Llifs – Mulberry Hill – The Stock Story in the Rock of hanging

Like most Australians, during my childhood, I spent several days and nights reading “Al -Nuzha in the suspension of rocks”. It was part of the curricula with many of the required book reports and for those who deceived, I had also watched the movie. It is an interesting story for a group of female students who were lost on a school journey to suspend rock music on Valentine’s Day. Saying that this is a creative novel that will be underestimated. It is widely considered one of the most important Australian novels in all ages. It is also widely discussed. While it is a fictional story, it has become a discussion and creation of a lot of folklore. With a hidden striker at the beginning of the book, no wonder:

“Whether the picnic in the suspension of rocks is a fact or imagination, my readers must decide themselves. While the fateful picnic occurred in the year ninety hundred, and all the characters that appear in this book have died long ago, it seems important.”

Photo source: Amazon

The author and painter, Mrs. Joan Lindsay, wrote after receiving psychological visions in her dreams every night for two weeks, which helped her framing the story. Was this a purely fictional story, or is the visions that Lindsay received is real? In 2018, the re -adaptation struck the perception of television screens all over the world brings it to a completely new generation of fans. The amazing thing is, for those in Melbourne Australia, the establishment of Lindsay where I wrote this iconic book still existing today – Mulberry Hill.

Who was Mrs. Joan Lingdy?

Photo source: The public domain

Mrs. Joan Lindsay (Ni and Wiggal) was born on the sixteenth of November 1896. It was an Australian novelist, theater writer, articles and visual artist. She was born in St. Kelda Melbourne, and she was a prominent judge and her grandfather was the ruler of Tasmania. She spent her early years in the internal school, continued to study art and registration in the National Fair of the Victoria School of Art. She participated in a studio and will show her artwork in the twenties of the twentieth century. During the Arts School, she met her husband Daryl and married on Valentine’s Day in 1922. During the great depression, they were forced to move and rent it until the finance improved. During this time, Joan focused on writing instead of drawing. Several works were published in addition to her return to Mulberry Hill when her husband continued the director of the National Exhibition in Victoria. He was a knight in 1956 and Joan became Mrs. Joan Lindsay. Daril died on Christmas Day in 1976. Joan never married, and even reduced her four marital beds to one modest bed in their bedroom. His image is still sitting on its table. She threw herself in writing and drawing her, and in 1967 she published “Hanging Rock”. Joan died on December 23, 1984 of stomach cancer. Since she and her husband have never had, property was donated to the National Fund in Victoria, where he is still sitting today. What I find completely great is that all property and furniture are still as it was the day you left. Her soles are still at the foot of her bed. Teeth sets and glasses are still sitting on their table. Her husband’s day suit is still hanging in the wardrobe. Its studio remains as good, with the typewriter you used to write the novel. (Her office is also incredibly low. She should be a small lady!)

Photo by Sarah @ Living Life in the full spectrum

Was Joan psychological?

Joan herself had a deep interest in spirituality, but she was not supposed to want to show this aspect in front of her husband, who did not believe in these things. Visit her home, there are hints of this. The family is aligned in its main bedroom in a strange position. They are in a specific spot at a specific angle of the best feng Shui. In her office, the leaves are held with the weight of the large large crystal paper. Her friends described her as Sufi. They said that she knew things without telling them. She knew things from the past and also would happen in the future. It is also said that it can communicate with those who passed and had this gift 3 years ago. This is all according to her close friend Coleen Caldwell. While filming the film’s adaptation in the mid -seventies, strange things occurred on the group, which all seemed to be centered around Joan. The photography was of course filmed in Hanging Rock, where Joan spent a vacation in her youth. The film’s creator noticed that the first time you approached the rock of hanging, its watch stopped mysteriously. This happened several times during filming either in the rock or whenever it is around Joan.

Is the picnic in the suspension of rock music really a true story?

The last question that we have will never be answered, is this story correct? In the words of Joan Lindsay:

“Some of them are true, some are not.” It is up to you to decide!

At 9:30 am on a normal day in 1966, Joan sat as I did every day to start writing it. Winter was outside and the perfect day to sit inside and write. The night before Joan’s dream of a living dream I thought would make a good story. She focused on a picnic during the summer in Rocking Rock, who was a place where Joan spent as a child. The dream was very alive when Joan woke up at 7:30 am, still feels that the summer breeze on her face (although winter and freezing abroad). The dream and characters were very real and vital to her, so that the basic plot was completed by midday. The entire book has been written for just two weeks. Every inch of Joan participated in this story. Every night when I went to sleep, you will play more story in her dreams. Joan told her home that she did not know why dreams came to her, but she did not care. She had to tell this story, and that she did. With her psychological prayers and abilities, were these dreams just dreams or are it a message from the other side? The truth is that Joan has always wanted to write a story centered around a rock hanging – a spot that you remember as a child. Have you finally found an inspiration? We will never know.

I encourage anyone to go and visit this amazing property. There is a lot of date here and the fact that everything is 100 % original is what makes it very unique. Most of the full historical characteristics are restored with the donated furniture. This house was left. It is like the lady of Joan and Mr. Daril can walk across the door at any moment, and they will get everything they need. You feel a feeling of home here.

For more information about the date and open days, visit:

https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/places/mulberry-hill/

For more photos for Mulberry Hill, please visit my exhibition: https://lifs.com.au/gallery/mulberry-hill-langwarren-Victoria/

* All information, as the tour guides at Mulberry Hill told me and through the website above.