escape committe

[Archaic]

Can you bludgers stop yakking and start digging fair dinkum give a bloke a fair suck of the sav how come no one else'll do any of the hard yakka.

Are you crazy? Get a grip, Gut. We ladies do more than our fair share of hard yakking. Dolly and Cissy have been talking my ear off all day.

Over and out,
Agent Archaic

[Archaic]

Hi Gut,

Why is it after reading the above line I feel like hearing a chorus of "Waltzing Matilda". What is a "billabong"?

Jeff

Howdy Jeff.

I heard its some contraption the Aussies drink booze through. Never seen one though; that's just a rumor going round.

Maybe it's a hillbilly bong? No wonder they dig so slowly.

Agent Archaic

[GUT]

Howdy Jeff.

I heard its some contraption the Aussies drink booze through. Never seen one though; that's just a rumor going round.

Maybe it's a hillbilly bong? No wonder they dig so slowly.

Agent Archaic

G'day AA

Most Aussies will drink booze through just about anything.

[GUT]

Are you crazy? Get a grip, Gut. We ladies do more than our fair share of hard yakking. Dolly and Cissy have been talking my ear off all day.

Over and out,
Agent Archaic

No No No, Yakking is what you mob are doing, Hard Yakka is hard work, gee it's a simple enough language. Thought the POMS were supposed to have invented it and the spread it to the Yanks and the Canadaniadians why can't you mob understand it then?

[Mayerling]

OK I'll give you a fair go, you can't help not being educated and sophisticated Australian ladies and gentlemen:

Jumbuck - a Sheep

Koolabah Tree- a large spreading Eucalypt tree [sometimes spelt with a "c" rather than a "k"]

Squater - The man who owns [or at least occupies] the ranch

Tucker bag - A bag for carrying one's tucker [or edibles not always that edible by the way]

Billabong - Is a pond caused when a river that was snaking in a U shape cuts across the top of the U leaving a free standing pond.

Hi GUT,

Thanks for the definitions. I now realize that the song is about a squatter sitting under a Koolabah Tree (and smelling the Eucalyptus - possibly even seeing a Koala bear eating the leaves). I once heard that the main figure in the song commits suicide to avoid arrest. It is an odd tune - quite jaunty but haunting at the same time.

We have odd ones too. In World War II the tune "Maisie Doats" was quite popular - the lyrics in running into each other as you sang it sounded like this.

"Maisie doats and dosisdoats and liddlelams eteivy.
A kiddlete ivytoo, wouldn't you?"

It took the eminent linguist and language maven Mr. Howard Bloomfield awhile to get his thick son to realize the lines actually are:

"Mares eat oats, and does eat oats, and little lambs eat ivy.
A kid [baby lamb] will eat ivy too, wouldn't you?"

Oddly enough this tune swept the nation in 1943!!

Jeff

[GUT]

G'day Jeff

Actually it was a Swagman* who was camped by the water, with his billy boiling. A sheep came down swagman grabs it stuffs it in his food sack, along comes the owner together with one or more troopers [police] and want to arrest the swagman so he jumps in the water to avoid capture.

A swagman is a man who wanders the countryside with all his possession in his swag [or pack].

A billy is basically a tin can with a bit of wire attached as a handle to suspend over the fire to make a cuppa.

There is actually a dispute over the number of troopers as the song says "Down cane the squater mounted on his thoroughbred, down came the trooper(s) 1 2 3.

Many take that to mean that there were 3 troopers, others argue that it was one trooper number 123 [and trooper 123 was actually based in the area where Banjo Patterson wrote it at the time it was written].

Hope this all makes sense and makes our 2nd National Anthem understandable.

[Robert]

Or there could have been 123 troopers.

[Carol]

Roger that Carol.
Keep your heads down, I've heard there's trouble on the way...

I'm working on the Pinkmoon situation, but look on the bright side. If I can escape from a Turkey, I'm sure he can foil a Dragon (or wrap it up in foil?).
I've sent in more supplies and a shovel via the Northern resistance so let's keep our fingers crossed that he can dig himself out at nightfall.

I'm holed up in a safe house at the moment, top secret. Got an encryption project to sort out for Winston.
Heard I'm being transferred to Poland in a couple of weeks, all very hush hush, but will bring you guys back plenty of vodka rations.

Checking out. Keep me updated and keep up the excellent morale!
Oh, and I got a promotion,
General A

Good afternoon, ma'am,

First of all, congratulations on your promotion! Good luck with the encryption project - not an easy thing to do. Dolly says projects like that are enigmas. Sometimes she can be very profound.

Be very careful when you are dropped over Poland. Agent Archaic had to go there once on an extremely hush hush mission. Unfortunately Winston had forgotton to tell even her what the mission was about and she ended up being taken prisoner by the Bosch. Luckily she's been trained in seven different countries in gorilla warfare and so was able to escape back to
Blighty.

I'll keep you au faix on developments. Pinkmoon managed to get a message through to us about his next excape attempt but we don't hold out much hope.

By the way, many thanks for the warning to keep our heads down. I'm always knocking my head on the beams up here in the attic. Wish I was six inches shorter - not so painful!

Carol

[Carol]

Good moaning

Is GIT dogging? If he is dogging he may need to buy a loocence.

Regards

Officer Crabtree

Bobby, is that really you! Cissie said she thought she recognised your voice. Where are you calling from, old chap?

Your command of languages is really amazing. Luckily Agent Archaic can still understand French reasonably well. She said to tell you that as GUT (GIT in French as you so rightly say) is digging from Australia he doesn't need to worry about a loocence (she told me what that was in English).

Dolly said the last she heard of you was that you were working undercover in France.

Carol

[Carol]

Hi Carol,

As my actual name is Jeff, which sounded too prosaic (and from a British prospective inaccurate - it should be "Geoff") I chose "Mayerling" because, the tragedy of Crown Prince Rudolf and Countess Vetsera occurred at Mayerling hunting lodge in January 1889, so (chronologically) it is the next big historical mystery after Whitechapel (ending November - December 1888). If it hadn't been for the timing, I'd have had to look for the next "biggie", and would have ended with "Maybrick" of all things (Spring-Summer 1889).

I wish I could help you with the fare matter. Maybe in the future it is possible. Unfortunately I'm retired and don't have much cash.
Hence my interest in Oak Island.

Jeff

Hello Jeff,

Thanks for the explanation regarding your code name.

Maybe we can get some boat tickets on tick from Blighty and then pay for them when we have found the treasure. Worth thinking about.

Carol

[Carol]

Hello GUT,

Thank you so much for explaining your language. No wonder you get so frustrated trying to communicate with us chaps and gels from Blighty. We thought you were praising us for our efforts at this end. It isn't easy for us working under-cover with Jerry everywhere. We are doing our best, old chap, and are SO grateful for all your work at your end.

Cissie and Dolly have asked me to tell you that you are their HERO and Cissie has drawn a picture of how she thinks you look and has nailed it to one of the beams in this attic we call home. According to her you seem to look a lot like Clark Gable (or Groucho Marx if you look at the drawing upside down).

Wiggy

[Carol]

Are you crazy? Get a grip, Gut.
Over and .out,
Agent Archaic

Bunny, old girl. Watch your language when you are talking to the Anzac boy.
He's very sensitive. He's not used to our rough ways having been brought up in Australia. Bless his little cotton socks.

Carol

[Carol]

Calling pinkmoon. Calling pinkmoon.
Are you receiving me?
Over.

Calling pinkmoon. Calling pinkmoon.
Are you receiving me?
Over.

Calling pinkmoon. Calling pinkmoon.
Are you receiving me?
Over.

Blow this for a lark. I'm off to bed.

Goodnight. Hope the bed bugs don't bite.

[Mayerling]

G'day Jeff

Actually it was a Swagman* who was camped by the water, with his billy boiling. A sheep came down swagman grabs it stuffs it in his food sack, along comes the owner together with one or more troopers [police] and want to arrest the swagman so he jumps in the water to avoid capture.

A swagman is a man who wanders the countryside with all his possession in his swag [or pack].

A billy is basically a tin can with a bit of wire attached as a handle to suspend over the fire to make a cuppa.

There is actually a dispute over the number of troopers as the song says "Down cane the squater mounted on his thoroughbred, down came the trooper(s) 1 2 3.

Many take that to mean that there were 3 troopers, others argue that it was one trooper number 123 [and trooper 123 was actually based in the area where Banjo Patterson wrote it at the time it was written].

Hope this all makes sense and makes our 2nd National Anthem understandable.

Hi GUT,

Okay, it is a swagman then, not a squatter - but thanks again for the assist.
Pity the poor wretch still kills himself to avoid the 1, 2, 3, or policeman # 123, or 123 policeman about to pounce on him.

Maybe the origin of the tune's storyline is connected to one of the bushrangers who apparently was killed when cooking a meal or having a drink by a policeman who snuck up behind him and crushed his skull with a gun. I have one or two books here among my books on Australia about bushrangers (one by a fellow named Frederick Boxall that dates back to about 1900).

I recall when they made "Waltzing Matilda" one of the National Anthems of Australia in the last twenty years. What is the other one?

Jeff

[Mayerling]

Hello Jeff,

Thanks for the explanation regarding your code name.

Maybe we can get some boat tickets on tick from Blighty and then pay for them when we have found the treasure. Worth thinking about.

Carol

Hi Carol,

I'd say it is worth thinking about too. Haven't been in England since 1993.

Jeff