Town crier Alan Moyse has officially retired from service in Canberra, but says he will still be actively ‘crying’ on the South Coast, particularly in the port of Eden.
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Mr Moyse moved permanently to Wyndham last October, and has since been formally endorsed by the Bega Valley Shire Council as the Bega Valley town crier.
“I now have to modify my regalia to match the yellows, greens and blues of the Bega Valley logo,” Mr Moyse said on Tuesday August 30.
“The main thing I need to change is the plumage of my hat, and I will now have a Bega Valley patch on my coat.”
After five years of service in Canberra, and guest appearances in Eden since the arrival of cruise ships last summer, Mr Moyse follows a long and romantic tradition of town criers.
“Australia has had working town criers – announcing the news,. or lost and stolen horses and stray cattle – well into the 1900s,” Mr Moyse said.
“It continued in Australia long after the tradition was abandoned in England. So it’s been around since the first fleet came over.”
Although retired from Canberra service, Mr Moyse has grand ambitions on how far his voice can carry now he’s on the South Coast.
“There are two guilds of town criers in Australia, and I’m a member of both of them,” Mr Moyse said.
“In December, I will be representing the Bega Valley in a criers’ competition in Creswick, Victoria, and this is the first time the Bega Valley will have a competitor present at one of those activities.
“And in April next year I will be crying at an international competition being held in Adelaide. I’m just waiting confirmation I’ve been accepted.”
In the meantime, Mr Moyse is booked to appear at the Eden Whale Festival in late October, and will once again welcome the cruise ships into Snug Cove over summer.