A Northern Territory man -
Owen Cummins -
who claimed he was the horseman who inspired "
Banjo" Paterson's famous poem,
The Man from Snowy River, is included in a book on the subject by
W.F."Bill" Refshauge ,
above , to be launched at the
National Library of Australia on February 27.
Darwin resident ,
Creed Lovegrove , knew Cummins and recently told
Little Darwin he was
a tall and straight man, a wonderful horseman . He used to drink with Cummins who lived in the
old Afghan shed at Wave Hill . With some rum under the belt , Cummins would say: "
I was born with a hoss and I’ll die with a hoss .”
When Vestey drovers went south in the off season , Cummins looked after their horses. Lovegrove's fellow workmate ,Ted Evans, of the Aboriginal Welfare Department , researched the claim that Cummins had been the inspiration for The Man from Snowy River, and said it was not so.
