TIN-KETTLING -

“Doug had been busy building a new house; a roomy, flat roofed, spinifex verandahed structure with cement floors… Ideal for a honeymoon. Not a living soul within miles of them… We planned a tin kettling for their homecoming – a very secret affair.

Old camel bells were unearthed, kerosene tins gathered, empty drums and saucepans tested for noise… There would be no talking. Sound carried at night, and complete surprise was essential.

For a tin kettling the couple must be newly married or honey-mooning – the wedding night itself is an ideal time… They must be in bed but not asleep. It is always hoped that the sudden nerve-shattering din will catch them in the middle of a passionate embrace. It is a mean business really, but always causes a lot of fun. It is customary for the ladies to ‘take a plate’ and men a ‘couple of bottles’. For when the couple have been got out of bed the merrymaking may go on all night.

We stared at the building, long and squat and seemingly in darkness. We listened. The night was very still, the silence seeming to come in waves against the ear drums.

‘They’re in bed all right’ said Black in a hoarse whisper...

Distinctly there came the sound of bed springs and a woman’s laughter.

We all moved together, crossing the open space without effort or concealment. We heard someone say sharply, ‘Who’s that?’.

And then Peterson pressed the button on his klaxson and it bellowed like a bull for a brief second before being drowned in the shocking din of clanging iron, rattling of tins, shrilling of whistles and bells, and all the unnerving noise-making instruments that we had brought with us.

The tin kettling lasted until lamps were lit and Doug and Thora, partly clothed and in dressing gowns, came to the door and laughingly asked us in.”

From: Gold In The Blood by Jamess Doughty

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