Speewah
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The Speewah is a mythical Australian station that is the subject of many 'tall tales' told by Australian bushmen. The stories of the Speewah are Australian folktales of unwritten literature of men who never had the opportunity to read books and who became tellers of tales instead. The Speewah is synonymous with hyperbole as many of the tales about the place are used to enhance the storytellers’ masculinity by relating events of extreme hardship and overcoming the dangers of the Australian wilderness. Typically men talk of the Speewah when they are faced with hard labour as a means of making their jobs mentally easier, though it can also be seen as a way of legitimising their bragging.
This sort of talk is used to make light of the situation or re-affirm the speakers masculinity or bush skills to the detriment of others.
[edit] Location
The Speewah is an imaginary land and its boundaries have never been defined, however the Speewah can be anywhere that the storyteller wants it to be and tales have it situated anywhere from Cape York to the Otways, from Brisbane to Broome. Or in other words it could be anywhere in Australia. Its location is kept ambiguous and when questioned people from different regions of Australia will give a different answer. 'The men from the Darling Ranges said it was back o'Bourke and the men of Bourke said it was out West and the men of the West pointed to Queensland and in Queensland they told you the Speewah was in the Kimberleys.'
At any rate the territory itself is supposedly very large. When one wanted to close the gate to the station he had to take a weeks rations with him, and a jackeroo who was sent to bring the cows in from the horse paddock was said to be gone for six months, not due to incompetence, for there are no incompetent workers on the Speewah, but simply due to the sheer size of the Speewah. When the cook was frying up bacon and eggs for the men, he needed a motorbike to get around the frying pan. The dust storms were so thick that the rabbits dug warrens in them. The boundary riders had to make sure that their watches were changed for each separate time zone.
A portion of land owned by Jim Dillon south-west of Wyndham, Western Australia that was settled at the beginning of the 20th century was named after the mythical land of the Speewah. This property still appears on maps as 'The Speewah' and has caused much debate from the storytelling community as to whether or not this is the original Speewah of legend or whether (which is more likely) it is merely named after the legend in homage. This property is listed by the Australian Government as being .[1] There is also a "Speewa" on the border of Victoria and New South Wales[2][3] near with a ferry across the Murray River.
Speewah is also a real place in Far North Queensland. It is about 10 kilometres west of Cairns - a few kilometres south of the tourist town of Kuranda. It could be described as a bushland residential area. yes
[edit] References
- ^ Speewah Yards. Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government.
- ^ Speewah (Victoria). Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government.
- ^ Speewa (New South Wales). Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government.
The real Speewah supports a varied community many of whom are involved in the arts. the first establishment in Speewah Road is an art gallery of "outsider" art by Ken Saville and is a popular destination for art lovers from all corners of the globe. Speewah is 6 km from Kuranda.
