The Oath of Bad Brown Bill by Stephen Axelsen

 

Tuesday Treasure

A few days ago I talked about previous winners of our Australian Children's Book of the Year awards. I mentioned The Oath of Bad Brown Bill (1978 CBCA Commended title 1979). I found my copy so I thought I might talk about this funny, scary, horror, bushranger story today. Sadly this book is long out of print but I am sure many Australian Primary school libraries will still have their copy.

Bad Brown Bill and his horse Mudpie travel around the country of Western NSW and Northern Victoria looking for people to rob. 

"Gruff and tough, rude and shrewd,

A scoundrel to the cor,

He plundered, stole, robbed and thieved

And still went out for more."

Bill is a bragger. He constantly boasts and one day Mudpie has had enough. Mudpie sets Bill a challenge to rob the ghostly dead?

Bill is affronted. He accepts the challenge and swears his oath:

"Pure and simple, straight and neat

I vow I'll rob the folk I meet.

Be they live or dead and dry

I swear I'll rob the folk I spy,

And if I ever break this oath

I'll eat my boot! I'll eat them both!"

Late the night Bad Brown Bill encounters a creature - a gibbous ghoul. The ghost invites Bill back to his lair. It is a cavern filled with vile creatures:

"Gross and gruesome monster ghosts

Loathsome and befouled,

Begrimed, beslimed and horrible,

They howled and scowled and growled."

The monstrous creatures plan to turn Bill and Mudpie into bushranger stew. It's all so terrifying that Bill eats his boots and they gallop away. Bill has had such a dreadful shock he changes his ways and invites others to hear his tale. 

"Yes, everyone who heard the tale

Turned grey and shook with dread

And swore they'd change their wicked ways

And settle down instead."

In the final illustration you can see some other famous bushrangers including Ned Kelly!

Our Grade Five students complete a history unit of study each year about the Australian Goldrush. In our library I liked to extend this to a study of the bushrangers who took advantage of the situation robbing stage coaches and gold prospectors. In NSW alone there were over 100 bushrangers. Famous names include Ned Kelly; Ben Hall; Captain Moonlite(Andrew Scott); Frank Gardiner; Captain Thunderbolt (Fredrick Ward); and Mad Dan Morgan.

The Oath of Bad Brown Bill is so much fun to read aloud. The vocabulary is rich but it does need some scaffolding prior to reading with words such as oath; shrewd; plundered; bailed up; bragged; and malodorous.

Here are some of the other bushranger picture books I have used for this topic:

If this topic of Australian Bushrangers interests you or your middle grade child take a look at this new book from Jackie French - Night Ride into Danger.