“I meet all sorts of people from Field Marshals to buffalo shooters and I would like to try getting interviews with them and working in as much information as possible about their lives.”

Expressing his fascination with lives and experiences drawn from every level of society · Letter to Major W. T. Conder, 17 November 1934

• Art
• Memory
• Truth

“I hope to rescue these rough bush ballads from oblivion.”

Defining his mission to preserve Australia's disappearing folk tradition · Introduction to Old Bush Songs, 1905

• Memory
• Music
• Poetry

“Banjo was the name of a horse I once rode. I was at a loss for a signature for my first contribution, not wishing to put my own name, and Banjo being in my mind at the time, I just slapped that down.”

Giving his characteristically unceremonious account of how his famous pen-name arose · Interview with Bernard Espinasse, Table Talk, 31 January 1896

• Fame
• Memory