In 1889 the revered Australian folk poet, A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson, first published his ballad, Clancy of the Overflow. The verse achieved immediate popularity and, with the creation of his legendary character, Clancy — a free-spirited stockman — Paterson had summed up the essence of the Australian outlook.
Clancy attained folk hero status and, 125 years after he was created, continues to loom large in the nation’s consciousness, encompassing many of the qualities of what it means to be an Australian and inspiring dreams of escape to the bush, far away from the ‘dusty, dirty city’.
To mark the 150th birthday of Banjo Paterson, award-winning illustrator Robert Ingpen has journeyed into the Australian outback, exploring the myth of Clancy through words and illustrations, to find what it is that has made Clancy such an enduring figure in Australian folklore.
