While the Billy Boils
( dir. Beaumont Smith
)
Australia
:
Beaumont Smith's Productions
,
1921
7836703
1921
single work
film/TV
'The camp-fire in the prologue showed the two mates yarning over their evening meal, when the story was forthcoming that immediately was filmed. Tom Wall, on the death of his wife, strove to do double duty to his young, sons, Jim and Dick, at Murraburra Station; but only a mother could have understood the fineness of Jim's nature. Consequently when the lad was found studying and dreaming amid the lonely beauty of the great gums, Wall quarrelled with him and turned him out. Dick remained on the station and grew up to be a weakling in character, but Jim, who took the name of Bob Brothers, was beloved throughout the country. He returned to the Redclay district and took service on his father's property, with One-Eyed Bogan, one of the finest characters in the story. The little 'pub' at Redclay, owned by the 'Widder' Shiffner, was the scene of many humorous episodes; and when the hands were on their way to the Murraburra roll call there was a stampede for the hotel as 'last man to reach the pub shouts!' A gentler influence was introduced when Ruth, Wall's niece, came to live on the station, and both brothers fell in love with her; but Jim, with characteristic unselfishness, believing that Ruth loved Dick, did not obtrude his own claims. A barmaid arrived at Redclay apparently to take a position at the hotel, but in reality to blackmail Dick. A robbery on the station and one at the bank, provided sufficient sensation, and numerous bouts of fisticuffs, as well as a long chase on horse back, added to the excitement of a story that ended entirely to the satisfaction of the audience.'
Source:
'While the Billy Boils', The Register, 1 November 1921, p.6.
Lawson writes about the remote town of Hungerford, which straddles the N.S.W. and Queensland border. Lawson's story is derived from his visit to Hungerford in January 1893, when he and James Gordon (and possibly Ernest de Guinney) walked there from Torale shearing shed, near Bourke.
While the Billy Boils : The Original Newspaper Versions
Paul Eggert
(editor),
Sydney
:
Sydney University Press
,
2013
6155517
2013
selected work
short story
(taught in 3 units)
'Fifty-two of Henry Lawson's stories and sketches that he had first published in newspapers and magazines from 1888 onwards were gathered in his collection While the Billy Boils (Angus & Robertson, 1896). Lawson was not responsible for their ordering and he had to give ground on their texts, especially on his idiosyncratic presentation of wordings that helped to breathe life into his characters and situations. The present edition dismantles the fait accompli of 1896 by presenting the individual items in the chronological order of their first publication and with their original newspaper texts. This will allow a new appreciation of Lawson's writing, one that is attentive to his developing powers.
'The edition also facilitates a close study of Lawson's collaboration with the producers of the collection in 1896, in particular with his copy-editor Arthur W. Jose and publisher George Robertson. Facsimile images (available online) of the printer's copy that they prepared for While the Billy Boils supplement the edition's listing of the alterations that each of them made, revealing the textual history of each story or sketch.' (Publisher's blurb)
Biography of a Book : Henry Lawson's While the Billy Boils
University of Sydney
University Park
:
Sydney University Press
Pennsylvania State University Press
,
2013
Z1939157
2013
single work
criticism
'Biography of a Book traces the life of an iconic Australian literary work in the lead-up to, and for a century after, its initial publication: Henry Lawson's 1896 collection While the Billy Boils. Paul Eggert follows Lawson's gradual development of a pared-back bush realism in the early 1890s, as he struggled to forge a career, writing short stories and sketches for the newspapers.
