Edward “Ned” Kelly was the leader of Australia's most well known gang of bushrangers. He was hung for his crimes in Melbourne in November 1880, when he was just 25 years old. Earlier that year he was wounded and captured by police in a shoot-out at Glenrowan in northern Victoria.

Today Glenrowan is by-passed by the Hume Highway which links the cities of Sydney and Melbourne. The Glenrowan “golden arches” on either side of the highway signal the proximity of the town detour. If you take the detour and drive down Gladstone Street, Glenrowan's main thoroughfare, you will be soon “bailed up” hy an armed, 6 metre high, fibreglass Ned Kelly. Big Ned was built in Sydney at a cost of $12 500 in 1990. Most of the shops along Gladstone Street cater to the tourist market and souvenirs of Ned Kelly abound. The travel writer Bill Bryson, in his book “Down Under” (Random House, Australia, 2000), described it as “ a short strip of enterprises dedicated to extracting a little cash from the Kelly legend”. A souvenir is usually something kept to remind one of a place or a person. The irony of selling souvenirs of Ned Kelly would not be lost on the bushranger, remembering too that in Australia the word “souvenir” can be used euphemistically as a verb to mean “steal”.

Listen to Peter Hicks, read the lyrics to the song and experience a musical visit to Glenrowan. You never know, you might come away with a souvenir.