Hindsight

Most Australians know the word 'cooee' but it is difficult to pin down the origins of the call. 'Cooee' has a rich and intriguing history in music, language, war, commerce and nationalism. Sydney historian Richard White shares facts and theories about the rise and fall of this sound of the bush, to the accompaniment of a showcase of 'coo-ee' songs.

There is qualified consensus that the word was used by indigenous people prior to European settlement. It was recorded in a notebook by one of the first fleet in 1789, and notated in music by Baudin in 1801. By the 1820s, it was part of colonial speech, widespread in New Zealand too.

Then in the 1840s it began to be called out loud in London by visiting colonists, and its nationalistic association with Australia began. A growing number of 'coo-ee' songs followed, along with its appearance in literature.

Federation seized on a word that symbolically encompassed the whole of Australia, and its popularity rose to the point where there were calls for three cheers to be replaced with three 'coo-ees'. In the First World War, the number of coo-ee songs swelled as it joined the chorus of recruitment numbers and ballads reminding troops of home.

In the decades that followed, 'coo-ee' became something of an echo of its former self. Its place in everyday language declined, and it's not clear whether coming generations will give voice to the word. However some exceptions can be heard, suggesting it's a call close to the hearts of many in their relationship with family and land.

Songs performed by Louisa Hunter-Bradley, soprano and Dean Sky-Lucas, piano.

History consultant: Richard White, Department of History, University of Sydney

Images

Click on an image to view full size.

Guests

Richard White
Lecturer in History, University of Sydney

Alan Atkinson
Emeritus Professor of History, University of New England, Armidale

Bruce Moore
Editor, Australian National Dictionary

Paul Carter
University of Melbourne

John Ryan
Associate Professor of English, University of New England, Armidale

Richard Divall
Conductor

Therese Radic
Musicologist, University of Melbourne

Georgina Binns
Music archivist, Victorian College of the Arts

Libby Kermond Carr
manager, Cooee Heritage Centre, Gilgandra

Graham Greenleaf
grandson of Leslie Greenleaf, the youngest 'Cooee'

Libby Gleeson
author 'Amy and Louis'

Further Information

Music Australia
Scores of the songs heard in the programme can be downloaded at Music Australia

The Calling to Come
Paul Carter's sound installation 'The Calling to Come' can be heard at the Museum of Sydney.

Publications

Title: The Europeans in Australia
Author: Alan Atkinson
Publisher: Oxford University Press, Melbourne 1998

Title: The Commonwealth of Speech
Author: Alan Atkinson
Publisher: Melbourne, Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2002

Title: The Sound In Between
Author: Paul Carter
Publisher: University of NSW Press, 1992

Title: The Southern Euphrosyne
Author: Isaac Nathan
Publisher: London, Whittaker & Co, 1849

Title: Cooee Across the Strand
Author: Richard White
Publisher: Australian Historical Studies, 116, 2001

Title: 'The Coo-ee march, Gilgandra - Sydney 1915'
Author: John Meredith
Publisher: Macquarie, 1981

Music

Track title: Coo-ee Mary
Composer: Frank King
Performed by Louisa Hunter-Bradley, soprano and Deam Sky-Lucas, piano

Track title: Cooey!
Composer: E. Spagnoletti
Performed by Louisa Hunter-Bradley, soprano and Dean Sky-Lucas, piano

Track title: The Boys from the Castlereagh
Composer: W Jones & P Hollis
Performed by Louisa Hunter-Bradley, soprano and Dean Sky-Lucas, piano

Track title: Sing us a Song of Australia
Composer: C. Ridgway
Performed by Louisa Hunter-Bradley, soprano and Dean Sky-Lucas, piano

Track title: Austral "Coo-ee" Greeting Song
Composer: Maude Wordsworth James
Performed by Louisa Hunter-Bradley, soprano and Dean Sky-Lucas, piano

Track title: Here come the Kangaroos
Composer: A. Collins & H. Work
Performed by Louisa Hunter-Bradley, soprano and Dean Sky-Lucas, piano

Track title: Coo-ee, an Australian ballad
Composer: H. Coghlan & W. Turner
Performed by Louisa Hunter-Bradley, soprano and Dean Sky-Lucas, piano

Track title: Coo-ee, don't you hear them
Composer: J. Stroud & A. Pettitt
Performed by Louisa Hunter-Bradley, soprano and Dean Sky-Lucas, piano

Presenter

Jennifer Bowen

Producer

Jennifer Bowen