were out and about robbing the stage coaches on the move between the towns or entering the towns to make armed hold-ups of the banks and shops.

Most of the town histories list the names and exploits of the bushrangers.  In the early 1830s Abercrombie Caves were the hangout of the Ribbon Gang a bushranging gang lead by an ex-convict.  With the discovery of gold in the 1850s the caves were once again the hiding hole for bushrangers, they are said to have been used by Ben Hall and his gang.

Comments

  1. DianneApril 13, 2012 at 2:04 PM

    Yes ... Certainly bushranger country .... I must Google that Tom Roberts painting .

    ReplyDelete
  2. MarkApril 13, 2012 at 5:36 PM

    Bailed Up was painted out at Inverell. Tom Roberts used to come to the Clarence and stay at Yugilbar Castle and the Ogilvies.
    The Ribbon Gang! Great name.

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    Replies
    1. Joan ElizabethApril 13, 2012 at 9:52 PM

      Yes I knew it was painted up that way and not in this country at all, but doesn't stop me thinking of it.

      Yugilbar Castle ... never heard of that. Is it a castle?

      Ribbon Gang, sounds like something Enid Blyton would think up.

      Delete
  3. diane bApril 13, 2012 at 7:56 PM

    A lovely shot. It reminds me of the horses galloping down the slope in 'The Man from Snowy River'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joan ElizabethApril 13, 2012 at 9:53 PM

      Yes, parts of the Snowies do look like this too.

      Delete
  4. JulieApril 19, 2012 at 7:40 AM

    Ah yes, another thread in the development of our state. Grazing, gold, Cobb & Co, bush-rangers, the railways, and mining.

    As this wild weather eases Friday and Saturday, I will take myself down to Berkolouw's next to the Verona. Up on their top floor they have a motley collection of Australiana, and there is nearly always a book to suit my interests at the time. And mostly for about $8.

    I like 'Bailed up'. On my wall I have a large print of 'Little Girl Lost' which is in similar wooded countryside, sans slope ...

    ReplyDelete

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