Joe Cashmere
Joe Cashmere (1872-1959) provided details of some of the Australian tunes in this archive, collected by Alan Musgrove, Edgar Waters, Jeff Way, Greg O'Leary, John Meredith & others.
"Joe Cashmere was a man with a buoyant sense of humour ... Joe would bring out his old fiddle which had been in use for over sixty years ... One of Joe Cashmere's tricks was to make his old fiddle sound like bagpipes ... The fiddle sounded a bit scratchy after being humped about the bush for so many yearsw, but the old fellow always managed perfect dance time, and with many a little decoration and turn in the melody. He did not read music, but learned his tunes by listening attentively at bush dances or whenever he had an opportunity of heariing an outback town band. -- J Meredith, H Anderson, Folk Songs of Australia Vol 1, UNSW Press, 1967, p77.
There are photos and recordings of him in the National Library of Australia in Canberra, search the NLA catalog for "Joe Cashmere".
See also "Mister Joe - Songs, Tunes & Poems of Joe Cashmere", compiled by Alan Musgrove & Greg O'Leary, Pioneer performers series, Carrawobbity Press, 1995.
