Jack Moses

Jack Moses (12 January 1861 – 10 July 1945)[1] was an Australian outback bush poet who wrote the poem "The Dog Sat on the Tuckerbox" from which the well-known Dog on the Tuckerbox monument and the Nine and Five Mile legend of Gundagai were inspired.[2]

Moses' poem, which has echoes of a much earlier Bullocky Bill by someone known only as "Bowyang Yorke", was considered by Gundagai Shire Council to be an important advertisement for their historic Australian town, and influenced creation of the famous monument,[3] five miles from Gundagai, and a 'Jack Moses Street' in Gundagai was named in his honour.[4] In his publisher's note in Jack Moses' collection of verse "Nine Miles from Gundagai" (1938), the publisher quoted Frank Morton saying in 1923 that he liked Moses' poems as they "dealt with the interests of real Australian bush people in a truthful, non-gloomy manner."[5]

Jack Moses remained a prominent figure in country shows throughout New South Wales and at smoke concerts where he recited his poems and told stories of the bush. Given to be a born reciter, renditions included the works of Edwin Brady, Henry Lawson, Will H. Ogilvie, Roderic Quinn, and Banjo Paterson.[6][7][8]

Moses was a whisky salesman, and an enthusiastic all-year swimmer at Bondi as a founding member of the Bondi Icebergs Club.[9][10]

References
  1. Rutledge, Martha, 'Moses, John (Jack) (1861–1945)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/moses-john-jack-13114/text23729, accessed 9 September 2011
  2. National Library of Australia, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article42449438?
  3. "Gundagai's Dog Is Gilt-Edged Investment". Smith's Weekly. XIX (22). New South Wales, Australia. 31 July 1937. p. 13. Retrieved 4 October 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. Bell, O. (nyg — possibly 1980s), 'Tales of Old Gundagai No.2, Oscar I Bell, President of Gundagai & District Historical Society and former Gundagai Shire Councillor, Gundagai, p.3.
  5. Moses, J., 1939, 'Nine Miles From Gundagai', Angus & Robertson Ltd, London & Sydney.
  6. "Personal". The Grafton Argus And Clarence River General Advertiser. New South Wales, Australia. 26 April 1920. p. 2. Retrieved 25 June 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "Good Australian". Tweed Daily. XI (283). New South Wales, Australia. 26 November 1924. p. 3. Retrieved 25 June 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "A kitchen drama". Tweed Daily. XX (284). New South Wales, Australia. 29 November 1933. p. 4. Retrieved 25 June 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. National Library of Australia, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article976471?
  10. "Death of Jack Moses". Dungog Chronicle : Durham And Gloucester Advertiser. New South Wales, Australia. 17 July 1945. p. 1. Retrieved 25 June 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
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