With a love
of Australian literature , especially early
poets and cartoonists , it was
natural that avid
collector and researcher , Gary
Davies , above ,
took an interest
in the
famous
Ern Malley
hoax.
At
his
home on Magnetic Island , Queensland , where he
runs a plant
nursery and a landscaping business , Davies
recently recalled dealings
with the main victim of the
hoax , the gifted poet and
publisher , Max Harris, and his close
friend , Professor Geoffrey Dutton.
Because
of his diverse
interests , Davies made contact
with Max Harris through the popular Mary Martin Bookshop chain , buying from
him not only books but some Egyptian
antiquities , sold years later
in
London through Sotheby’s.
On
a visit to the Adelaide
bookshop he bought from Harris
an autographed copy of THE
POEMS OF ERN MALLEY , with an introduction by Harris , issued
on the 25th anniversary of the 1944 hoax.
Harris
, a dapper figure , had come into
the shop
, carrying his screw top drinking
cane , and
took up a position
at the rear of
the premises . “ I did not
raise the Ern Malley
hoax with him ,” says
Gary. “ He had been embarrassed so much by it that he
probably did not
want to
discuss
the matter further .”
They had , instead, discussed
their mutual interest in Egyptian
antiquities . Gary now
regrets having not
bought multiple copies
of the book , the cover illustration, below , showing Harris with
his arm resting on the shoulder of Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko , to trade with
other collectors of Australian literature .
As mentioned
in an earlier
Little Darwin post , during
1944 Harris had published Geoffrey
Dutton’s first book
of poems - Night Flight and
Sunrise ( a copy in the James Cook University Library rare
books collection , Townsville ) – with a jacket by then
little known painter , Sidney
Nolan .
In praising Dutton’s
work , Harris compared
it with the poetry
of Ern Malley , lauded as
a major find in the special autumn edition of the literary magazine , Angry Penguins, which also included
a
cover by Nolan
, inspired by a Malley poem. Dutton and Nolan had been shown the Ern Malley typescript before it was published and both had been impressed by the poetry . Harris and John Reed, a moneyed solicitor, were joint editors of the publication. Reed and his wife, Sunday, supported new art and writing at their bohemian farm , Heidi, near Melbourne .
Soon
after, it was revealed that Harris had been tricked
by Sydney poets James McAuley and Harold
Stewart , who disliked him and modern poetry and had invented
the sad story of Ern Malley , a
lonely individual , who penned
poetry. After his “ death ” Malley’s
“sister ” sent Harris
some of her brother’s work and
asked if it was any good.
They consisted of
concocted poems made
by taking lines
at random from
Shakespeare , a book of literary
quotations and even
a report on
the control of
mosquitoes .
Harris was
completely taken in by what became
known as the
greatest literary hoax
of the 20th century , the subject of much global media attention.
As if not humiliated
enough , he was charged with publishing obscenity
in the Ern Malley
poems . In the court
case a detective admitted
he did not know the meaning
of some of the claimed obscene
words and Dutton , a flight instructor , attended the hearing in uniform . Harris was fined five pounds ($10) , in default six weeks' imprisonment , and ordered to pay costs.
Dutton, a republican , would have been bemused
by the fact that his own poems had been compared with those of a
non existant person. He maintained
close contact with Harris over the years and
was involved in
a number of
ventures with him. For many years , Harris was a columnist for The Australian newspaper and between them the two did much to promote literature and publishing in the nation .
In
1978 there was a fabulous
auction of
the contents of
Old Anlaby , the
elegant Kapunda home ,
built along the lines of a manor house, of
the prominent South
Australian Dutton family , founded
in 1838 , which Geoffrey Dutton was reluctantly forced
to sell.
A licenced
secondhand dealer at the time of the sale , Gary
Davies , his wife , Zanita , with baby
son , attended. Gary took
along with him
a copy of
Geoffrey Dutton’s FINDINGS AND
KEEPINGS Selected Poems
1939-1969 , Australian Letters ,
Adelaide , 1970, number 59
in a limited
edition of 1000 , 950 signed by
the author , dedicated to Harris
and his wife , Von. Spotting
Dutton , distinguished
looking , hair brushed back ,
moving about prior
to the sale ,
Gary got him
to sign the
title page : Gary Davies
Geoffrey Dutton ... Old Anlaby ... 13 Feb 78.
[The collection, which included
works from Night Flight and Sunrise contained one with the
title , Anlaby, in
which Dutton reflected on
his childhood ; there is
mention of the plane crash he survived
in WW11 ; Abandoned Airstrip
Northern Territory paints
a vivid picture
of men , the peculiarities of various aircraft , life and
death, dingoes , drunks ;
the poet Kenneth
Slessor, about whom Dutton
wrote a biography , is mentioned ; the inland sea , the Centre
and an Australian
childhood are all grist for the
mill .]
Walking about the rundown estate, with
its large lawn
and spectacular playing
fountain in front of the house ,
Gary struck up a conversation with a
Barossa type who had
worked for Dutton.
Addressing Gary as
“Chappie”, the engaging
fellow said that Dutton
never ever had
any money on his person .
When they drove into town and the car needed petrol , Dutton would ask
him to pay
for the fuel
and said he would recompense him
later.
While
they were talking ,
the top suddenly fell off the
fountain, water gushed
out of the rusty feed pipe
. It was an event
which could be seen
as symbolic , marking
the collapse , the end
of the once mighty
Dutton Dynasty.
The energetic Duttons found fame and fortune in the South Australian colony . In 1844 they overlanded a large flock of sheep from Gouburn , NSW , to Anlaby , of 120 acres , north of Adelaide. In time it expanded to 70,000 acres and became the oldest Merino and Clydesdale stud in South Australia ; other pastoral
properties were bought in SA and NSW.
A member of the Dutton clan, Francis Stacker Dutton , born in Germany in 1818, where his father was a British Vice Consul , eventually came to Australia and linked up with his kith at Anlaby . A dynamic person , he made a fortune when he and Captain Charles Bagot found copper , resulting in the first copper mine in Australia , at Kapunda . A man of literary ability , Francis Dutton wrote South Australia and its Mines . When the Legislative Council was set up in 1851, known locally as Squire Dutton , he stood for election and strongly campaigned against any state aid for religion.
A member of the Dutton clan, Francis Stacker Dutton , born in Germany in 1818, where his father was a British Vice Consul , eventually came to Australia and linked up with his kith at Anlaby . A dynamic person , he made a fortune when he and Captain Charles Bagot found copper , resulting in the first copper mine in Australia , at Kapunda . A man of literary ability , Francis Dutton wrote South Australia and its Mines . When the Legislative Council was set up in 1851, known locally as Squire Dutton , he stood for election and strongly campaigned against any state aid for religion.
Twice elected Premier, in 1856 he was appointed SA Agent-General in London . In 1908 Harry Dutton
and Murray Aunger drove
from Adelaide , first stopping
at Anlaby, to Port Darwin , a distance
of 2064 miles in a 25hp, four
cylinder Talbot ; an attempt two months
earlier by them to cross the continent came to a halt due to wet season rain.
In its
heyday Anlaby , with
14 gardeners , hosted royalty
and many other
prominent people, including Lady Spencer , Princess Diana’s
paternal grandmother . Over the years
the empire crumbled , properties were sold
off and Anlaby was
reduced to a small holding , Geoffrey
Dutton resorting to pig
farming to try and
make ends meet.--- (By Peter Simon)
