Published by auntyuta
Auntie, Sister. Grandmother, Great-Grandmother,
Mother and Wife of German Descent
I've lived in Australia since 1959 together with my husband Peter. We have four children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. I started blogging because I wanted to publish some of my childhood memories. I am blogging now also some of my other memories. I like to publish some photos too as well as a little bit of a diary from the present time. Occasionally I publish a story with a bit of fiction in it. Peter, my husband, is publishing some of his stories under berlioz1935.wordpress.com
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AuntyUta 
What’s the story behind the dog on the tuckerbox?
Hi Cath, thanks for the question. I googled this:
“One version of the dog’s role in pioneering times is that the dog was guarding its master’s tuckerbox and other possessions while he sought help from being bogged at a river crossing. The master, a bullocky or driver of a bullock team, never returns but the dog continues to guard the tuckerbox until its death.
Tucker is an Australian word for food, so the foodbox the dog was guarding symbolised the sustenance (which needed protecting) of the region’s pioneers.”
Yes, what’s story behind the famous dog? You got me curious my friend. Looks like another fun trip. Take care.
Hi, IT, yes we always love to stop at this place when we travel along the Hume Highway. Here’s one version of this famous dog story which I googled:
“One version of the dog’s role in pioneering times is that the dog was guarding its master’s tuckerbox and other possessions while he sought help from being bogged at a river crossing. The master, a bullocky or driver of a bullock team, never returns but the dog continues to guard the tuckerbox until its death.
Tucker is an Australian word for food, so the foodbox the dog was guarding symbolised the sustenance (which needed protecting) of the region’s pioneers.”
Wonderful photo of the monument! Thanks for the explanation of tucker as in tucker bag. Incidentally, what is a swagman?
A swagman: tramp, hobo, home-less person in the outback
A swag: Rolled up bedding etc. carried by a swagman.
Matilda: The old term for a swagman’s bedroll, swag, pack, or sack which contained essentials (sometime complete belongings) when traveling in the bush by foot.
Hi Robert! I googled ‘swagman’ and found the above explanations in the AUSTRALIAN DICTIONARY.
Occasionally you can still see a swagman when you travel through the outback. We noticed one on our travels. He looked exactly like a swagman the way you know from pictures how they look. (Sorry, we didn’t stop the car to take a picture.)
An interesting person, the Swagman. We were surprised to see one during our trip through the Outback. They were walking through the countryside, or the Outback, as they say here looking for work. Incidentally, I wrote a poem about such person as depicted in the famous painting by Frederick McCubbin in 1896.
http://berlioz1935.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/262/
Hi Berlioz, thanks for this very interesting link to your poem about the swagman.
I remember the poem and the picture by Frederick McCubbin.