The Coo-ee Reciter


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

Recitation was a vital part of the curriculum in education in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. It not only enabled students to gain practice in addressing groups in public, but also provided models for the study of accent and elocution – vital skills in the days before public address systems were universally available. Accordingly, a number of “reciters,” or collections of texts suitable for recitation, were published in this period. The Coo-ee Reciter, published in 1904, was one of the most popular of these collections in Australia. In the words of the anthologist it contains a variety of "humorous, pathetic, dramatic and dialect recitations and readings" by Australian, British and American authors.

Inevitably, these collections featured many items that featured the events and attitudes of the period. While many of the pieces can make no claim to be great literature, they do have great value as windows into the experiences, expectations and aspirations of the people at the time.
- Summary by Algy Pug (3 hr 8 min)

Chapters

I Killed a Man at Graspan by Montague Grover 3:15 Read by Algy Pug
Kitty O'Toole by W.L.Lumley 1:31 Read by Algy Pug
The Ballad of the Drover by Henry Lawson 3:31 Read by Algy Pug
The Rescue by Edward Dyson 5:52 Read by Algy Pug
Saltbush Bill by A.B. Paterson 5:05 Read by Algy Pug
Drought and Doctrine by J. Brunton Stephens 6:19 Read by Algy Pug
The Martyr by Victor J. Daley 3:44 Read by Algy Pug
The Carrying of the Baby by Ethel Turner 10:21 Read by Algy Pug
The Old Gum by Florence Bullivant 3:20 Read by Algy Pug
Murphy shall not Sing To-night by Montague Grover 3:22 Read by Algy Pug
Christmas Bells by John B. O'Hara 3:17 Read by Algy Pug
Wool is Up by Garnet Walch 2:47 Read by Algy Pug
Wool is Down by Garnet Walch 3:49 Read by Algy Pug
The Highland Brigade Buries its Dead by Lieut -Col W T Reay 8:08 Read by Algy Pug
Australia's Call to Arms by John B. O'Hara 2:14 Read by Algy Pug
Good News by Garnet Walch 3:25 Read by Algy Pug
Free Trade v Protection by Garnet Walch 8:35 Read by Algy Pug
The Lion's Cubs by Garnet Walch 3:25 Read by Algy Pug
The Little Duchess by Ethel Turner 15:59 Read by Algy Pug
Australia's Springtime by W.L.Lumley 3:55 Read by Algy Pug
The Man that saved the Match by David McKee Wright 6:26 Read by Algy Pug
Ode for Commonwealth Day, 1st January, 1901 by George Essex Evans 3:37 Read by Algy Pug
A Desperate Assault by Donald MacDonald 6:38 Read by Algy Pug
The Game of Life by John Godfrey Saxe 3:28 Read by John Burlinson
Prejudice by Charlotte Perkins Stetson 2:32 Read by John Burlinson
The Poor and the Rich by James Russell Lowell 3:40 Read by John Burlinson
The Engineer's Story from the Denver Post 3:42 Read by John Burlinson
Seeing's not Believing by Thomas Haynes Bayley 5:30 Read by Newgatenovelist
Caudle has been made a Mason by Douglas Jerrold 2:45 Read by Newgatenovelist
Mrs Caudle's Lecture by Douglas Jerrold 3:03 Read by Newgatenovelist
Jim Bludso by Colonel John Hay 3:32 Read by John Burlinson
How Uncle Mose Counted the Eggs by anonymous 7:07 Read by John Burlinson
The Negro Baby's Funeral by Will Carleton 5:38 Read by John Burlinson
Der Shpider und der Fly by Charles Follen Adams 3:14 Read by John Burlinson
Lariat Bill by G W H 3:39 Read by John Burlinson
The Elf Child; or, Little Orphant Annie by James Whitcomb Riley 3:11 Read by John Burlinson
Alonzo the Brave and the Fair Imogene by Matthew Gregory Lewis 6:12 Read by Newgatenovelist
An All-around Intellectual Man by Thomas Masson 1:38 Read by John Burlinson
Her Ideal by Kate Masterson 2:14 Read by John Burlinson
The Happy Farmer by Mortimer Crane Brown 2:41 Read by John Burlinson
The Son of a Soldier by Owen Oliver 2:13 Read by Algy Pug
The Mile by David McKee Wright 3:57 Read by Algy Pug