Paddy Dawson

Paddy Dawson (1919-2011) & Edie Dawson (1925-2018) (the Dawson family), Franklin, Tasmania provided details of some of the Australian tunes in this archive.

Portrait 1. [1], "A circular saw took off all Paddy's fingers of the right hand except about one & a half, yet he can still keep pace with Edie when they rattle off some of their fast tunes."

Portrait 2 [2], The Dawsons: "Ivy, Paddy, Edie and George, plus "Louie" the dog, of Franklin, Tasmania. Paddy, Edie and George are all versatile players on the button accordion, and have a big repertoire of their parents' old tunes."

The National Library of Australia holds aural recordings of interviews conducted with Paddy Dawson. He was interviewed by

• Andy Mortimer in 1980, [3], 7 audiocassettes (approximately 384 min.)

• John Meredith in November 1985, [4], Edie and Paddy occasionally explain the source and context of their tune. Edie speaks of playing music and explains that tunes were mostly learned from their father. Edie speaks briefly of learning to play accordion as a child and recites the words to Put my little whips and toys away.

• John Meredith in March 1986, [5], Edie and Paddy speak about the various tunes during recording. Edie speaks briefly of learning to dance and her family and music. Edie speaks of father's story of meeting Dan Kelly, and her father's background. Recording is Meredith's 2nd visit to record the Dawsons.

• John Meredith in November 1986, [6], Edie and Paddy Dawson talk, play accordion and sing. Conversation: father meeting Dan Kelly.

• Rob Willis in January 2003, [7], Paddy and Edie Dawson recall their family background; family musical influences; the importance of music in the family; singing and playing the melodeon; family life in the early 20th century; traditional songs, tunes and dances.

• Rob Willis in 2004, [8], Dance session with Paddy Dawson and Edie Dawson. Related video recording with Paddy Dawson and Eddie Dawson: located at; National Library of Australia Oral History collection at ORAL TRC 6936/63 and ORAL TRC 6936/94.

• Rob Willis in 2004, [9], Related video recording with Paddy Dawson and Eddie Dawson: located at; National Library of Australia Oral History collection at ORAL TRC 6936/74 and ORAL TRC 6936/94.

• Rob Willis in April 2008, [10], Dance session with Paddy Dawson and Edie Dawson. Related video recording with Paddy Dawson and Eddie Dawson: located at; National Library of Australia Oral History collection at ORAL TRC 6936/63 and ORAL TRC 6936/74.

The Dawsons were also interviewed and several hundred tunes were collected by Julie Edwards, & Stuart Graham.

See also:

• 'Tasmanian Dance Tunes', NFF 2010, by Stuart Graham & Julie Edwards
• "Apple Shed Tune Book", 2nd edn, Steve & Marjorie Gadd (eds), March 2004

Related Tunes

You can search for tunes referring to Paddy Dawson.