He seemed always on the watch for her coming, and she was never more than a few yards from the house before the big dog was silently brushing the grass by her side. Norah never went anywhere without him Tait saw to that. He was, like most of the breed, ready to be friends with any one but his little mistress was dearest of all, and he worshipped her with abject devotion. Tait was a beauty-a rough-haired collie, with a splendid head, and big, faithful brown eyes, that spoke more eloquently than many persons’ tongues. There was room in Norah’s heart for them all.
But after Bobs came a long procession, beginning with Tait, the collie, and ending with the last brood of fluffy Orpington chicks, or perhaps the newest thing in disabled birds, picked up, fluttering and helpless, in the yard or orchard. Bobs, of course, came first-no other animal could possibly approach him in favour. These were a numerous and varied band, and required no small amount of attention. I think that adults shouldn't be so shocked that those attitudes did once exist, and I also think that children who read the books should have an understanding of how life used to be different and why it's not like that anymore.But I digress! This book is wonderful and I look forward to scrounging around a few more secondhand bookstores to get my paws on the rest! Read moreĪfter her father, Norah’s chief companions were her pets. Just to put my two cents in, I see no reason to politically correct any novels, including the Billabong series and also Enid Blyton books, which I believe have been 'edited'.
That was the way life was in the 1900s and is clearly very different to life in 2010s. I think it is important to realise, while we should in no way encourage this behaviour, we also shouldn't try to cover up that part of history. I can see why my grandmother loved this as a child and I only wish I, too, had discovered them at a younger age (being now about 10 years above the target age).Many who read these books today may be shocked by some of the terms and behaviour used by even the children toward the Aboriginal stable boy. How could I not? It's Australia, it's the bush, it's history (though fiction I believe this portrays an accurate picture of rural Australia at the time), it's a plucky little heroine who you can't help but love and a whole other cast of characters. I bought it immediately, and sat down to see what the fuss was about.Of course, I loved it. For all I knew she was making it all up because I had never heard or seen of it anywhere.until I stumbled across the first book A Little Bush Maid in a secondhand bookstore. I'd never heard of Mary Grant Bruce or the Billabong series until one day my grandmother started talking about the books she read as a child, some 70 years ago now.
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