A couple of weeks ago the Beechworth Historical Re-enactment Group announced they were looking for a new “Ned”. The person who grew a big bushy beard and played this central role in the recent Ned Kelly Weekend had decided he didn’t want to do it again, so they were advertising for a new volunteer to […]
The Last Outlaw : Part One
Described on the DVD box as “The Classic Australian Miniseries”, The Last Outlaw, is yet another Kelly creation of Ian Jones, and yet another self-proclaimed “True Story”. Produced to celebrate the centenary of Ned Kelly’s death, this four part made-for-TV mini-series was said at the time, 1980, to be “the most ambitious and costly series yet mounted […]
NKF Members 100 Day Epic Fail
The prominent Ned Kelly Forum member and Kelly sympathiser who decided in June to attack the Death of the Legend Blog Post and Comments about the killing of Constable Lonigan must be cursing himself for rushing away and shooting his mouth off on his Facebook Page. I bet he wishes he had never committed to […]
Ned Kellys Skull : Science rebuts Kelly “Experts”
The Baxter Skull and Tooth Its been more than a month since the annual Ned Kelly Weekend at Beechworth. On the Kelly websites and Facebook pages only a scattering of comments can be found, all declaring it a great success, but I had hoped by now to have read someone’s report of the events that […]
Ned Kelly’s Devotion To His Mother: Another Myth
Ned Kelly, according to the Mythology, was devoted to his family and particularly his mother. He is reported to have said of his father “Red” Kelly that, “a finer man never put his feet in two shoes” – a commendably loyal, but wildly inaccurate sentiment from a son who lost his father to alcoholism at […]
The Origins of Modern Kelly Mythology
The moon landings are more recent than the Symposium that gave rise to the book “Ned Kelly Man and Myth” ! That’s how very long ago Ian Jones “New View of Ned Kelly” was first expounded – close to half a century ago – so it would be fair to say those views are not […]
Kelly Myths and cockroaches : Hard to Kill Off
“Ned Kelly : Man and Myth” is a fascinating book that was published in 1968. It contains the results of a symposium that was held over the Easter weekend of 1967 at Wangaratta. Presenters at the symposium included Professor Manning Clark, and a youthful Ian Jones. The lectures are presented along with interesting discussions that […]
And now, another “True” Story
The book that received the least votes in the IO Poll was another one claiming to tell a “ true story” called “The True Story of Ned Kelly’s Last Stand” by Paul Terry. I have just read it again, while I have been thinking and writing about Glenrowan. The excuse given for writing yet another “True Story” […]
The Kelly Cash Cow : a nice little earner.
The NKF Key Master and the producers of this bit of Kelly Exploitation are running a competition! It amuses me how on every news article, blog and Facebook page where devotees of Ned Kelly are able to make comments, whenever something happens that is what they would call “anti Kelly”, someone will always get a […]
“The True Story”
Its been announced that someone is planning to make a movie adaptation of “The True Story of the Kelly Gang” an award winning novel by Australian Peter Carey. I’ve yet to read the book, and might not ever because its an acknowledged work of fiction and I am sick of reading fiction about Ned Kelly. Predictably, […]