• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Institute of Australian Culture

Heritage, history, and heroes; literature, legends, and larrikins

  • Home
  • Articles
  • Biographies
  • Books
  • Ephemera
  • Poetry & songs
    • Recommended poetry
    • Poetry and songs, 1786-1900
    • Poetry and songs, 1901-1954
    • Rock music and pop music [videos]
    • Early music [videos]
  • Slang
  • Timeline
    • Timeline of Australian history and culture
    • Calendar of Australian history and culture
    • Significant events and commemorative dates
  • Topics

The Good Brownies [poem for children, by Eva Oakley]

11 April 2021 · Leave a Comment

[Editor: This poem for children, by Eva Oakley, was published in Fairy Poems (1945).]

The Good Brownies

Some twenty smart Brownies went out, one fine day,
And sat down to rest, on some nice, new-mown hay;
Then, after a while they said, “My! That was good!”
And off they went, gaily, to gather some wood;
But when they crept back again, ’twas nearly dark,
For they had made up their minds, just for a lark,
To give a surprise to the poor folk around,
By gliding in through their gates without a sound,
And leaving for each some wood for a warm fire,
For Brownies, of doing good deeds, never tire.

The Fairy Queen sends for the Brownies.

I told you the Brownies had been very kind,
And brought, to the poor all the wood they could find.
Well! The Fairy Queen heard what the Brownies had done;
So, straight off, she sent round a note to each one,
And in it she said, “You must come here to tea;
We’ll make you as happy as happy can be.
A Fairy will sit with you, too, side by side,
And I shall then give her to you for a bride;
Then you will dwell with us in Fairyland Dell,
And bells will ring out, and the lights shine as well.
The Gnomes, Elves and Pixies, I’ve told to appear,
And white bob-tailed rabbits, to greet you, my dear;
And then, all together, good deeds we will do.
Remember! This evening, I’m expecting you.”



Source:
Eva Oakley, Fairy Poems, Melbourne: Austral Printing & Publishing Company, [1945], p. 5

Editor’s notes:
brownie = in British folklore, a brownie is a small brown elf, goblin, or household spirit who helps people by performing household chores (usually at night, and in exchange for small amount of food left out for them); can also refer to: a member of the Brownies (a female youth organisation, the junior branch of the Girl Guides); a small flat piece of dense rich chocolate cake, square or rectangular in shape, which often contains nuts (also called a chocolate brownie); a type of sweet bread made with currants and sugar
See: 1) “Brownies – sensitive house spirits”, Fairy Land: The world of Magical creatures
2) “Brownies make finicky (but useful) roomates”, Astonishing Legends
3) Carolyn Emerick, “When Brownies turn bad”, Owlcation, 15August 2016
See also:
“Brownie (folklore)”

gaily = to act or behave in a gay manner (happy, joyous, light-hearted, merry, bright, carefree); happily, lively, merrily; something decorated in a gay manner (well-decorated, bright, attractive, colourful, pretty, vivid, flamboyant, showy)

’twas = (archaic) a contraction of “it was”

Filed Under: poetry for children Tagged With: Eva Oakley (1881-1952) (author), Fairy Poems (Eva Oakley 1945), poem for children, SourceSLV, year1945

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Australian flag, Kangaroo, Wattle, 100hThe Institute of Australian Culture
Heritage, history, and heroes. Literature, legends, and larrikins. Stories, songs, and sages.

Search this site

Featured books

The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses, by Banjo Paterson A Book for Kids, by C. J. Dennis  The Bulletin Reciter: A Collection of Verses for Recitation from The Bulletin The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke, by C. J. Dennis The Complete Inner History of the Kelly Gang and Their Pursuers, by J. J. Kenneally The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen The Australian Crisis, by C. H. Kirmess Such Is Life, by Joseph Furphy
More books (full text)

Featured lists

Timeline of Australian history and culture
A list of significant Australiana
Significant events and commemorative dates
Australian slang
Books (full text)
Australian literature
Rock music and pop music (videos)
Folk music and bush music (videos)
Early music (videos)
Recommended poetry
Poetry and songs, 1786-1900
Poetry and songs, 1901-1954
Australian explorers
Topics
Links

Featured posts

Advance Australia Fair: How the song became the Australian national anthem
Brian Cadd [music videos and biography]
Ned Kelly: Australian bushranger
Under the Southern Cross I Stand [the Australian cricket team’s victory song]

Some Australian authors

E. J. Brady
John Le Gay Brereton
C. J. Dennis
Mary Hannay Foott
Joseph Furphy
Mary Gilmore
Charles Harpur
Grant Hervey
Lucy Everett Homfray
Rex Ingamells
Henry Kendall
“Kookaburra”
Henry Lawson
Jack Moses
“Dryblower” Murphy
John Shaw Neilson
John O’Brien (Patrick Joseph Hartigan)
“Banjo” Paterson
Marie E. J. Pitt
A. G. Stephens
P. R. Stephensen
Agnes L. Storrie (Agnes L. Kettlewell)

Recent Posts

  • [The new stamps] [re the new Tasmanian postage stamps, 2 January 1900]
  • The Leading Lady [poem by “Stargazer”, 31 January 1917]
  • The Naval Contingent: With the Australians in China [17 October 1900]
  • Australia Day [26 January 1953]
  • Australia Day [24 January 1953]

Top Posts & Pages

  • Poetry and songs, 1786-1900
  • Australian slang
  • Rommel’s comments on Australian soldiers [1941-1942]
  • The Man from Snowy River [poem by Banjo Paterson]
  • The Bastard from the Bush [poem, circa 1900]

Archives

Categories

Posts of note

The Bastard from the Bush [poem, circa 1900]
A Book for Kids [by C. J. Dennis, 1921]
Click Go the Shears [traditional Australian song, 1890s]
Core of My Heart [“My Country”, poem by Dorothea Mackellar, 24 October 1908]
Freedom on the Wallaby [poem by Henry Lawson, 16 May 1891]
The Man from Ironbark [poem by Banjo Paterson]
Nationality [poem by Mary Gilmore, 12 May 1942]
The Newcastle song [music video, sung by Bob Hudson]
No Foe Shall Gather Our Harvest [poem by Mary Gilmore, 29 June 1940]
Our pipes [short story by Henry Lawson]
Rommel’s comments on Australian soldiers [1941-1942]
Shooting the moon [short story by Henry Lawson]

Recent Comments

  • rob buntine on No Foe Shall Gather Our Harvest [poem by Mary Gilmore, 29 June 1940]
  • Carol on Poetry and songs, 1786-1900
  • Annie Crestani on Under the Southern Cross I Stand [the Australian cricket team’s victory song]
  • Peter Pearsall on The Clarence [poem by Jack Moses]
  • Trevor Hurst on Timeline of Australian history and culture

For Australia

Copyright © 2023 · Log in