Mulga Bill's bicycle by A. B. Paterson. Illus. by Kilmeny and Deborah Niland

The original publication of the Banjo Paterson poem, illustrated by Kilmeny and Deborah Niland in 1973 won a design award (ABBA) in 1973, and the Visual Arts Board prize in 1974, followed by an IBBY prize in 1976 and has been in print ever since.

It is timely that it be feted again in its 50th year, reminding us all of the wonderful Paterson poems and the talent of the Niland sisters.

That it will be read in classes and homes around Australia is a link to a time when poetry reading was more common, when people in the street knew poems by Paterson and Lawson and could quote lines.

Holding this new edition is wonderful. It has lost none of its freshness, the story of Mulga Bill is as funny and universal as when Paterson wrote it in 1896. In rollocking ballad form, the story is woven around the sudden popularity of cycling as an activity for many. Bicycles were everywhere at the turn of the nineteenth to the twentieth century. Even women were seen riding bicycles! Paterson takes this phenomena to create a funny ballad about Mulga Bill, one like many who believed their skills were better than they actually were.

When he hears about the bikes, Mulga Bill is swept up in the craze, buying a new outfit before purchasing a bike assuring all that of course he knows how to ride. Readers will compare Mulga’s spur of the minute decision with the bike riders in Australian capital cities today who come out in all their finery for the few days of cycle races like Tour Down Under. But Mulga Bill is sure he will make it home to his cabin above Dead Man’s Creek, so off he sets. But he does not manage to control the bicycle when going downhill, it bolts away from him. The bike and Mulga Bill end up in the creek, Mulga Bill bemoaning his fate. He leaves the bike in the creek and goes back to his horse. A fitting end to someone who was over confident about his abilities.

The illustrations by Kilmeny and Deborah Niland are outstanding, revealing an exuberant man with wonderful handle bar moustache taking on something he has no experience with. That he comes a cropper is no surprise and readers will see the lesson to be learnt. Younger readers will love spotting the many animals as well as the hilariously unnatural positions of Mulga Bill’s body as he tries to ride the bike, then falls off landing in the creek. The look on his face is priceless and I am sure younger readers will have fun emulating his body and facial contortions.

Themes: Humour, Bicycles, Australia-nineteenth century.

Fran Knight