Outlook: Bullocky
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ย. 2024
- Made by The Commonwealth Film Unit 1969. Directed by Richard Mitchell. Vic Deaves is a fourth-generation bushman. For as long as he can remember, his family has lived off the land, often as timber-getters in the coastal valleys of New South Wales. Vic is a bullocky, one of the last of his kind. With his team of bullocks he drags logs out of the valley too choked and precipitous for mechanised transport. It's a way of life that is dying and part of Australian history will die with it.
See a production still from this film here: www.flickr.com/...
The man in this video is my great uncle. He thought he would be running his bullocks till he died but at the age of 62 had a major car accident & broke both his hips & legs badly & could no longer go into the bush. It was devastating for him & also for us as a family as we had had 4 generations in the bush & he was one of the last 'working' bullock teams in Australia. There are still bullock teams around that show up at ag shows etc, but no more working teams. An interesting sideline is that the voice you hear speaking is not uncle Vic's. His bush accent was thought to be too difficult for people to understand so they dubbed him. The only time you hear his actual voice is when he's revving up the bullocks. His brothers worked in the bush with him & hard work was obviously never hurt them because they all died in their late 80's & uncle Vic went in his 90's
cindy lu Hi Cindy. Thanks so much for that interesting insight into your family and Vic and the fact that he was dubbed in the film. I didn't know that. I remember that when Vic was in his last years other members of your family requested a DVD to show Vic before he passed. He certainly seemed like a great character and, as you say, his line of work is now a lost part of Australian history. We are proud to have recorded him doing what he did and to make that available for all to see.
+cindy lu
Great story Cindy about Australian culture and the way we were. I've seen the like of your Uncle Vic many a time as a child, unfortunately few and far between today. I love Australia and Australians like your uncle.
Thanks for sharing with us. Amazing.
Bloody awful that a crash ended Vic's career, but a wonderful story nevertheless.
@Toby Peterson Salt of The Earth Men we need More of them these days Australia needs strong Men to return.
I enjoyed watching this piece of timeless Australian history.
Thanks for the comment Jed. We appreciate hearing from you.
Wow. I've just stumbled across this video because I typed in 'timber getting in Wyee'. Vic Deaves was actually my great grandfathers nephew. My great grandfather being Angus Deaves. This is a fantastic video and can't believe it's taken me so long to find it as I am very big in finding out about my family history.
Very cool!
Hard men from a different time. Hard work for both man and beast. Great little video enjoyed it ,thanks
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for letting us know.
The old Australia, the good Australia. Those times are long gone now.
What a fantastic look at our Australia history... I wish there were more of it.. 👍👍
Strewth, that was beaut. I'll show my sisters' children as our great-grandpa was a bullocky around Molong before the Great War. He made his own bull-whips too. Thanks for the wonderful, nostalgic films. I think, however, the film was made in 64, or so the credits run ...LXIV, besides the bushie talks about pounds, which makes it pre-1966.
Wonderful footage love watching this during the lockdown
Thanks Justin. Hope it helps. Good luck.
That is gold. Thanks for sharing
Fabulous look back and excellent copy (restoration?). A way of Australian life to remind you we are Australian.
Spect àh'll be here til ahm done. What a Statement.Australia wàke up.
I can remember seeing a bullocky and his team in 1969 as a 12 year old. Im glad I got to see it.
Very interesting! Thank you
Love these, from Auckland NZ
@Seattlecarnut A Bullocky is the guy who controls the bullocks or bullock team. Now a long forgotten art.
@FILMAUSTRALIA bulldozers replaced them and trucks . slim dusty sings about the bullocks
and green hide whips , i love this old history , please post some of the old snowy mt project with the mighty t20 international bulldozers . my family settled and carved out the Hunter valley in 1860s.
@frpetermark Glad you liked it. This fellow was based around the Watagan Mountains in the Hunter Valley. Definitely made in 1969 though. Credits say LXIX.
I think he's related to my grandmother
He mentioned the surname of the truck driver I think . Osland. That family was heavily intertwined with my family . The Murrell family from Brunkerville . My grandfather Alick was born in 1899 and he had about 11 or 12 brothers. They were all timber getters and bullockys in that area . He died in 1989 and is buried along with his relatives and also a lot of islands in brunkerville cemetery
Oslands not islands
Now I know how "speaking in tongues" started.
Fabulous stuff.
the year i was born , what great year 69
Gosh that is so reminiscent of when we worked oxen almost four decades ago. My brother had a yoke of 1100 pound jersey bulls that we raised as calves and they were gentle as kittens. He traded them for 1300 pound Holstein 3 year olds. They were a nasty yoke and would go after people with those horns. So, yeah you can't assume anything even if they're in a yoke. Both were trained as logging workers like those and we never ploughed or hayed with them.
Very interesting Logan. Thanks for sharing that.
@FILMAUSTRALIA Stone the crows, you're right, my mistake, as I've checked - this time wearing my goggles - which helps. Feel like a right drongo considering I know Latin. Rugged country the Upper Hunter. Imagine trekking over it with several drays in the late 1860s as my maternal g-g-g-grandparents did, along with 3 other related families, from Wollombi to Bundarra in New England, with over a dozen children under 5 in tow, plus livestock, It took over 15 months!
@frpetermark Hard times and hard people for sure.
@Seattlecarnut A bit of Aussie lingo to test your language skills I guess.
@FILMAUSTRALIA Thanks for taking the trouble to reply. I'm wondering whether you have any footage of the Australian Light Horse, as two renowned distant cousins served therein; Lt.Col.C.V.Single DSO OBE and Gen.Sir J.M.Bourchier DSO KBE. And any film of England vs Australia test cricket matches from 1912/13 when Dr.Single wore the baggy green & the famous Victor Trumper was then captain. I do very much appreciate you posting these marvellous old movies. Glimpses into a bygone age.
... and then men got lazy so they invented clear felling.
The logs are pretty small. I thought they would still have had bigger logs in 1969??
Be animal cruelty nowdays,and imagine what some upstart Worksafe inspector would think of the bush falling!The days of the lean taciturn Aussie Digger are long gone!
Looks like he really cares for the animals. Nudge nudge wink wink. Not really sure of the language or the IQ.
Grow up. You obviously have never lived on the land. Here's a little lesson for your uneducated, city dwelling, effeminate attitude. If you treat your animals terribly they usually get sick or die and can't work so you don't make any money and don't live well or eat and then you get sick or possibly die. I just spelled it out for you because I realize that it is you that doesn't have the appropriate IQ.
Don't let appearances fool you mate. He's probably a lot smarter than you. Working in the bush with animals, chains and saws is dangerous work and an idiot wouldn't last long before they are dead or injured.
Talking slow doesn't mean stupid , and this wasn't his voice only when working the cattle