Some of Australia’s best stories are not always as they seem, in fact sometimes they're simply a myth. From remote outback cattle stations to bustling cities and coastal havens, Sydney author Jim Haynes has interviewed some of the most interesting people to bring back some truth to what we think we know. ‘Australia’s best unknown stories’ brings an impressive collection of hilarious and quirky yarns and furphies that share and capture the heart and soul of the Australian spirit. Jim believes there are always going to be more things you don’t know than things you do know. It goes without saying. Scroll down for video . The Holden (SSV commodore pictured) was not the first car specifically designed for Australia conditions. It hailed from America, based on a US designed, but previously rejected, post-war Chevrolet . The ashes vase (pictured) does not contain anything to do with cricket but the ashes of a lady's hat veil . The patriot chant Aussie Aussie Aussie Oy Oy Oy actually hails from the Welsh, from a pastie . 'As Hamlet (or was it Bill Shakespeare?) reminded us a few centuries ago, there are more things in heaven and earth than we can dream of.' Sydney author Jim Haynes says there are plenty of stories we have believed for years that are in fact a myth . 'What is sometimes very strange, however, is what we do know and what we don’t. Even more fascinating, to me at least, is what we think we know, but what may not be true at all.' Jim, who has been a radio announcer for 2UE for 13 years admits he has a great passion for Australia and loves the quirky but interesting stories. ‘Hardly ground breaking world events but they just interest me because we tend to believe what we’re told and the truth is something else altogether.’ ‘I tried to think about what would interest readers, we’re always fascinated by stories,’ he said. ‘If you want people to get interested in something you tell them a story.’ He says in life there are always nice stories but sometimes they’re simply not true. ‘We get told this stuff but it’s really nothing of the kind.’ ‘Sometimes its publicity stunts, sometimes we just want to believe something.’ ‘But these days with social media, people are far more aware, a little more sceptical.’ ‘People like to believe the dramatic, I find knowing the truth is even more interesting, quite amazing to know.’ ‘The quirky real stuff is far more interesting than the dramatic spin.’ So to start with one of the most obvious myths….. The Holden (pictured) has long been a national legend ‘the first car specifically designed for Australian conditions’. Well, it's not a legend, it’s a myth according to history . Australia’s car . It has long been a national legend that the Holden was ‘the first car specifically designed for Australian conditions’. Well, that’s not a legend, it’s a myth. During World War II the government, along with both Ford and General Motors-Holden, explored the possibility of a locally produced affordable motorcar. The Holden Company began life in 1856 as saddle and harness makers. In 1908 the company moved into the automotive field before becoming a subsidiary of US Company General Motors (GM) in 1931. After the war General Motors-Holden continued to pursue the idea. Managing director Laurence Hartnett wanted a local design, while the company preferred to see an American one. The final design for ‘Australia’s Own Car’ was based on a US designed, but previously rejected, post-war Chevrolet. The name ‘Holden’ was chosen, incidentally, in honour of Sir Edward Holden, the company’s first chairman. Other names considered were ‘GeM’, ‘Austral’, ‘Melba’, ‘Woomerah’, ‘Boomerang’, ‘Emu’ and ‘Canbra’. Contrary to what Aussies believe, and what we have been told for more than a century, the tiny Ashes vase (pictured), which is actually a ladies’ scent bottle, does not contain the ashes of stumps, bails, balls or anything vaguely connected with the game of cricket . The Ashes . Contrary to what Aussies believe, and what we have been told for more than a century, that tiny vase, which is actually a ladies’ scent bottle, does not contain the ashes of stumps, bails, balls or anything vaguely connected with the game of cricket. It contains the ashes of a lady’s hat veil. When England lost at home for the first time to Australia, in 1882, a mock obituary was inserted in the Sporting Times, which read: . In Affectionate Remembrance of ENGLISH CRICKET, which died at the Oval on 29th AUGUST, 1882, Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances R.I.P. N.B.—The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia. This was the beginning of the Ashes legend. When the Eighth Earl of Darnley, Ivo Bligh, led the English team to Australia in the following English winter, the English press joked that he was going to ‘bring back the ashes’. When his team won two of the three official tests, a group of Melbourne ladies, including Bligh’s future wife, Florence Morphy of Beechworth in Victoria, and Lady Clarke, who had, along with her husband, entertained the English team in Melbourne, made a joke presentation to him of a terracotta scent bottle, which contained some ashes. The Countess of Darnley presented the urn to the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) after her husband’s death. She died in August 1944. Replicas of the urn are used as trophies for the Ashes Series but the original remains with the MCC in London. In 1998 Darnley’s 82-year-old daughter-in-law said the ashes were the remains of her mother-in-law’s hat veil. MCC officials, however, still persist with the nonsense that they are ‘95 per cent certain’ that the urn contains the ashes of a cricket bail, most likely one used in a social game between the English team and a team chosen by Sir W.J. Clarke. While ‘bail’ and ‘veil’ are very close in sound and a misunderstanding is plausible, anyone understanding the nature of the joke presentation (and how hard it is to actually cremate a cricket bail and recover the ashes) will realise that ‘the ashes’ in all likelihood, derived from something much easier to incinerate than a wooden bail and leather ball. At least that’s my opinion . The chant Aussie Aussie Aussie Oy Oy Oy comes from the Walsh pastie, an oggie. Oggie sellers would push carts along the docks and call oggie oggie oggie and the miners would reply oy oy oy if they wanted to purchase one . Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oy! Oy! Oy! While this is a perfectly fine patriotic chant, and I am not suggesting for a second that we stop using it to inspire our athletes, it's about as Australian as a Walsh pastie - literally. Like the cornishmen who are famous for their pasties, the Welsh have a long history of working underground industry and also have their own local version of the miners daily lunchtime pastie - the 'oggie'. The original idea of the pastie was that it contained an entire meal, meat and vegetables, or often meat and vegetables at one end and jam or fruit and custard at the other, all wrapped in a baked pastry cover. The miners' wives would make the pasties with a ridge of crust along one side so that the miners could hold them in their filthy hands while eating their lunch underground. The crust was the discarded for the rats which lived in the mines. This kept the creatures attacking the men while they were eating. Oggie sellers would push carts along the docks and working areas of Cardiff and other Welsh cities and call 'oggie, oggie, oggie' to advertise their wares. The reply 'oy, oy, oy' was a response to anyone wishing to purchase. It was a signal for the oggie salesman to stop and wait until the customer could catch up and make a purchase. Sydney author Jim Haynes says ‘people like to believe the dramatic, I find knowing the truth is even more interesting, quite amazing to know' Famous entertainer Max Boyce based his entire act on ‘being Welsh’ with Welsh songs, jokes and anecdotes about rugby and mining. Boyce was hugely popular in the 1960s and 1970s and adopted the call of the oggie salesmen as a gimmick to use with his audiences. Australian entertainer Frank Ifield was touring the theatre circuit in Britain with Max Boyce in the 1970s and saw how Boyce had made the call a rallying cry for audiences. It was also used at rugby matches and in other contexts as a light-hearted method of asserting anyone’s ‘Welshness’. When I lived in a Welsh-speaking college at Aberystwyth University, it was often used between songs when spontaneous singing occurred in the dining hall (often rather ‘anti-English’ satirical songs or Celtic rebel songs). While following Max Boyce around the theatre circuit, Frank decided to tease audiences with a version of the chant which asserted his Australian nationality. ‘I did it as a joke, just for fun,’ says Frank. ‘Knowing that Max had used his 'Oggie, oggie, oggie!' chant to warm up the audience, I’d parody the chant by yelling 'Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!' to get the same response. It was just light-hearted fun.’ So, there you have it. Our fine patriotic chant is, genuinely, about as Australian as a Welsh miner’s lunch. Not only are there many things we don’t know, we should never be too sure about the things we are sure we do know! This is an edited extract from AUSTRALIA'S BEST UNKNOWN STORIES by Jim Haynes, published by Allen & Unwin, RRP $32.99, out now.
'Australia's best unknown stories' a collection of funny yarns reminding us that things are not always as they seem .
The Holden was not the first car specifically designed for Australian conditions .
The Ashes tiny vase does not contain anything to do with cricket but the ashes of a lady’s hat veil .
The chant Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oy Oy Oy hails from the Welsh .
Some of Australia’s best stories are not always as they seem, in fact sometimes they're simply a myth. From remote outback cattle stations to bustling cities and coastal havens, Sydney author Jim Haynes has interviewed some of the most interesting people to bring back some truth to what we think we know. ‘Australia’s best unknown stories’ brings an impressive collection of hilarious and quirky yarns and furphies that share and capture the heart and soul of the Australian spirit. Jim believes there are always going to be more things you don’t know than things you do know. It goes without saying. Scroll down for video . The Holden (SSV commodore pictured) was not the first car specifically designed for Australia conditions. It hailed from America, based on a US designed, but previously rejected, post-war Chevrolet . The ashes vase (pictured) does not contain anything to do with cricket but the ashes of a lady's hat veil . The patriot chant Aussie Aussie Aussie Oy Oy Oy actually hails from the Welsh, from a pastie . 'As Hamlet (or was it Bill Shakespeare?) reminded us a few centuries ago, there are more things in heaven and earth than we can dream of.' Sydney author Jim Haynes says there are plenty of stories we have believed for years that are in fact a myth . 'What is sometimes very strange, however, is what we do know and what we don’t. Even more fascinating, to me at least, is what we think we know, but what may not be true at all.' Jim, who has been a radio announcer for 2UE for 13 years admits he has a great passion for Australia and loves the quirky but interesting stories. ‘Hardly ground breaking world events but they just interest me because we tend to believe what we’re told and the truth is something else altogether.’ ‘I tried to think about what would interest readers, we’re always fascinated by stories,’ he said. ‘If you want people to get interested in something you tell them a story.’ He says in life there are always nice stories but sometimes they’re simply not true. ‘We get told this stuff but it’s really nothing of the kind.’ ‘Sometimes its publicity stunts, sometimes we just want to believe something.’ ‘But these days with social media, people are far more aware, a little more sceptical.’ ‘People like to believe the dramatic, I find knowing the truth is even more interesting, quite amazing to know.’ ‘The quirky real stuff is far more interesting than the dramatic spin.’ So to start with one of the most obvious myths….. The Holden (pictured) has long been a national legend ‘the first car specifically designed for Australian conditions’. Well, it's not a legend, it’s a myth according to history . Australia’s car . It has long been a national legend that the Holden was ‘the first car specifically designed for Australian conditions’. Well, that’s not a legend, it’s a myth. During World War II the government, along with both Ford and General Motors-Holden, explored the possibility of a locally produced affordable motorcar. The Holden Company began life in 1856 as saddle and harness makers. In 1908 the company moved into the automotive field before becoming a subsidiary of US Company General Motors (GM) in 1931. After the war General Motors-Holden continued to pursue the idea. Managing director Laurence Hartnett wanted a local design, while the company preferred to see an American one. The final design for ‘Australia’s Own Car’ was based on a US designed, but previously rejected, post-war Chevrolet. The name ‘Holden’ was chosen, incidentally, in honour of Sir Edward Holden, the company’s first chairman. Other names considered were ‘GeM’, ‘Austral’, ‘Melba’, ‘Woomerah’, ‘Boomerang’, ‘Emu’ and ‘Canbra’. Contrary to what Aussies believe, and what we have been told for more than a century, the tiny Ashes vase (pictured), which is actually a ladies’ scent bottle, does not contain the ashes of stumps, bails, balls or anything vaguely connected with the game of cricket . The Ashes . Contrary to what Aussies believe, and what we have been told for more than a century, that tiny vase, which is actually a ladies’ scent bottle, does not contain the ashes of stumps, bails, balls or anything vaguely connected with the game of cricket. It contains the ashes of a lady’s hat veil. When England lost at home for the first time to Australia, in 1882, a mock obituary was inserted in the Sporting Times, which read: . In Affectionate Remembrance of ENGLISH CRICKET, which died at the Oval on 29th AUGUST, 1882, Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances R.I.P. N.B.—The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia. This was the beginning of the Ashes legend. When the Eighth Earl of Darnley, Ivo Bligh, led the English team to Australia in the following English winter, the English press joked that he was going to ‘bring back the ashes’. When his team won two of the three official tests, a group of Melbourne ladies, including Bligh’s future wife, Florence Morphy of Beechworth in Victoria, and Lady Clarke, who had, along with her husband, entertained the English team in Melbourne, made a joke presentation to him of a terracotta scent bottle, which contained some ashes. The Countess of Darnley presented the urn to the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) after her husband’s death. She died in August 1944. Replicas of the urn are used as trophies for the Ashes Series but the original remains with the MCC in London. In 1998 Darnley’s 82-year-old daughter-in-law said the ashes were the remains of her mother-in-law’s hat veil. MCC officials, however, still persist with the nonsense that they are ‘95 per cent certain’ that the urn contains the ashes of a cricket bail, most likely one used in a social game between the English team and a team chosen by Sir W.J. Clarke. While ‘bail’ and ‘veil’ are very close in sound and a misunderstanding is plausible, anyone understanding the nature of the joke presentation (and how hard it is to actually cremate a cricket bail and recover the ashes) will realise that ‘the ashes’ in all likelihood, derived from something much easier to incinerate than a wooden bail and leather ball. At least that’s my opinion . The chant Aussie Aussie Aussie Oy Oy Oy comes from the Walsh pastie, an oggie. Oggie sellers would push carts along the docks and call oggie oggie oggie and the miners would reply oy oy oy if they wanted to purchase one . Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oy! Oy! Oy! While this is a perfectly fine patriotic chant, and I am not suggesting for a second that we stop using it to inspire our athletes, it's about as Australian as a Walsh pastie - literally. Like the cornishmen who are famous for their pasties, the Welsh have a long history of working underground industry and also have their own local version of the miners daily lunchtime pastie - the 'oggie'. The original idea of the pastie was that it contained an entire meal, meat and vegetables, or often meat and vegetables at one end and jam or fruit and custard at the other, all wrapped in a baked pastry cover. The miners' wives would make the pasties with a ridge of crust along one side so that the miners could hold them in their filthy hands while eating their lunch underground. The crust was the discarded for the rats which lived in the mines. This kept the creatures attacking the men while they were eating. Oggie sellers would push carts along the docks and working areas of Cardiff and other Welsh cities and call 'oggie, oggie, oggie' to advertise their wares. The reply 'oy, oy, oy' was a response to anyone wishing to purchase. It was a signal for the oggie salesman to stop and wait until the customer could catch up and make a purchase. Sydney author Jim Haynes says ‘people like to believe the dramatic, I find knowing the truth is even more interesting, quite amazing to know' Famous entertainer Max Boyce based his entire act on ‘being Welsh’ with Welsh songs, jokes and anecdotes about rugby and mining. Boyce was hugely popular in the 1960s and 1970s and adopted the call of the oggie salesmen as a gimmick to use with his audiences. Australian entertainer Frank Ifield was touring the theatre circuit in Britain with Max Boyce in the 1970s and saw how Boyce had made the call a rallying cry for audiences. It was also used at rugby matches and in other contexts as a light-hearted method of asserting anyone’s ‘Welshness’. When I lived in a Welsh-speaking college at Aberystwyth University, it was often used between songs when spontaneous singing occurred in the dining hall (often rather ‘anti-English’ satirical songs or Celtic rebel songs). While following Max Boyce around the theatre circuit, Frank decided to tease audiences with a version of the chant which asserted his Australian nationality. ‘I did it as a joke, just for fun,’ says Frank. ‘Knowing that Max had used his 'Oggie, oggie, oggie!' chant to warm up the audience, I’d parody the chant by yelling 'Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!' to get the same response. It was just light-hearted fun.’ So, there you have it. Our fine patriotic chant is, genuinely, about as Australian as a Welsh miner’s lunch. Not only are there many things we don’t know, we should never be too sure about the things we are sure we do know! This is an edited extract from AUSTRALIA'S BEST UNKNOWN STORIES by Jim Haynes, published by Allen & Unwin, RRP $32.99, out now.
Some of Australia’s best stories are not always as pictured) was not the first car specifically (pictured) does not contain anything to do with cricket but the ashes of a lady's hat veil . The actually hails from the Welsh, from a pastie . specifically designed for Australian conditions’. . The chant Aussie Aussie Aussie Oy Oy Oy comes