BACK TO LINDA VALLEY
(First published 1923)
Linda township (forming one of the wards of Gormanston’s municipality) is situated at the head of a deep and rugged valley in the West Coast range. Between two imposing mountains of Lyell and Owen The great enclosing wall of mount Owen rises with a sheer and stately sweep of 3500 feet and whether you uke Linda Valley or not, it is one of the finest sights to be seen in Tasmania. Blamire Young, the well known painter, who came overland from Hobart to Linda, says of this noble mountain,
“Mount Owen was to me an artistic event that I count as one of the rarest prizes in a long life spent in search of beautiful things. Seen from all sides and at all times of the day it is invariably glorious, for I had never seen before a mountain that was built up of white and pink stone without a single green thing upon it. I found if the most haunting and inexhaustible object that Tasmania holds. Its huge and delicate structure is hardly of the earth, for it takes colours in mysterious and celestial semitones from the sky, lending its inherent greys first to one mood then to another as the long day goes by, sympathetic to a change of wind, or obedient in its intensity of tone to a passing cloud, so vast and yet so responsive a mass of temperamental conglomerate, a mountain of paradoxical harmony in pale purple and the greys of opal.”
So far as we know, Linda valley was first seen by white men in 1862, when Mr. C. Gould, sent out from Hobart by the government on a tour of geological exploration, prospected the West Coast Range. Mr. Gould was so impressed with the splendid aspect of the valley that he called it The Val Di Chamouni, after the famous defile at the foot of Mont Blanc and it is so shown on the old maps. Why Linda? When the McDonough and Karlson brothers discovered the Mount Lyell mine in 1882, they were unaccompanied by a Spaniard named Don Guzman Alfonso Vincento St. Jago de Sotomayor de la Plana who shed tears of joy at the beautiful prospect that met his enraptured eyes. When he failed to reach the ridge which is now the summit of the haulage line he named the valley with the stream traversing it after the first name of his third love Donna Lindamira Josephine Isabella Maria Del Pilar De Aguardiente (born on St James Day 1853, died on the feast of St. Anna de Compostella 1876). This lady was engaged to Don Guzman A. V. St. J., etc. but three days before the day fixed for her marriage was captured by the famous Andalucian brigand Don Xavier Quebrache H. G. G. De Bustamente who placed a higher ransom on her than her relatives would pay and as the ransom failed to arrive the unfortunate maiden was sentenced by the horrible rascal to read the minutes and reports of the Gormanston Municipal Council. The beautiful creature expired in torment less than eight minutes after the torture was applied and Don Guzman nearly did likewise when he heard the tidings, for he owed a great deal of money and Donna Lindamira J. I. M. del P. etc. would have brought him a dowry of 3,289,765 pesos.
Out of compliment to the worthy Don, who disappeared suddenly and painfully, owing to a regrettable incident at cards (he held five aces), the name given to the creek and valley was allowed to stand but the rough miners shortened it to Linda, observing that the mire in the creek was sufficiently obvious to the eyes and feet without fastening it onto the name.
The dwellings at Linda, although they are neither ornate nor substantial, are admirably adapted to the needs and pockets of the inhabitants. The women of Linda are all beautifu,l the men are brave. The children are intolerably virtuous and the hens lay pure-bred eggs whenever they feel inclined to. The climate is salubrious and bracing, inducing a high birth rate: deaths are rare. There is just enough and possibly a little too much rain to make the inhabitants to appreciate the infrequent sunshine. A remarkable characteristic about Linda is that all roads radiate from it. If you start from this village you can reach any place in the world and per contra from any part of the earth you can reach Linda.
This striking advantage of position is not sufficiently appreciated by the Lindamirans. Cows do not love Linda. Neither do horses, goats, sheep, deer, buffaloes, elephants nor elks, but dogs, cats, rats and other domestic animals attain a high degree of beauty and fertility. The vegetation is select and frugal. And the Lindamirans do not undergo excessive labour in weeding their gardens. The township is well furnished with spacious hotels, elaborately fitted business establishments, churches, electric light and flies in summertime.
*copied from the official programme Back to Linda Felicia, printed for St. Patrick's Night 17 March 1923
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Linda and Gormanston have so far, no picnic grounds or park of their own. An area of land has been granted by the Government for recreation purposes on the east side of the King River near St. Patrick’s Bridge. If a little money is spent on the site it can be developed into a fine pleasure ground. The first requisite is a shelter shed with tables so that people need not be afraid to set out for picnics if the weather looks doubtful. The Mount Lyell Tourist Association will undertake to carry out the work as per cash and subsidy received.
(Also *)