Mulga Bill's Bicycle by PB Paterson illustrated by Kilmeny and Deborah Niland

Last week I shared some Australian books that teachers or Teacher-Librarian could display or read to groups for Australia Day. Our schools here in Australia are always on their summer holidays when this public holiday is celebrated but you could still share the books I mentioned during the first few weeks of the term especially when new classes have not yet been formed. My previous school waited through the first week before forming their classes and this was always a difficult period for the students, keen to meet their new teacher, and the staff who would much prefer to meet their new class having already said goodbye to their previous students at the end of last year.

I realised when I posted about some terrific picture books with an Australian flavour that I had not talked about Mulga Bill's Bicycle here on this blog. I have read this version to many students in Grade 4 - it is good to share poetry by one of our very famous bush poets but as a bonus the story of this poem is so funny. The first steps though need to be an unpackaging of some of the words and phrases. I have added bold to the text of the poem below.

Here are some teaching ideas. I would share the poem, then the book and then you could perhaps use this video (it is not perfect but it is the best one I found).

Banjo Paterson wrote the poem in 1896, a time when cycling was a relatively new and popular activity. It tells the story of Mulga Bill who thinks he will have no problem riding his velocipede, you know, one of those bicycles that has a huge wheel in the front and a teensy weensy one at the back. After a hair-raising ride he crash lands in Dead Man’s Creek and decides that the bicycle “ it’s safe at rest in Dead Man’s Creek – we’ll leave it lying still; A horse’s back is good enough henceforth for Mulga Bill’. Storylinks

Publisher blurb: Mulga Bill's Bicycle was written by Banjo Paterson in 1896. It was written at a time when cycling was a relatively new and popular social activity. Cycles were ridden everywhere, including in the outback by shearers and other workers who needed to travel cheaply. Mulga Bill's Bicycle tells the hilarious story of Mulga Bill, who thinks he's much better at cycling than he turns out to be. A resounding crash sends him back to his original mode of transport - his trusty horse. Kilmeny and Deborah Niland's delightful illustrations catch the mood and humour of Paterson's verse with great spirit, and this book has become an enduring classic.

'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze;

He turned away the good old horse that served him many days;

He dressed himself in cycling clothes, resplendent to be seen;

He hurried off to town and bought a shining new machine;

And as he wheeled it through the door, with air of lordly pride,

The grinning shop assistant said, "Excuse me, can you ride?"

"See here, young man," said Mulga Bill, "from Walgett to the sea,

From Conroy's Gap to Castlereagh, there's none can ride like me.

I'm good all round at everything, as everybody knows,

Although I'm not the one to talk; I hate a man that blows.

But riding is my special gift, my chiefest, sole delight;

Just ask a wild duck can it swim, a wildcat can it fight.

There's nothing clothed in hair or hide, or built of flesh or steel,

There's nothing walks or jumps, or runs, on axle, hoof, or wheel,

But what I'll sit, while hide will hold and girths and straps are tight:

I'll ride this here two-wheeled concern right straight away at sight."

'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that sought his own abode,

That perched above the Dead Man's Creek, beside the mountain road.

He turned the cycle down the hill and mounted for the fray,

But ere he'd gone a dozen yards it bolted clean away.

It left the track, and through the trees, just like a silver streak,

It whistled down the awful slope towards the Dead Man's Creek.

It shaved a stump by half an inch, it dodged a big white-box:

The very wallaroos in fright went scrambling up the rocks,

The wombats hiding in their caves dug deeper underground,

As Mulga Bill, as white as chalk, sat tight to every bound.

It struck a stone and gave a spring that cleared a fallen tree,

It raced beside a precipice as close as close could be;

And then as Mulga Bill let out one last despairing shriek

It made a leap of twenty feet into the Dead Man's Creek.

'Twas Mulga Bill from Eaglehawk, that slowly swam ashore:

He said, "I've had some narrer shaves and lively rides before;

I've rode a wild bull round a yard to win a five-pound bet,

But this was the most awful ride that I've encountered yet.

I'll give that two-wheeled outlaw best; It's shaken all my nerve

To feel it whistle through the air and plunge and buck and swerve.

It's safe at rest in Dead Man's Creek, we'll leave it lying still;

A horse's back is good enough henceforth for Mulga Bill."

Image source Bike Ability UK