Tag Archives: australian urban legend

Ned Kelly (1854 – 1880)

The Informant

R.F. born and raised in Australia provides the following narrative of a bandit well known in Australia pop culture and folklore.

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Ned Kelly was a legendary (and one of the last) outlaw bush ranger in Australia with a long history of crime and banditry. His most famous heist was planned on a police train where his gang would derail the train and kill all survivors as revenge against the authority and enable further heists on banks with the police were out of the picture.

Conceived and wore a suit of bullet proof armor into battle.

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(The alleged armor made in an improvised bush forge with metal taken from farming equipment, circa 1879)

In the shootout that followed, he was the last one standing with police reporting Ned Kelly’s durability, comparing him to the devil or a ghost, surviving multiple gun shots and seemingly unkillable.

After the last stand, Ned Kelly was brought to trial for execution.

The judge after sentencing Kelly to death by hanging: “May God have mercy on your soul.”

Ned Kelly: “I will see you there where I go.”

Kelly’s mother told him to “die like a Kelly” before his hanging.

“Ah well, I suppose it’s come to this. Such is life.” – Last words at the gallows.

The judge died 12 days later.

Analysis

This urban legend euhemerizes a likely real figure in history by exaggerating his last stand to legendary proportions. It’s particularly interesting that a criminal is being glorified and continues the theme of opposing authority in Australia as exemplified in the ScoMo urban legend. While Australia is sometimes referred to as the wild west of the commonwealth [citation needed], it’s not exactly surprising to see outlaws romanticized in a way similar to America’s Western’s, take Bonnie and Clyde for one cross-cultural example. In a sense, these outlaw figures are also antiheroes representing anti-establishmentarianism, embellished by their spirit of independence and comparable to the trickster who exists on the liminal space between good and evil. Even as the authority figure of the judge sentenced Ned Kelly to death after his valorous last stand, his last legendary deed was taking the judge with him in a single sentence. These traits akin to the trickster likely won the bushranger popularity amongst the folk in Australia.

Australian ScoMo Prime Minister

The Informant

R.F. was born and raised in Australia and is politically active and involved with his local democracy as well as the nation’s news.

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A long-standing “rumor,” since it technically can’t be proven, but everyone says it happened. Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison (ScoMo) shat himself in a Macca’s (McDonald’s) in Engadine. According to the informant, ScoMo went to watch his favorte rugby team play, and after they left, he went to a Maccas where he [allegedly] shit himself.

Analysis

This particular urban legend stands out to me as it was not the only urban legend Australia has on their prime ministers, the other being that one simply disappeared into the ocean one day never to be seen again. Although most embarrassing folk narratives about political leaders come from people of other nations, recent years have seen a rise in counterhegemonic distrust of authority and those in power. This is particularly reflected by these Australian urban legends, which combined with the laidback culture of Australia as illustrated by the dropbears and other quirky and humorous Australian slang, culminates into this urban legend regarding Prime Minister ScoMo having the reputation of having defecated into his own undergarments while at a public fast food restaurant.

Dropbears in Australia

The Informant

RF is an Australian young adult born and raised in New South Wales.

The Text

Dropbears are known to only attack foreigners, ambush those standing under indigenous Australian trees, falls from branches and grab onto the victim’s neck. Said to attack based on accent, especially Yanks, when foreigners are speaking badly about Australian food. Deterred by putting a fork in your hair or smearing vegemite behind your ears or both. It’s considered every Australian’s duty to warn foreigners of these dangers.

Analysis

The “dropbear” is a rather interesting cultural phenomenon where the entirety of a nation agrees to gaslight any and all foreigners about Australian wildlife as a practical joke. For the fooled foreigners, the “dropbear” appears to be a plausible urban legend until they realize it’s a practical joke. The specificity of accents seems to reflect a sense of pride Australians may have about their uniquely recognizable accent, and similarly, the utilization of an animal may reflect a pride or at least a sense of self-aware humor surrounding the reputation of Australia’s native wildlife, which is required for the victim to believe in the joke. Additionally, the specificity of “Yanks” indicates a tongue-in-cheek distaste of Americans, particularly with an association that they’re loud and annoying and complain too much whenever they visit. This practical joke may have been more effective before the age of the internet when the victim could not simply fact check the existence of this “dropbear,” and given that it’s “every Australian’s duty” to uphold this urban legend to foreigners, several have likely worn forks in their hair in public for the amusement of all the locals around. As with the nature of most practical jokes, once the victim has been played for the fool and realized the prank, everyone has a good laugh with no real hostility as the foreigner now becomes in on the joke and take up the “duty” of warning other foreigners of this danger.

Missing Prime Minster in Australia

Background

Informant: R.P. Italian-Australian Male, 28 years old

Location: Sydney, Australia

Context

Told to me by a 2nd generation Italian male, whose family immigrated to Australia from Italy and Naples a generation earlier. R.P. was born and raised in Australia and learned of this legend as a young boy playing with friends. The main piece/urban legend itself is based on an event that actually occured in the late sixties, however the legend deviated from the official telling of Harold Holt’s fate by speculating why he may have disappeared. I have summarized the legend below:

Main Piece

In the sixties, there was a Prime Minister, Harold Holt, that was known for being athletic, but a little outlandish. He had been the Prime Minster of Australia for a short time and people were generally okay with him, from what R.P. remembers in the story. At some point, the Prime Minster was swimming in the sea in the region of Victoria. He called out to the press and reporters that had gathered to photograph him “watch how deep I can go!” He then swam directly way from the shore where the reporters were waiting, he kept swimming until everyone lost sight of him. He never came back. He mysteriously vanished into thin air. They sent out search parties to look for him but never found him or any remains. It stunned the country because no one could understand how this man went missing when there were so many witnesses. Some speculate that he was kidnapped while in the open ocean by communists. Some say that he was caught in a riptide and couldn’t escape. Others say that he purposefully went missing to avoid the responsibilities of being Prime Minster. In the end, no one knows what happened, and his body was never found.

Thoughts

When asked about his opinion on why the Prime Minister went missing, R.P. replied that though it’s unlikely, he thinks that the Prime Minster purposefully went missing for some unexplained reason. From his perspective, and based on what he’s heard from members in his family, it may not have been an incredibly unexpected thing for Harold Holt to do. We discussed why some people may believe that Holt was actually kidnapped. R.P. posited that it was likely due to the political tension of the times. There were many reasons in that time period for controversies to spread, and due to the nature of the disappearance, it was easy for people to create conjecture and rumors about the situation. R.P. also offered clarification about the cultural reasons for why this was a particularly popular topic of debate. Because Australia is a relatively removed, yet developed country, certain types of stories will dominated the media cycle for an extended period of time. Because overall, it is a safer country when compared to America, stories about disappearances or other mysteries capture the public and become massive points of discussion, news is often privy to “overreaction” from the public in R.P.’s opinion. It is interesting to me, that in times of political tension, there are often public reactions to events that play on the perception of the event, rather than the practical elements. I liken the debate around Holt’s disappearance to some of the conspiracy theories of the sixties in America, in which distrust infused daily life to the point where people developed many controversial explanations for certain occurrences.