The Ragged Thirteen: Stories of Australia's Northern Frontier in the 1880s by Judy Robinson

Book Description

Secondhand. Very good condition. Minor wear to book corners and edges. Previous owner has signed inside page, now covered with blank ex libris bookplate sticker.

First came Alexander Forrest's expedition across the Kimberley in 1879. Then came settlers Patsy and Michael Durack and master-drover Nat Buchanan with their great cattle herds in the 1880s. In 1887, the 4000-ounce nugget The Bobby Dazzler was found at Halls Creek, and the Kimberley goldfields were born.

The Ragged Thirteen were expert horsemen and cattle duffers, dined on cleanskins, indulged in rum and bare-knuckle fighting and recited the bush verses of Ogilvie and Barcroft Boake. They are in the heartland of Australian legends about mateship and survival in the vast reaches of Australia's mighty outback.

The Ragged Thirteen, also dubbed the Tea and Sugar Bushrangers, included Tom Nuggent, Sandy Myrtle, Jack Daly, Tommy the Rag, and Maori Jack Reid, skipper of the Smuggler. They defied the wealth and property of the wealthy squatters. They are still celebrated for their horsemanship, chivalrous support of the poor, and cheeky defiance of the law. (back cover)