Siddon Rock (29 page)

 

It is not possible to list all those who contributed to this book in so many different ways. You know who you are, and I extend my heartfelt thanks. I have found that those with the knowledge are always generous with it, and I accepted all offerings gratefully. There are some who went way beyond the line of duty or friendship, when asked, and the following thankyous are in no specific order, for everything added to the whole in different ways:

Nigel Krauth, for his endless patience and generosity of knowledge; Dr Tess Meyer (Germany) and Christine Balint for help with the German and Hungarian languages; Roland Breckwold for his advice on dingo behaviour; Marianne Horak of the CSIRO, who taught me about naming insects and who named the butterfly; the several professional readers who made wise suggestions, particularly Judith Lukin-Amundsen and Geoff Hancock (Canada); and to Beverley Edwards who gave me open access to her home whenever I needed a quiet space to work.

I received financial support from artsACT that allowed me to spend time at Varuna, where much of the first draft was laid down. There are moments in the stories that evolved from the old children's encyclopaedia I found in the cottage where Eleanor Dark used to work. The professionalism of Lyn Tranter of Australian Literary Management and Meredith Curnow and Elizabeth Cowell at Random House brought this book to fruition.

‘Hush Little Baby' – traditional lullaby

Sonnet CXXIV – William Shakespeare

‘Dance with a Dolly (with a Hole in Her Stockin')' – words and music by Terry Shand, Jimmy Eaton and Mickey Leader (copyright © 1940, 1944 Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., Inc., New York; copyright renewed; international copyright secured; all rights reserved; used by permission)

Genesis 3:19, King James Bible

‘Comin' thru the Rye' – traditional Scottish song, based on a poem by Robert Burns

‘Talking in Their Sleep', Edith M. Thomas, 1908

‘
Once when it was not, beyond seven times seven countries
…' – traditional opening words of Celtic storytellers, used to open a path to the Otherworld for the listener

‘Rock of Ages' – Augustus M. Toplady, 1776

Sirach 13:15-17, King James Bible

Deuteronomy 33:17, New Standard Revised Version

‘Chickery Chick' – words by Sylvia Dee, music by Sidney Lippman, 1945 (reproduced with permission of Albert Music)

‘We Plough the Fields', Matthias Claudius, 1782

‘Bringing in the Sheaves', Knowles Shaw, 1874

Revelations 14:11, King James Bible

‘I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In' – traditional carol

The town of Siddon Rock is a wholly fictional creation, and not to be confused or conflated with any town in existence. I was influenced strongly by three other fictions that wrote about place: Kim Scott's
Benang
(Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1999), which maps the Aboriginal story in the southwest of Australia; Robert Kroetsch's
What the Crow Said
(Edmonton, University of Alberta Press, 1988), the story of the fictitious town of Big Indian, Canada; and Jack Hodgins's
The Invention of the World
(Toronto, Macmillan, 1977), set on Vancouver Island, Canada.

Similarly, all characters in this novel are fictional and not representative of any person either living or dead.

The name Yad Yaddin for the rock comes from my own family history, which has it that it means ‘stay here'. Whether this is factually so, or not, for this piece of fiction this is what it means.