Since the publication of A Little Bush Maid in 1910, a great deal has changed in this nation's way of life. Huge sheep and cattle stations were the norm back then, and stockmen worked the land as families passed down estates from generation to generation. Given the massive crew Billabong was supporting and the present climate, which has brought both catastrophic droughts and devastating floods in the past three years, such a property would likely be an economic nightmare today. On December 20, 1910, my great-grandmother Myra Lillie Moore, née Shields, received this book as the top honor for "thoughtfulness." The 12-year-old Norah Linton's tale, A Little Bush Maid, is set on the sizable and profitable cattle station known as "Billabong" in the Victorian countryside in the early 1900s. It includes many adventures and surprises, especially when her brother Jim is home on vacation from boarding school with his buddy Wally. It also covers her life with her widowed father and adoring station hands.
