A BATCHELOR'S LIFE

The Batchelor’s Life during Pioneering Days
By A.H. Allardyce

“A common breakfast in those days was to put half a tin of meat in a Johnny cake.

A Johnny cake was made with flour and water and baking powder, and you mixed the meat out of the tin into that and you fried it in the frying pan, and that was mostly, along with porridge, was your breakfast...and you might eat some more during the day, but, then you had half a tin, which bearing in mind you had no fridges in those days, all you had was what we called a bag safe, that is a chaff bag hung up on the verandah with the end of a box in it, fruit case box end, which you kept your stuff in, and that was quite good....It was away from the flies and it was also cool, because the wind blew through it and if you liked to wet, it became very cool.

And then you’d have half a tin of meat and then you’d have to put it in a stew at night, or you had it cold with some potatoes and onions and things.” (Mick Mouritz) Porridge left over from breakfast, fried, was another common evening meal.

Now I shall try to tell you of the usual days’ work in the life of a pioneer in the Gnowangerup district. We used to prepare breakfast about 6.30 a.m. so as to get the “washing up” done, also any other “chores” so that we could get out to work at 7.30. Then “Kelly” (the ‘Kelly’ brand axe) would be grabbed, and sharpened, if necessary and off we went either to “cutting down” or ring-barking.

Some labour-saving and time-saving bachelors had a supply of dishes large enough to enable them to use clean dishes at all of the three daily meals, and have a big clean-up of dishes after the evening meal. This method certainly saved time, and time appeared to be “the essence of the contract”.

Some bachelors told me that a kangaroo dog was “on his own” as a plate cleaner!! And, having seen the work done in this department by a kangaroo dog I have no hesitation whatever in verifying this statement. The dog always left the plate dry and clean and very bright!! He was very thorough! Breakfast was usually begun with a plate of porridge, and those who were not loyal Scotchmen friend bacon and eggs or tinned meat hot or cold. The “billy” was always boiled for tea-making and some damper well buttered eaten with it. Then with the axe ready and with a stone or file in the trouser pocket, off to the place where one began the days work of chopping down the trees – of Salmon gum, York gum, Morell white gum and patches of mallee – later on in midsummer to be burnt up and where one was busy getting it cleared ready for the plough.

About noon one “made for camp” hungry and ready for a “spell”. And this is where the average bachelor usually fell down badly. I mean that instead of preparing a good square meal for himself to do justice to his strength so as to enable him to keep going well he usually would have “a bit of a look” in his bag safe to see what was left over from previous meals, and, if he found something, would soon decide that was good enough! Much easier and quicker than preparing a good solid meal. Hang the working capital! Off to work again soon after lunch and the afternoon seemed very long and when he knocked off for the day about 6 p.m. he felt very tired and very empty especially as afternoon tea was usually not taken.... Lunch generally consisted of damper or home-made bread baked in a camp oven and the usual “tinned dog”. There usually was a variety of this, as we generally cottage by the case so we did have a choice of dogs! Then, if one happened to be the proud possessor of a rifle or a kangaroo dog one could have fresh meat for a change.

I remember having grown so tired of ”tinned dog”, as it was usually called, I arranged with Mr R. Burridge, who lived about 14 miles away, to drive there in my spring cart for a fat sheep for mutton and the change was delightful! Potatoes and sometimes onions were boiled for the evening meal, to be eaten with hot or cold tinned meat of a different kind from that used in the previous meal. Then the “wash up” and straightening up of the bed so that was very little time for reading as one usually went to bed early feeling rather tired. Occasionally, one would be visited after tea, by his neighbours when the latest news and gossip would be discussed and then the talk would be mostly “shop”. Before the visitor left for his humpy by a walk through the bush in the starlight alone the billy would be swung on one of the wire hooks hanging over the fire and supper - of a kind - partaken of.

The Sundays were spent in several ways by these young men. For instance between breakfast and lunch the weeks’ washing was done and hung out on plain wire stretched between trees. Some preferred to use barbed. wire for this purpose saying the barbs were handy in the place of clothes pegs - which were then away in the shop at Broomehill!

Then the afternoons were spent in various ways such as visiting neighbours, hunting kangaroos or baking a good supply of damper for the forthcoming week, and the damper would be placed in the camp oven to retain its freshness and keep it from becoming too hard.

I well remember that during each week when very busy I had very little time to think how lonely it was that during Sundays, when resting, I had plenty of time to think of my friends in other places, I felt loneliness then very much, causing me frequently to seriously think of packing up and “clearing out”!

Often when taking a look backward on those strenuous times I have thought that there should have been a society formed by the old pioneers of W.A. with a coat-of-arms engraved thereon, say, a frying pan, a billy and tin-opener with a kangaroo dog rampant!!!

With the motto “God bless our home”.  

(A.H. Allardyce, “History of the Gnowangerup District”.
Arthur about the early days on the farm he purchased in 1904. Some alterations to the text to make it more easily read)
 

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Copyright : Gordon Freegard 2023