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Mariners of England a poem written by Thomas Campbell, The Burial of Sir John Moore a
poem written by Charles Wolfe, and Robert of Kandahar (Department of Public Instruction,
1913a). The Queensland Readers: Book V echoes the Queensland Readers: Book IV
regarding the substantial content covering British heritages. For example, the following
narratives are included: Waterloo, The Battle of Crecy, A Fragment of Europe, Heroes of the
Mutiny, Henry V. to his Men on the Eve of Agincourt; and Pen pictures from Macaulay
(Department of Public Instruction, 1913b). Where it differs from Queensland Readers: Book
IV is through its additional inclusion of distinctive Australian content, mediated through
British heritages.
Within the Queensland Readers: Book IV (Department of Public Instruction, 1913a),
published 12 years after Australia had federated (in 1901) substantial attention is given to
glorifying British battles (Blenheim), heroes (Gallant Gordon) and events (Empire Day). The
significant attention given to the topic of war and battles in this Reader when referring to
British heritages encompasses the majority of the curriculum material. The two exceptions to
this are the brief, passing mention of Empire Day and the poem, Lament of the Irish
Emigrant. The content is focused towards literary topics rather than presenting the topics as
historical, as would be expected in this type of school textbook, and as explicitly stated in the
preface. This reader was implemented in Queensland schools in 1915, and even though by
this time World War I had just started, no reference is made to this conflict as the book was
printed in 1913. Instead, an historical British battle is included as a focus for study,
represented through the poem After Blenheim by Robert Southey. Here the discourse of war
victory is communicated to students through the repetition of “...a famous victory”; although
the futility of war is also communicated at the end of the poem, with the last stanza reading:
“ And everybody praised the Duke
Who this great fight did win.”
“ But what good came of it at last?”
Quoth little Peterkin:—
“ Why that I cannot tell,” said he,
“ But `twas a famous victory.” (Department of Public Instruction, 1913a, p. 16)
Hidden British heritages are arguably evident in this poem, but are less obvious in stories
which contain moral values. These stories, typically contain values commonly taught to
young children, such as truth-telling as evidenced in “Poppet’s Visit to the School—Part 1”
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