The Wild Goose

"The Wild Goose: A Collection of Ocean Waifs" was a hand-written newspaper created in late 1867 by Fenian prisoners aboard the "Hougoumont", the last ship to transport convicts to Australia.

Seven editions of the newspaper were produced, each edition carefully laid out and decorated by hand. Only one copy of each edition was made, which was then read to the convicts aloud. The aim was to provide entertainment and encouragement aboard the ship during its long and arduous voyage to Fremantle. The title refers to the Wild Geese: the Irish soldiers who had left to serve in continental European armies since the 16th century.

The major contributors were John Flood, John Boyle O'Reilly and John Casey. The documents provide a fascinating insight into life aboard ship. The documents contain songs, stories, articles, advice, poems, and even comedy. In addition to the diaries of Denis Cashman and the journals of John Casey and Thomas McCarthy Fennell, the journey of the "Hougoumont" was well recorded.

One passage describes Australia and its history with more than a little sarcasm;

John Boyle O'Reilly penned several poems for the paper, including "The Flying Dutchman" and "".

All seven editions survive, and were passed by John Flood's granddaughter to the Mitchell Library in 1967. The papers are bound into one book and are now part of the State Library of New South Wales collection.

On 9 September 2005, a memorial was unveiled at Rockingham beach to commemorate the Catalpa rescue. The memorial is a large statue of six Wild Geese.

ee also

*Flight of the Wild Geese

References

*Laubenstein, William J. "The emerald whaler" London : Deutsch, 1961.
*Stevens, Peter F. - The Voyage of the Catalpa (ISBN 1-84212-651-2)
* [http://www.geocities.com/fenian1876/WildGoose.html Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaelogical Society, 1969, volume LXXIV]