Eric Bogle Trivia

1. In memory of which songwriter did Eric Bogle write "Safe in the Harbour"?

From Quiz Eric Bogle : I wrote this wee song for ... Whom?

Answer: Stan Rogers

Canadian folk musician and songwriter Stan Rogers died after a fire broke out in the washroom of Air Canada Flight 797, (June 2, 1983) from Dallas to Montréal. When the doors were opened to evacuate the plane the inrush of air and oxygen caused the fire to engulf the plane's interior, ultimately causing the death of 23 passengers, including Stan Rogers, who had not yet evacuated the aircraft. One of the consequences of the tragedy was the installation of smoke detectors in aircraft lavatories. Another is this beautiful tribute.

From Quiz Eric Bogle : I wrote this wee song for ... Whom?

Answer: A Reason for it All

Claire Campbell, an elderly lady living an ordinary life in an ordinary cottage in the Erskineville area of Sydney, made the front page of the "Sydney Morning Herald" in the 80s when her badly decomposed body was discovered more than a year after her death, despite her having family living in the city. The sad loneliness of her passing moved Eric to question the type of society in which we live which can result in stories such as that of Claire Campbell.

From Quiz Eric Bogle : The Funny Stuff

Answer: He was flattened by a big dog

Little Gomez, from the song of the same name, was a wee Mexican chihuahua with a formidable libido, who enthusiastically tried his luck on anything with four legs that came within sniffing distance, be it a pint-sized Pekinese in a toupée or some unfortunate wombats just passing through. That is, until the fateful day when Blodwin, a St Bernard bitch, got bored with the proceedings and sat down leaving poor Gomez as flat as a squashed tamale and in need of "a grave which was rather flat and round".

From Quiz Eric Bogle : I wrote this wee song for ... Whom?

Answer: Reg Evans

The song "Reg Evans' Cradle" tells the touching story of a cradle carved by the actor for the son of his friend, potter Leon Saper. The baby's name was engraved on the end of the cradle. Over time the cradle was passed from family to family in the St Andrews' community and it became the tradition for each of them to carve the name of their child on the side of the cradle. When the "Black Saturday" bushfires raged through St Andrews' Town in 2009, the cradle was feared destroyed. However, to the community's delight, some time later it was rediscovered in Canberra having been loaned to a former member of the community who was living there then when his daughter was born. The cradle continues to serve the families of the community and a register is kept to ensure it never goes missing again.

From Quiz Eric Bogle : The Funny Stuff

Answer: Bob Dylan

As a young, aspiring folk singer Eric recounts that he was plagued by requests to imitate the popular Bob Dylan, requests which he "usually [refused in his] own quiet way with a totally indecent suggestion". However, he caved in when it looked as if his love-life was going to suffer. He went along to his local folk-club and instead of singing through his mouth, or his nose, as most singers do, he "sang through his navel" as any would-be Dylan singers worth their salt were wont to at the time. The experience apparently was enough to nearly rupture his throat as he delivered a eye-wateringly funny rendition of Dylan's "The Times They are a-Changin'". The whole tale is recounted in the lively and jovial "The Traditional Folk-singer's Lament for the Passing of the Three-Chord Traditional Folk Song", otherwise known as "Do You Sing any Dylan?".

From Quiz And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda

Answer: Gallipoli

Gallipoli Peninsula juts from Turkish Thrace, the small European part of Turkey, to almost touch the larger portion of the country, known as Asia Minor. The narrow waterway between Gallipoli and Asia Minor, The Dardanelles, forms a natural defense from the west for the Turkish capital of Constantinople (now Istanbul). Along with the Bosporus to the East, these easily defended straits have historically made the city a very hard place for invaders to attack; the Turks themselves, in their days as a dominant world power, took centuries to wrest the city from the increasingly weak Byzantine Empire during the Middle Ages.

From Quiz Eric Bogle : I wrote this wee song for ... Whom?

Answer: James Nash

James Nash, and more particularly his loving and dedicated father, are the "ordinary heroes" of this song. James Nash was tragically killed by an articulated lorry when walking home from a debutante's ball in 2009. He was buried in the churchyard at Kilworth, Co Cork, Ireland. In memory of his son, James' father singlehandedly turned the graveyard from an unkempt wilderness into the beautiful, peaceful haven it is today, and has kept it pristine over the years since.

From Quiz Eric Bogle : The Funny Stuff

Answer: Flat cats

Obviously, neither Eric nor John ever really played Frisbee with any of these things, but it did make an amusing introduction to his equally entertaining song "Nobody's Moggy Now", in memory of the many deceased felines found on the roadside throughout Australia (and elsewhere, for that matter).

From Quiz Eric Bogle : I wrote this wee song for ... Whom?

Answer: The Dalai Lama's Candle

This lively little song discusses themes such as continuity and the more meaningful things passed from generation to generation; how a simple rose evokes a whole series of childhood memories, a single photograph encapsulates his relationship with his father, how we are all a result of our past and carry that legacy with us to the future.

From Quiz Eric Bogle : The Funny Stuff

Answer: Aussie BBQ

Aerogard, an Australian brand of outdoor insect repellant, is pretty much essential in the pursuit of "av(ing)agoodweekend" in Australia, as it is most useful for keeping mossies (mosquitoes) at bay when dining alfresco.

From Quiz Eric Bogle : I wrote this wee song for ... Whom?

Answer: Nancy

The song "Since Nancy Died" once again portrays Eric Bogle's strong feelings for his mother, Nancy Bogle. Eric's tribute to the Californian folk-singer and songwriter, Kate Wolf, is of course the song "Katie and the Dreamtime Land". "Harry's Wife" and "Emily Jane", however, are one and the same person. Emily Jane rediscovers her identity and her inner strength when her husband casts her aside for a younger model. She refuses to be a victim and rises to the challenge of transforming herself from being simply "Harry's Wife" to becoming the strong and independent Emily Jane that had been hidden from the world and herself for so long.

From Quiz Eric Bogle : The Funny Stuff

Answer: Extinction

Eric uses a host of inventive descriptions and adjectives during the course of this song, many not particularly flattering, and all of which lead him to the conclusion that the white, Anglo-Saxon male is the most "Endangered Species" of all.

From Quiz Eric Bogle : I wrote this wee song for ... Whom?

Answer: As if He Knows

"As If He Knows" is a tribute to the bravery of all the ANZAC horses. A pragmatic decision not to bring the horses back to Australia at the end of the WWI meant that many of them were given away or simply gotten rid of. In Palestine the ANZACS were instructed to shoot their mounts rather than leave them to the mercy of the local people, who were considered to treat their animals harshly. The irony was not lost on Eric, who questioned the harshness which would see an innocent animal subjected to the horrors of war only to be slaughtered so as to avoid the expense of transporting it back to its homeland and quarantining it.

From Quiz Eric Bogle : I wrote this wee song for ... Whom?

Answer: Singing the Spirit Home

During apartheid it was common for black African prisoners break through the isolation of single cells and to show their solidarity for a condemned man by singing all through the night before he was hanged. Thus the condemned was "carried to his death by a wave of song" (Breytenbach, "True Confessions"). Eric Bogle's "Singing the Spirit Home" paints the scene with shocking clarity.

From Quiz Eric Bogle : The Funny Stuff

Answer: A hot water bottle

The song in question is "Wee China Pig". During the chilly Scottish winters, Eric particularly appreciated cuddling up in bed with his "wee china pig" - a hot water bottle "made oot o' wally (china), and (which) weighs half a ton". This strange object had a snout-like spout for filling it up, making it look rather like a pig, from whence the name. The beloved china pig was replaced in his affections by his wife, of whom he sings "[...] she's a wee tidy thing, she's the pride o' ma life, she's no' very round and she's no' very big, but she sure beat the pants off that wee china pig!" High praise indeed!

From Quiz And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda

Answer: Suvla

Ironically, the ANZACs never landed at Suvla Bay. The force that did land there was entirely British, and there was nothing like the carnage at Anzac cove associated with this lightly-opposed engagement. Bogle has claimed poetic license for this transposition.

From Quiz And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda

Answer: Pity

"And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" has been recorded by scores of artists, including Irish giants The Dubliners, folk legend Joan Baez, and Member of the Order of Australia John Williamson. One of the most poignant versions was recorded by Celtic-Punk band The Pogues, who provide a respectful but powerful interpretation on their 1985 breakout album - whose title is inappropriate for mention here.

From Quiz And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda

Answer: Stared

Roughly 44,000 Allied troops perished during the Gallipoli campaign. Of these, over 8,000 were Australian and nearly 3,000 were from New Zealand. Ironically, though the battle would go down as a defensive triumph for the Turks (or at least an expensive disaster for the Allies), the Ottoman forces lost over 86,000 lives - nearly twice the Allied dead! As Ataturk wrote, "they lie side by side, here in this country of ours." (This after his famous exhortation during the battle itself: "I don't order you to attack, I order you to die. In the time it takes us to die, other troops and commanders can come and take our places.")

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