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

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.

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.

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.

Answer: Admira Ismic

Admira Ismic, a Bosniak, and her childhood sweetheart, Bosko Brkic, a Bosnian Serb, were killed by snipers when they tried to leave war-torn Sarajevo for Serb-occupied territory in 1993. Their dead bodies were left for several days on Vrbanja Bridge as nobody dared venture into that "no man's land" to recover them. They became known as "Romeo and Juliet of Sarajevo" following a documentary of the same name about their deaths, and this is where Eric Bogle's song title comes from.

Mileva Maria (Einstein): A physicist, mathematician and Albert Einstein's wife.
Inga Paulich: An Australian politician born in Bosnia-Herzogovina.
Selma Harrington: A well-known, Bosnian-born architect and designer.

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.

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.

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.

Answer: Ashes

Dave Mc Gahy was a captain of the volunteer fire brigades of Arthur's Creek and Strathewen CFA (Australia) who, amongst many others, mobilized to fight the "Black Saturday" bushfires in 2009. They are all worthy heroes of this Eric Bogle tribute.

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.

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.