Another poem by Henry Lawson indicates how Aboriginal people were viewed by white Australian society in 1897.Here are some excerpts from a poem about the first school Henry attended near his home at what is now Eurunderee (formerly Pipe Clay Creek) when he was 9.
The Old Bark School
by Henry Lawson
And we learnt the world in scraps from ancient dingy maps
Long discarded by the public schools in town;
And as nearly every book dated back to Captain Cook
Our geography was somewhat upside-down.
And Ireland! that was known from the coastline to Athlone,
But little of the land that gave us birth;
Save that Captain Cook was killed - and was very likely grilled -
And "our blacks are just the lowest race on earth".
The Old Bark School
by Henry Lawson
And we learnt the world in scraps from ancient dingy maps
Long discarded by the public schools in town;
And as nearly every book dated back to Captain Cook
Our geography was somewhat upside-down.
And Ireland! that was known from the coastline to Athlone,
But little of the land that gave us birth;
Save that Captain Cook was killed - and was very likely grilled -
And "our blacks are just the lowest race on earth".
