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| [detail from first painting] |
Paintings by Shirley Deane/Midyett
Text by Vic Midyett
Shirley very recently did two paintings of the Kookaburra, an Australian bird that is a member of the Kingfisher family:
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| [16" x 12"] |
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| [12" x 16"] |
Like the Sunflowers painting of January 20, these paintings now hang in the office of one of Shirley’s friends.
“Kookaburra” the song says the Kookaburra is the King of the Bush. Here is the chorus:
Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,Kookaburras kill and eat snakes, and other small animals and berries, a varied diet. They used to be found only in Australia, but they were recently introduced into New Zealand and Tasmania.
Merry merry king of the bush is he.
Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra,
Gay your life must be!
–[The song originated when “gay” meant happy.]
Their call is very loud and sounds to me like laughing.
| Copyright © 2018 by Vic & Shirley Deane/Midyett |
A comment on Facebook, by Lynn Saeger:
ReplyDeleteGirl Scouts sing the Kookaburra song as a 2-4 part round. It was a favorite when I was a Scout, at least.
I love the paintings!
That is so wonderful to know. I had no idea they sang that. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteVic, there’s more. From Pat Rogers:
ReplyDeleteMorris, Look it up on Wikipedia! I sang this in Girl Scouts when I was a girl (a hint about how old it is).! We sang it as a round at campfires, too. It was written in 1934 and entered into a competition to raise money for the GS. I have to admit that I never questioned what a kookaburra actually was until I was grown and heard my grand daughter's GS troop singing it! Wikipedia says it is popular all over the world wherever there are GS troops. See what you missed as a boy!
Oh my! What a great beginning and now obvious why the GS sing it. Yes, I certainly see what I "missed as a boy"! There again I never got the opportunity to be a boy scout either. How deprived I was.
ReplyDeletePat Rigers also said:
ReplyDeleteMorris, Yes, I have read [Vic’s “Missionary Kid”] stories on the blog. I enjoyed them very much! I guess I should have said wherever Girl Scout's and Girl Guide's troops are present as that is what they are known as in many parts of the world. As a child, I figured a gum tree was like something out of a story like Willy Wonka and it had sticks of gum growing out of it! I was an adult when someone explained that it was an actual tree growing in Australia! Even then I just figured a Kookaburra was some kind of exotic animal like a Koala sitting in a tree! It wasn't until we bought a place in the mountains and began to study birds that I figured out it was a bird As I said, I became curious about the song after I heard my grand daughter's troop singing it some sixty years after I remembered it from my own Girl Scout days at camp!
Love the paintings, Shirley! Caught my attention as I was scrolling thru the old “Thunder Down Under” series.
ReplyDelete