CHARCOAL ANNIE


Listen in Real Audio Listen to the song Charcoal Annie   (sung by Jim Low)

CHARCOAL ANNIE
© Jim Low
Very little is known about Charcoal Annie. She roamed the Riverina district of southern New South Wales, a lone woman swaggy whose home was usually an encampment near a river. She collected the wood which had often become trapped near the river bends after being washed down by flood waters.

Charcoal Annie would have dug a pit and filled it with the collected wood. After setting it alight, she would have covered the fire with a piece of tin sheeting, thereby reducing the air flow into the pit and allowing the wood to 'cook'. The wood took a few days to become charcoal.

During this time Charcoal Annie would have carefully checked the amount of air getting inside the pit. She would also have noted the colour of the smoke rising from the pit, for as the wood became charcoal the smoke changed from yellowy grey to transparent blue. When this occurred she would have sealed the pit, possibly placing some large rocks on the tin cover. Then it was just a matter of waiting and letting the charcoal cool, before bagging it in corn sacks and carrying it to the neighbouring towns to sell to the blacksmiths.



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