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Tells the story of the stockman, Two-Handed Dick, and how he defeats a rampaging bull and later a group Aboriginal Australians with a musket in one hand and an axe in the other, the latter incident giving rise to his nickname.
Notes
This story was originally published in Household Words in 1850. Sidney subsequently revised it for inclusion in Gallops and Gossips in the Bush of Australia (1854), where it appears as Chapter V (pp. 71-85).
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
yThe Bugle Call'Herbert Strang'
(editor),
London:Henry FrowdeHodder and Stoughton,1918Z15767961912selected work children's fiction children's London:Henry FrowdeHodder and Stoughton,1918
(
1918
)
Note: Illustrated by Francis Hiley.
Appears in:
yFurther Tales from Botany BayJohn Lang,
Samuel Sidney,
Victor Crittenden
(editor),
Canberra:Mulini Press,2005Z12280082005selected work short story extract This selection claims to brings together the uncollected Australian stories of John Lang, previously published separately in English and Indian periodicals and newspapers. Research since its publication shows that some of the stories are in fact extracts from a novel Gallops and Gossips in the Bush of Australia by Samuel SidneyCanberra:Mulini Press,2005
John Sidney came to Australia in 1840. He spent ten years in the colony. On his return to England he told his brother Samuel about his experiences in Australia. Samuel wrote them down and they were published in Household Words 1850-1852. John returned to Australia and sent news back to his brother. Samuel Sidney never visited Australia. His novel Gallops and Gossips in the Bush of Australia is based on his brother's information.
yGallops and Gossips in the Bush of Australia, or, Passages in the Life of Alfred BarnardSamuel Sidney,
1854single work novel From a roving, largely outdoors, education in England and France, the narrator - an orphan - becomes unfitted for an office profession and emigrates to Australia. The stories recount aspects of his life in the colony. The narrator finally returns to England - near York - for Christmas. He hears sad tales of England's poor but finds rich welcome with his family - and a wife.