Page 16 - eMuse Vol.9 No.07_Neat

More On Mythical Monsters

The weird and amazing world of mythical monsters has been
discussed here in the past. At the risk of being repetitive, hopefully
this will bring some additional information to mind to add the what
we already know.
“As far back as I can remember, the yarn of the Hairy Man was
told in the Blue Mountain district of New South Wales. It scared
children coming home by bush tracks from school and boys out
late after lost cows; and even grown bushmen, when going along a
lonely track after sunset, would hold their backs hollow and whistle
a tune when they suddenly heard a thud, thud of a kangaroo leap- Yaroma by R. H. Mathews 1907
ing off through the scrub.”
In an article on the traditions of the Burragorang people from
Henry Lawson, The Hairy Man, 1903 another region in the Blue Mountains in “The Bathurst Free Press
The Clarence and Richmond Examiner (Grafton NSW) and Mining Journal” on 19 June 1902, the “Yahoo” and the “Rock
Tuesday 29 December 1903.
Dog” are mentioned.
Over the years the hairy man of the Australian bush has had Not all past observations are trustworthy. This one states the
some high profile believers as seen by this quote by Henry Law- “Yahoo” is the Yowie we know today. The “Yahoo” first appeared
son. Indigenous people all over the country had a name for these in Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels in 1726. It is a European crit-
mythical fellows in each of their 250+ languages. For instance, in ter. Although Swift’s “Yahoo” has similarities to the Yowie they are
Queensland they are called: Joogabinna and Quinkin. In NSW: not the same beast. Yowies predate Swift’s imaginative satire by
Doolaga, Ghindaring, Gulaga, Jimbra, Jurrawarra, Myngawin, Noo- thousands of years.
coonah, Pangkarlangu, Puttikan, Thoolagal, Tjangara, Wawee, and Yet stories and belief in Yahoos still exist: One report says: “ . . .
Yaroma . this strange creature is to be seen at the Devil’s Hole, a point about
Whether these creatures are one species or variations of a spe- two miles from Katoomba. . . It is large and strong . . .a gentleman
cies is unclear. Depending on who makes the claim, Yowies are two to was out walking amongst the mountains and had been out on the
three metres high. They are all hairy. In contradiction to that, there is narrow neck, in the neighbourhood of the Devil’s Hole.
a lesser known short Yowie type who is about 1 metre in height.
He was belated and the shades of evening had set in before
These are know by a variety of names as well. In Queensland’s he left the secluded spot. After he reached home he informed his
Gayndah district, they are called Binjour Bears or Jongari. At Cher- friends that the Yahoo had followed him all the way home. He had
bourg they are called Junjurrie. Clearly, as with the larger Yowie, not seen it, but he could hear it quite distinctly following behind him
they are also known by a variety of names. The full extent of their and frequently heard the cry ‘Yahoo! Yahoo!’”
range is unknown. Reports have been made between Charters An anecdote from the Burragorang Elder.
Towers and northern NSW.
“A story is told … that on one occasion an Aboriginal caught a
The Fortean website refers to a large hairy man in the Blue Yahoo woman and took her to wife. Children were born and reared,
Mountains, NSW . It claims the district “possess stories of the fear- but after a time the tribe quarrelled over the strangers and killed
some ‘Yaroma’, a large, powerful creature with human character- both mother and children.”
istics and hair covering its body. ‘If a man be pursued by a Yaroma Another story goes that a “seven foot tall female creature, clad
his only means of escape is to jump into a waterhole and swim in a marsupial hide garment” abducted seven-year-old Adam Firth
about, because these creatures cannot wet their feet. They have from a creek bank near his family’s farmhouse.
long teeth which they sharpen on rocks in the high ranges.’
“Adam later claimed that he was carried off by the creature and
“In the Aboriginal community which occupied the Catalina Park kept in a large rock overhang where the hairy woman tempted him
(sometimes referred to as Frog Hollow and now officially known as with a kangaroo leg she’d cooked over a smouldering fire. While
Frank Walford Park) area of Katoomba until the 1950s, there circu- held captive, he could hear other creatures in the bush nearby.
lated stories passed down through generations of the ‘Gubri Man’,
a giant man-like monster with ‘burning red eyes that peer from an “He escaped after the hairy woman bolted into the bush upon hear-
oversized head’, and the ‘Hoori Woman’, his female companion who ing the approaching cries of his family and the barking of their dogs.
‘possesses a fearful voice’. Both were said to occupy a rock shelter One gets an impression that Yowie sightings are rather rare. It
somewhere in the cliffs above Frog Hollow.” may be surprising to learn there are over 10,000 on record across
Austarlia .
The Blue Mountains has long been home to fearsome creatures
that have both terrified and captured the imaginations of genera- Here are some more facts that may raise an eyebrow or two:
tions of original inhabitants and colonial settlers alike. • The name ‘yowie’ is believed to be an adaptation of Aboriginal

16 eMuse July 2020