A SONGLINE, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) within the animist belief systems of the Aboriginal cultures of Australia. They mark the route followed by localised “creator-beings” in the Dreaming*. These routes serve as crucial connections between individuals and their ancestral lands, carrying intricate geographical, mythological, and cultural information.

Songlines are both ancient and contemporary. They trace the journey of ancestral beings and how things came to be. They are songs and stories of events and navigational routes through Country. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander songs have told the stories of the land as it changed over thousands of years, transforming into ranges, rivers and water holes. They have sung into being people's culture and their connection to country as a living thing. Songs like the Nyamal song, performed by Topsy Fazeldine about the Pilbara steam train that ran between Marble Bar and Port Hedland between 1911 and 1951, connect recent histories and experiences to ancient song styles.

The Nyamal train song is known as a Japi song, a public song that was composed by Pilbara stockman Mangkayipirti or Larry Brown. It tells of the sights and sounds of the train’s journey through Nyamal country.

Larry Brown, whose Aboriginal name is Mangkayipirti, was born toward the end of the nineteenth century, around 1895, near Mulyie pastoral station. Mulyie was one of the earliest sheep stations in the Pilbara, situated on the De Grey River. Larry Brown was one of the early generations of pastoral workers in the area and worked as a stockman on or near Mulyie until his death in 1950. He was buried one mile from Mulyie station homestead. Larry’s Paddock at Mulyie is believed to be named after him.

In 1964, Mangkayipirti's daughter Topsy Fazeldine (Marrparingu), recorded the Nyamal train song with visiting language researcher Carl Von Brandenstein.

Basil Snook gives permission for this 1964 recording of his mother to be made public. Listen to the train song and Basil's introduction.

[Insert: Nyamal train song - audio recording]

Topsy Fazeldine was born in 1922 near Mulyie pastoral station. She worked as a domestic and stock camp assistant at Mulyie station and stations along the De Grey River and train line. In about 1946 she joined the Pilbara pastoral strikers at Twelve Mile camp outside Port Hedland and travelled with them to the tin mining enterprise at Moolyella. She worked on stations occasionally through the 1960s, but was mostly travelling with her husband Mick Fazeldine through towns and various camps from Port Hedland to Marble Bar. Topsy Fazeldine died in 1991.