 TWO SONGS OF HARRY PECKMAN, |
 Harry Peckman The Blue Mountains Poet |
When I arrived at the Blue Mountains City Library in 1982 to establish a local history collection I found, tucked away in a cupboard, a battered manila folder containing copies of an assortment of poems, some typed, some handwritten and, interestingly, photocopies of a couple of songs printed as broadsides. They were the work of an old Katoomba identity who, in his lifetime, had been given the popular title of 'The Blue Mountains Poet'. Though many were not very good, sentimental and conventional, there were some that caught my imagination and others that offered insights into the region's history that could be important irrespective of literary quality. As time went on I gathered more information about him and the texts of further poems and songs.
By 1982 Harry Peckman had been dead for nearly 50 years. Born at Kurrajong in 1846, he lived the whole of his life in the Blue Mountains region and died in Katoomba in 1934. As a young man, in the days before the western railway line was built, he drove wagons and coaches on the road between Penrith and Hartley. Then, when the Mountains began developing its reputation as a tourist destination, he began taking visitors to the local scenic attractions. |
| In the early 1880s he and his brother, John, established livery stables in Parke Street, Katoomba, at the back of the Carrington Hotel. Their business flourished. Both men were expert horsemen and knew the Blue Mountains intimately and their patrons soon included a growing number of holidaying dignitaries and their families. In 1887 Lord and Lady Carrington were taken over the newly opened Six-Foot Track to Jenolan Caves1 while, in 1893 the Duchess of Buckingham and Chandos was entertained with a billy tea and damper picnic, accompanied by song and recitation, at Govetts Leap2. |
 Harry Peckman in Katoomba |
 entertaining visitors at Echo Point |
To the many visitors who engaged him Harry became known as 'the poetical whip' who would take them to places off the beaten track and entertain them en route with selections from his repertoire of mostly self-penned songs and recitations. In his verses, performed in the midst of a grand, open landscape, visitors were given a glimpse into the heart of the Mountains that no other driver could offer. While no one could claim that Peckman was a great poet, it is clear that his skills as a performer made up for any deficiencies in craft. "No free verse for this poet", observed cartoonist and journalist Hal Eyre in 1922, "but rhymes tuned to the beat of his horses' hoofs."3 |
His subjects ranged over the Blue Mountains itself and included dramatic and patriotic war ballads and heart-felt 'farewells' to friends who had died. There were also tributes to popular heroes like the sculler Edward Trickett, the first Australian to win a world sporting title, and the popular aviatrix Amy Johnson who visited Katoomba in June 1930.
 The home of Harry's brother, John Peckman, in Albion St, Katoomba. |
Like many self-educated men, Peckman was clearly a wide reader and his verses are dotted with various literary and Biblical allusions. He was also acquainted with a number of Sydney literary figures who sought him out when they visited Katoomba, among them the poets Roderick Quinn and Henry Lawson.
Though he performed for the gentry his audience was in the main a popular one and his work, when published, appeared almost exclusively on privately printed broadsides and later, when a newspaper became established in Katoomba, in the local press. |
It was the discovery of one particular broadside that convinced me that Harry Peckman had some importance beyond his place of residence.
