I went out to Escort Rock, the sun was on a slant,
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Been out there only once before, where Gardiner’s men did plant,
Behind the boulder ‘long the road – that’s how the mem’ry stays,
Where they grabbed the gold and bags of cash and then got clean away …
If you’ve ever wondered what was going through Ben Hall’s mind at the time of the Escort Rock gold robbery, you’ll be interested in a book of bush ballad-style verse that has just been released.
A local author has published the book under the name “Wirrinya”.
Wirrinya has had an interest in colonial Australia and bushrangers including Hall from a young age.
As a teen she “fell in love” with bush ballads and the way they tell a story and convey a message.
In particular, The Streets of Forbes resonated.
“The Ben Hall story stuck with me,” Wirrinya said.
“He was hard done by.”
It only seems natural she started writing poetry again when she moved to this area and visited Ben Hall’s cave.
It was there Wirrinya found herself inspired with the first lines of a poem about Ben – The starlit nights were home to me ...
From there, the series of verses about Ben, including the famous Escort Gold robbery at Eugowra, “just flowed”.
The poems are now published in a book – Ben Hall, In His Eyes.
“It’s an insight into how he was feeling at the time, which may seem intriguing,” Wirrinya said.
“I suppose this is a culmination of all the reading and research I have done …
“I learned to understand his actions against the background of colonialism at the time – there was a prevailing harshness against convicts.”
Wirrinya describes Hall as a young man who was wrecked by his own devastation – losing his wife and young son – compounded by being in the lock-up wrongfully and losing his cattle run as a result.
“It came to me that Ben Hall is no different from blokes who suffer today if they lose their wife and child and their farm – it throws them into absolute, excruciating turmoil,” she said.
Film producer Matthew Holmes, currently working on a film about Ben Hall, has described the poetry as “a joy to read”.
“It shows great insight into the character of Ben Hall - what motivated him, what his conflicts were and what he was feeling in those last few troubled years of his life,” he said.
“Her poems allow the reader to study this historical figure from a deeply human perspective, rather than through a history book of facts and dates.
“Highly recommended reading.”
Hall is buried in Forbes cemetery and May 5 next year marks 150 years since he was shot dead – aged just 27 - by a police part of eight in scrub on the Lachlan Plain about 20km northwest of Forbes.
The book is available from News on Rankin for $40.
