This week, Roy decided that he would like to show you a place which you might have heard of. The Old Bark School is a place which Henry Lawson, one of Australia's most famous poets, immortalised in his poetry. It has become a bit of an icon, and lots of Roys friends have learned about it at their own schools when they studied Australian poets. Most of his friends didn't realise that the Old Bark School was real though!
The Old Bark School written by Henry Lawson in 1897, immortalises the site of the Eurunderee Provisionary School where he went to school. Although a School still stands on the site today, it is no longer the slab and bark building which Henry Lawson would remember. There is a historical display kept in the school building itself relating to the general history and particularly to the time when Henry Lawson attended the school but it can only be seen by special appointment. For details on how to arrange a visit, see the Sydney Morning Herald guide to Mudgee by clicking here.
In 1876, The Eurunderee Provisionary School was built not far from where Henry Lawson lived. There had not been a school close by before, and it was actually after a great deal of campaigning by Henry Lawson's mother that the school was built at all! The school was probably built by Henry Lawson's father, Peter, from materials taken from the Lawson's original hut. Earlier in 1876 they had moved into a new weatherboard house, with a galvanised iron roof and brick chimney! This meant the materials from their earlier hut were 'free' to be used.
On the day the school opened, Henry and his brother Charles were in the class. Henry was nine years old and Charles was seven. The same year, Henry suffered an short, sudden illness which damaged his hearing. Five years later his hearing worsened. The school master at the Eurunderee Provisionary School, John Tierney, was kind to Henry and very supportive but his hearing problems made going to school very difficult. Henry loved to read though and this probably helped him prepare for life as a writer.
Although you might expect such a famous and well regarded Australian Poet to have had a proper, formal education, Henry Lawson probably only spent three years in 'proper' schooling, including the time he spent at the Eurunderee Provisionary School. By 1880 he had 'finished' his schooling and begun working with his father on contract building jobs around Mudgee and later in the Blue Mountains. If you would like to learn more about Henry Lawson's life, click here.
The Old Bark School
It was built of bark and poles, and the floor was full of holes
Where each leak in rainy weather made a pool;
And the walls were mostly cracks lined with calico and sacks –
There was little need for windows in the school.
Then we rode to school and back by the rugged gully-track,
On the old grey horse that carried three or four;
And he looked so very wise that he lit the master's eyes
Every time he put his head in at the door.
He had run with Cobb and Co. – "that grey leader, let him go!"
There were men "as knowed the brand upon his hide",
And "as knowed it on the course". Funeral service: "Good old horse!"
When we burnt him in the gully where he died.
And the master thought the same. 'Twas from Ireland that he came,
Where the tanks are full all summer, and the feed is simply grand;
And the joker then in vogue said his lessons wid a brogue –
'Twas unconscious imitation, let the reader understand.
And we learnt the world in scraps from some ancient dingy maps
Long discarded by the public-schools in town;
And as nearly every book dated back to Captain Cook
Our geography was somewhat upside-down.
It was "in the book" and so – well, at that we'd let it go,
For we never would believe that print could lie;
And we all learnt pretty soon that when we came out at noon
"The sun is in the south part of the sky."
And Ireland! that was known from the coast-line to Athlone:
We got little information re the land that gave us birth;
Save that Captain Cook was killed (and was very likely grilled)
And "the natives of New Holland are the lowest race on earth".
And a woodcut, in its place, of the same degraded race
Seemed a lot more like a camel than the blackfellows that we knew;
Jimmy Bullock, with the rest, scratched his head and gave it best;
But his faith was sadly shaken by a bobtailed kangaroo.
But the old bark school is gone, and the spot it stood upon
Is a cattle-camp in winter where the curlew's cry is heard;
There's a brick school on the flat, but a schoolmate teaches that,
For, about the time they built it, our old master was "transferred".
But the bark school comes again with exchanges 'cross the plain –
With the Out-Back Advertiser; and my fancy roams at large
When I read of passing stock, of a western mob or flock,
With "James Bullock", "Grey", or "Henry Dale" in charge.
And I think how Jimmy went from the old bark school content,
With his "eddication" finished, with his pack-horse after him;
And perhaps if I were back I would take the self-same track,
For I wish my learning ended when the Master "finished" Jim.