The Death of Ben Hall

"The Death of Ben Hall" (1924) is a poem by Scottish poet Will H. Ogilvie. It is also known under the title "The Betrayal of Ben Hall".

It was originally published in Smith's Weekly on 27 September 1924 and subsequently reprinted in a number of Australian poetry anthologies.

The poem relates the story of how the bushranger Ben Hall was killed by eight well-armed policemen on 5 May 1865.

Publication history

After the poem's initial publication in Smith's Weekly it was reprinted as follows:

Wild Colonial Boys edited by Frank Clune, Angus and Robertson, 1948
Favourite Australian Poems edited by Ian Mudie, Rigby, 1963
From the Ballads to Brennan edited by T. Inglis Moore, Angus & Robertson, 1964
Old Australian Ballads edited by W. N. Walker, School Projects, 1967
This Land : An Anthology of Australian Poetry for Young People edited by M. M. Flynn and J. Groom, Pergamon Press, 1968
Complete Book of Australian Folk Lore edited by Bill Scott, 1976
The Illustrated Treasury of Australian Verse edited by Beatrice Davis, Nelson, 1984
My Country : Australian Poetry and Short Stories, Two Hundred Years edited by Leonie Kramer, Lansdowne, 1985
Old Ballads from the Bush edited by Bill Scott, Angus and Robertson, 1987
On the Track with Bill Bowyang edited by Hugh Anderson and Dawn Anderson, Red Rooster Press, 1992
Breaker's Mate: Will Ogilvie in Australia edited by John Meredith, Kangaroo Press, 1996
Classic Australian Verse edited by Maggie Pinkney, Five Mile Press, 2001
Two Centuries of Australian Poetry edited by Kathrine Bell, Gary Allen, 2007
100 Australian Poems You Need to Know edited by Jamie Grant, Hardie Grant, 2008
Australian Poetry Since 1788 edited by Geoffrey Lehmann and Robert Gray, University of NSW Press, 2011