[Editor: This list contains various works by Edwin Greenslade Murphy (“Dryblower”); for biographical information, click here.]
Books by Edwin Greenslade Murphy (“Dryblower”):
1904: Sweet Boronia: A Story of Coolgardie, Perth (WA): Sunday Times Publ. Co. (fiction) [this work has been listed by E. Morris Miller in Australian Literature: A Bibliography to 1938 (p. 349) as written by Murphy, but no copy of the book has been located, as yet, in any library in Australia or elsewhere; research indicates that it may have been a play]
1908: Jarrahland Jingles, Perth (WA): R.S. Sampson for Sunday Times (poetry)
1926: Dryblower’s Verses, Perth (WA): E.G. Murphy (poetry)
In the sections below, the following symbols indicate notations re. authorship:
+ = Items which include an acknowledgment of Dryblower or E. G. Murphy as the author.
* = Items published in a column written by Dryblower Murphy, although his name was not specifically listed as the author of the poem. Murphy conducted the “Variety Vamps and Sunday Satires” column and the “Verse and Worse” column in The West Australian Sunday Times (which changed its name to The Sunday Times).
Selected articles and stories by Edwin Greenslade Murphy (“Dryblower”):
[Arranged by date of publication.]
* Extracts from the “Verse and Worse” column [26 May 1901]
+ The “Pro.”: A goldfields character [short story, 1 February 1903]
+ ‘Sweet Boronia’: A story of a woman’s sacrifice [short story, 13 August 1922]
+ For the Senate: “Dryblower” Murphy’s campaign: Opening broadcast address [2 September 1934]
Selected songs by Edwin Greenslade Murphy (“Dryblower”):
+ “We’ve Got a Big Brother in America” [(written 1908) published circa 1924]
+ This Bit of the World Belongs to Us [circa 1909]
Selected poetry by Edwin Greenslade Murphy (“Dryblower”):
[Arranged by date of publication.]
Poems marked “DV 1926” are those published in Dryblower’s Verses (1926), most of which were previously published in Western Australian newspapers, although there were some minor differences between those and the versions included in the book; for those located, the date of the original publication of the poem has also been included.
+ “Snazelleparilla” [17 September 1899]
+ ’93 and ’99 [31 December 1899]
+ Petherick Pilloried [14 April 1901]
+ For Better or Worse [21 April 1901]
+ “Second Nature” [21 April 1901]
+ To Whom It May Concern [21 April 1901]
* [’Tis Certain as Sin] [21 April 1901]
+ The Awakening [26 May 1901]
* Like All Possessing Royal Blood [26 May 1901]
* Our Police May Strive to Keep in Check [26 May 1901]
+ The Penalty [26 May 1901]
* To the Jam from the Land of the Southern Cross [26 May 1901]
+ The Doctor’s Story [30 March 1902, DV 1926]
+ What Next? [7 June 1903, DV 1926]
+ Lodes that Under-lie [14 June 1903, DV 1926]
+ Out Back [10 January 1904, DV 1926]
+ His Quest [3 April 1904, DV 1926]
+ The Aliens [8 May 1904]
+ Dossin’ Outer Doors [16 October 1904, DV 1926]
+ Booze [23 October 1904, DV 1926]
+ Tell us, Little Toad [28 July 1907, DV 1926]
+ Leah Fouracre [1 September 1907, JJ 1908, DV 1926]
+ Christmas Camp [JJ 1908, DV 1926]
+ Pints that I’ve Refused [JJ 1908, DV 1926]
+ The Smiths [JJ 1908, DV 1926]
+ Rhymes our Hearts Can Read, The [27 March 1909, DV 1926]
+ A Call to the Heart [26 September 1909]
+ White [3 April 1910, DV 1926]
+ Feet [11 September 1910, DV 1926]
+ Saddest and the Gladdest [9 July 1911, DV 1926]
+ Gore-dliness [24 December 1911, DV 1926]
+ The Sodawater Strike [21 January 1912]
+ Tinned Dog! [25 August 1912]
+ Teach ’Em to Shoot [14 September 1913, DV 1926]
+ ’Is ’Arp [21 September 1913, DV 1926]
+ My Love [8 February 1914, DV 1926]
+ “Thy Will Be Done” [12 April 1914, DV 1926]
+ Wot’s Yours? [7 February 1915, DV 1926]
+ The Storm [7 March 1915, DV 1926]
+ Pink [20 June 1915, DV 1926]
+ My Son [12 September 1915, DV 1926]
+ Shicker, I S’pose [27 February 1916, DV 1926]
+ Bricks of Beer [26 March 1916, DV 1926]
+ Fighting in France [22 October 1916, DV 1926]
+ Look at his Left Lapel [11 February 1917, DV 1926]
+ Why Can’t the Kids Be Always Young? [28 April 1918, DV 1926]
+ “Ave Maria” [9 June 1918, DV 1926]
+ Hampton Plains: A Song of To-day and To-morrow [1919]
+ Wot Won the Larst? [18 May 1919, DV 1926]
+ List to Port, A [1 June 1919, DV 1926]
+ The Devout Lover [12 October 1919, DV 1926]
+ River [30 November 1919, DV 1926]
+ Nickin’ In [22 February 1920, DV 1926]
+ Mick [13 June 1920, DV 1926]
+ Mill Point [3 October 1920, DV 1926]
+ Some Girls Ago [21 November 1920, DV 1926]
+ Cooking and Patching Their Dungaree Pants [28 November 1920, DV 1926]
+ “Goan’ ’Ave a Phenyle!” [23 January 1921]
* [Proclaim it from the Steeple] [23 January 1921]
* [We’ve Respect for the Weak and the “Widdered”] [23 January 1921]
+ The Sport [19 June 1921, DV 1926]
+ The Confession [26 June 1921, DV 1926]
+ Renunciation [26 June 1921, DV 1926]
+ Snores [14 August 1921, DV 1926]
+ The Blind [11 September 1921, DV 1926]
+ In the Sand [25 September 1921, DV 1926]
+ It Appears [9 October 1921, DV 1926]
+ Armistice [13 November 1921, DV 1926]
+ Mrs. Flannagan’s Frock [20 November 1921, DV 1926]
+ Gimme the Ground [11 December 1921, DV 1926]
+ A Week Away [8 January 1922, DV 1926]
+ Signals [7 January 1923, DV 1926]
+ On Nights Like These [10 June 1923, DV 1926]
+ Vale, “Crosscut”! [25 January 1925]
+ The Aliens [DV 1926, a slightly different version to that published on 8 May 1904]
+ Beyond [DV 1926]
+ What “Dryblower” said: The Aliens [17 November 1935, a slightly different version of “The Aliens” to that published on 8 May 1904]
+ A Rhyme of the Ragged Thirteen: A Back-to-the-Goldfields Ballad [21 August 1938]
+ When New Year’s Day Comes Round [1 January 1939]
It is not known how many poems Dryblower wrote, for the policy of the “Sunday Times” and the Kalgoorlie “Sun” for some considerable time was to not acknowledge authorship of anything written by staff members. A rough estimate could be based on him writing 4 (normal) poems per week over his (approx) 40-year journalistic career, ie 4 x 40 x 52 weeks/year = 8320 Plus another 500 or so illustrated 3 verse limerick style poems about various people both in the goldfields and around Perth (the poems were illustrated by the resident cartoonist at the Sunday Times, namely (originally) Fred Roofy and later Dick Hartley. Add to this innumerable very short “ditties” which he wrote when some newspaper comment amused him, and you get to a figure approaching 10,000. This would likely make him Australia’s most prolific poet ever, surpassing even C.J. Dennis. I have been gathering his poetry with a view to publishing a series of books (more likely e-books) making up the complete works of his writings in the “Sunday Times” and Kalgoorlie “Sun” papers – So far, I am only around 1905 – 06 and already I have some 1500 poems. As I am in my 80s I will likely never complete this quest as it takes me about 5 hours per publication (I am also gathering poems in these two papers from other West Australians) to extract them from the digitised record, correct the hundreds of errors in the character recognition (every little blemish on the newsprint produces (unintelligible) text) then, in most cases add explanatory notes as to who or what are the people and incidents involved, so far this amounts to approx. 5 hours x 6 years x 52 week/year x 2 papers = 3120 hours i.e. about 2 years full time work .
Dryblower, like a number of other poets employed by newspapers wrote much of his poetry about current events, people in the news and the socio/political issues of the times. Being topical, these poems did not have an extended reader appeal but they do represent an alternative view of our history, often at odds with the “official” version.