Bushmen of the Bulletin: Re-examining Lawson's 'Bush Credibility' in Graeme Davison's 'Sydney and the Bush'

Graeme Davison turned Russel Ward's argument in The Australian Legend on its head: the rural ethos and mythology which Ward argued had been transmitted from the bush to the city was instead a projection of city intellectuals. Davison's argument in 'Sydney and the Bush' rests primarily on the claim that the Bulletin poets who promoted the bush myth lacked bush credibility. This claim is tested against evidence that Lawson and others had a lifelong experience of bush life-as campers. I argue that camping provided an experiential foundation for the collectivist and egalitarian values identified by both Ward and Davison as distinguishing ideas of national identity in the 1890s.