Why is Teddy's Lookout (at Lorne) so called?
In enquiring locally (after a comment on a blog posting), I was told that someone called Teddy used to use the place as a lookout. In fact, this is consistent with one of the explanations given in Doug Stirling's book, "Lorne, Living History". The author states that it is said that one of the early cattlemen who used the lookout to spot stray cattle was called Teddy. However, he says that no-one really knows how the lookout got its name, and another possibility is that it was named after Edward, the then Prince of Wales, because the reserve surrounding it was (and still is) named Queen's Park in honour of his mother, Queen Victoria.
He also puts forward another story: there was a man who owned a donkey called Teddy that roamed around the area. The donkey often came too close to the edge of the steep hill overlooking St George's River. Someone asked the owner if he was worried that the animal might fall over the edge, but he replied, "Well, that would be Teddy's look-out, wouldn't it?"
He also puts forward another story: there was a man who owned a donkey called Teddy that roamed around the area. The donkey often came too close to the edge of the steep hill overlooking St George's River. Someone asked the owner if he was worried that the animal might fall over the edge, but he replied, "Well, that would be Teddy's look-out, wouldn't it?"
(Painting is a view of St George's River from the air, from a point close to Teddy's Lookout)
I like the donkey story.
ReplyDeleteAs with so many bits of history, we don't know the real story.
Another historical question that probably can't be answered definitively is whether Rudyard Kipling ever visited Lorne. Certainly he wrote a poem about the Erskine Falls but Kennedy & Pinney "Kipling Downunder" suggest that Kipling wrote the poem without seeing the Falls.
Doug Stirling apparently shares the doubt about Kipling. He merely states that it is "claimed" Rudyard Kipling visited Lorne in the early part of the 20th century, and refers to the poem ("The Flowers").
ReplyDelete