THE COO-EE RECITER
BY
AUSTRALIAN, BRITISH, AND
AMERICAN AUTHORS
HUMOROUS, PATHETIC, DRAMATIC, DIALECT, RECITATIONS & READINGS
Read by John Burlinson, Newgate Novelist and Algy Pug.
Recitation was a vital part of the curriculum in education in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. It not only enabled students to gain practice in addressing groups in public, but also provided models for the study of accent and elocution – vital skills in the days before public address systems were universally available. Accordingly, a number of “reciters,” or collections of texts suitable for recitation, were published in this period. The Coo-ee Reciter, published in 1904 was one of the most popular of these collections in Australia.
Inevitably, these collections featured many pieces that featured the events and attitudes of the period.
While many of the pieces can make no claim to be great literature, they do have significant value as windows into the experiences, expectations and aspirations of the people at the time.
This recording was originally published by Librivox on 20th November 2017.
