Mitchell, Elyne - Jane Badger Books

About the author

Elyne Mitchell (1913–2002) was a writer whose books were all based firmly in the Australian landscapes she loved. She started writing during the Second World War, when there was an upsurge in literature based in Australia as the threat of invasion by the Japanese threw Australians back on realising the beauty and strength of their land. Elyne Mitchell, in an interview with Jeff Prentice, said: ‘we thought we might lose Australia…’

Elyne Mitchell herself lived in the Snowy Mountains area of the Australian Alps, which is where her most popular series, The Silver Brumby, is set. She started writing the Silver Brumby books to give her daugher, Indi, something to read: books were hard to get, and Elyne wanted her daughter to read books with a strong Australian content.

The early Silver Brumby books blend their descriptions of the wild Australian mountains effortlessly with the adventures of the Brumbies. Elyne Mitchell’s horses all talk, something which can often be an awkward literary device, but the horses do behave like horses, and their lives are portrayed vividly and realistically: Bel Bel’s bones bleach on the Ramshead. The Brumby series is a lengthy one. The fifth book, Silver Brumby Whirlwind, was described on its publication as the last of the series, as Thowra dies, but the following books are connected, with Thowra’s sons appearing. Moon Filly, whose action is chronologically after Silver Brumby Kingdom, does not involve the Silver Brumby horses, but is a connector, as Thowra meets the Moon Filly horses’ offspring in Silver Brumby Whirlwind. The later books, which move the Brumby history on after Thowra’s death, I found over-written and almost alien: instead of being effortless the writing seems uncomfortable and the horses peculiar. Not I know an opinion that many of my mailing list share, but I think her first four books, and Moon Filly, are her best.

The Silver Brumby has been made into both a cartoon series (1994), and a film (The Silver Brumby/The Silver Stallion, 1993), starring a young Russell Crowe. The film has had Elyne Mitchell and her daughter Indi written into it, so it’s rather a different thing to the book.

Links
There is a lot of information on Elyne Mitchell on the net.
There was an excellent Elyne Mitchell site, with details of covers and plots. Accessed 27 Feb 2014, but no longer extant
Wikipedia entry, accessed 27 Feb 2014
Elyne Mitchell, biography, artefacts, Matthew Higgins, accessed 27 Feb 2014 (no longer extant)
This article has a photograph of Elyne Mitchell, Austlit, accessed 27 Feb 2014
The film The Silver Stallion, accessed 27 Feb 2014
A guide to the cartoon series, accessed 27 Feb 2014 (no longer extant)
Sadly there no longer appears to be internet access to the interview Jeff Prentice did with Elyne Mitchell.

Series

The Brumby Series
The Silver Brumby
Silver Brumby’s Daughter
Silver Brumbies of the South
Silver Brumby Kingdom
Moon Filly (connector)
Silver Brumby Whirlwind
Son of the Whirlwind
Silver Brumby, Silver Dingo
Dancing Brumby
Brumbies of the Night
Dancing Brumby’s Rainbow
The Thousandth Brumby
Wild Echoes Ringing

Snowy River
The Colt from Snowy River
Snowy River Brumby
Brumby Racer

Bibliography

The Silver Brumby

Hutchinson, 1958, London, illus Ralph Thompson
Hutchinson, 1962 (photo cover)
Dragon Books, London, 1969 (Peter Archer cover, right)
Dragon Books, London, 1973 and 1982
Lions 1992, 1993, 1994
Griffin Paperbacks, Netley, South Australia,1994, 157pp
John Ferguson compilation, hb

Bel Bel gives birth to Thowra on a dark, stormy night. Thowra grows up with his friend Storm, under the leadership of the stallion Yarraman. The Brolga fights and kills Yarraman, and Thowra, Storm and a group of other colts leave the herd. The colt Arrow hates Thowra, and tries to fight him, furiously jealous once Thowra and Storm take some of the Brolga’s fillies. Arrow is defeated, and Thowra then takes the creamy mare Golden from man.

Silver Brumby’s Daughter

Hutchinson, 1960, illus Grace Huxtable
Dragon Books, London, 1968, 1973
Armada, 1988
Lions, 1992
Griffin Paperbacks, Netley, SA, 157 pp.
Reprinted as Snow Filly, E P Dutton & Co, NY, 1961
Compilation, John Ferguson, Sydney

Kunama is the Silver Brumby’s daughter, whose mother is the mare Golden. Kunama is enchanted by the black stallion Tambo, and goes after him,but this gets her into terrible trouble when she encounters men. Not only does she have to try and avoid the men, particularly after they have captured her and she has escaped, the stallion Spear wants her too. At last, she is captured again, but the boy who rides her understands her true nature, and in the end he lets her go.

Kingfisher Feather

Hutchinson, London, 1962, illus Grace Huxtable

Kingfisher Feather describes a year in the life of the Dane family on their cattle station near the Australian Alps. The two Dane children meet a lubra who foretells their future, and says they have challenges to face before they can find the Dragonfly Cave.

Silver Brumbies of the South

Hutchinson, 1965, illus Annette Macarthur-Onslow
Dragon Books, London, 1969,
, 1977, 1983, 156 pp.
Armada, 1988
Lions, 1992, 156 pp.

Thowra now has a grandson, Baringa, son of Kunama, another silver horse like his son Lightning. Baringa has inherited his sire’s wisdom: Lightning has not. Baringa wins the lovely filly Dawn, and eventually a beautiful filly owned by a mad stallion. Despite the threat to him that Lightning provides, after he gets himself and his herd into trouble during the snow, Baringa rescues him.

Silver Brumby Kingdom

Hutchinson, 1966, illus Annette Macarthur-Onslow
Dragon Books, London, 1968
Dragon Books 1973, 1977, 139 pp.
Armada, London, 1988
Lions, 1992, 139 pp.

Lightning steals some horses, and Baringa loses Dawn in a flooded river. While he is looking for her, he encounters the filly Yarolala, and the killer stallion Bolder. Baringa and Bolder fight until they collapse, leading Yarolala to think they are dead. Thowra hears this, and sets out to look for Baringa and Dawn.

Moon Filly

Hutchinson, London, 1968, illus Robert Hales
Children’s Book Club, 1968
Dragon, pb, 1975, 1976. Illus Robert Hales, Cover Gordon Crabb
Lions, 1992, 141 pp.

The filly Ilinga, loses her mother, and is brought up by Wurring’smother. Between the colt and the filly there grows up a great
loyalty, but then Iron Grey returns to avenge the theft of the brown filly’s mother.

Light Horse to Damascus

Hutchinson, London, 1971, illus Victor Ambrus
Sun Books, 1987

Told from the horse’s point of view, this is Karloo’s story, which starts in August 1914 as he and his master Dick are loaded onto a troopship, with the rest of the Australian Light Horse on their way to war. They land in Egypt, where victory is short lived.

Silver Brumby Whirlwind

Hutchinson, 1973, illus Victor Ambrus
Dragon Books, London, 1973, 1976, 1978, 126 pp.
Lions, 1992, 126 pp.

Thowra sees a filly dancing, and has to go after her. She is the daughter of Ilinga and Wurring, and his hunt for her leads Thowra to some very strange country indeed.

Son of the Whirlwind

Hutchinson, 1976, illus Victor Ambrus
Dragon Books, London, 1976, 1979
Lions, 1992

Wirramirra is the last born son of Thowra. He sets off with his dam Yuri, determined to find his fabled sire. Their search is beset by death and disaster. Other wild horses want Yuri for themselves. The two searchers are also chased by men and encounter fiire, lightning and blizzards as they make their way south.

The Colt at Taparoo

Hutchinson, 1976, illus Victor Ambrus
Dragon, pb, 1978. Cover Gordon Crabb, illus Victor Ambrus, 140 pp.

The fastest foal born that spring at Taparoo is Fire, Gay’s beautiful chestnut colt. When they rideout into the plains and mountains, they are often attacked by the bad tempered mare Queen and her colt, but can’t understand why. Then they remember the mystery surrounding Fire’s birth, and start to wonder just which horse was his father.

The Colt from Snowy River

Hutchinson, 1980, illus Victor Ambrus
Dragon, London, 1981 pb

“Buzz, the thoroughbred colt from the Snowy River homestead, is the favourite of Mary Anne Reid and her brother James. One wintry night the colt disappears. The Reid family spend days looking for him, camping out at night under the stars. They search for a year in all seasons, without success.The following Spring, Mary Anne and James set out again.

Snowy River Brumby

Hutchinson, 1981, illus Victor Ambrus
Red Fox, 1984, pb

The stallion Buzz and the filly Yarrawa have a son, Nooroo, even faster than his father. Then, whilst running away from a pursuer, Nooroo is terribly injured. Buzz heads for Mary Anne, sure she will look after his son. They then face the task of rescuing and nursing a brumby in the snow, with wild weather and other, warring stallions. Is it best to let Nooroo go back to the wild, or stay where he is safe?

Brumby Racer

Hutchinson 1981, illustrated by Victor Ambrus

Nooroo is the son of Buzz, who featured in Snowy River Brumby. His life is divided between racing, and living free as a brumby. Nooroo has conflict in his life: there’s the siren call of Babila,a red-bay Brumby mare, but then at the ranch lives the pony mare he loves, Honey.

Silver Brumby, Silver Dingo

Angus & Robertson, 1993

A ferocious storm parts the foal Tiarri from his mother, fortuitously dumping him next to an orphaned dingo pup. Then the dingo is threatened by an eagle, but is saved by Tiarri. After this, the three creatures: horse, dingo and eagle, form a bond, and fight to survive together as the two young creatures try and find their mothers.

Dancing Brumby

Angus & Robertson 1995

Choopa is a little blue roan foal with mis-shapen legs, who nevertheless dances like an angel. His dam, Dandaloo, fears for his safety, and leads him up into the mountains, away from harm. However, there is one man who will not give up his search: he once trained Lipizzaners at the Spanish Riding school, and is determined to search for Choopa.

Brumbies of the Night

Angus & Robertson, 1996

The blurb:
“Burra knows this foal will bring trouble. It cannot be Coolawyn’s foal – none of the herd has seen a snow-white foal with such strange red eyes before. Who is he really? Why is it now that the drumming hooves of galloping horses are heard in the deepest dark of night? In the beating storms of winter, a mare cries out in desperation… A stallion callls, searching…”

Dancing Brumby’s Rainbow

Angus & Robertson, 1998

Choopa is threatened again: this time by Old Strawberry, a roan stallion who takes against the ugly little horse, and hunts him down. Choopa however decides to mock the older, bigger stallion, who has a beautiful miniature daughter Choopa wants for himself.

The Thousandth Brumby

Angus & Robertson, 1996

What an achievement it would be to catch 1,000 brumbies: man is in the mountains again, and hunting horses. The stallion who is the hunter’s aim does however have help, in the unexpected form of a working dog, and a dingo.