Edward Harrington grew up in the rural areas of Colbinabbin and the Mallee. In the 1920s he was inspired by the hardship of country life to write his first Bulletin ballad, A Cry from the Mallee. With the outbreak of World War I, he enlisted with the Fourth Light Horse and took part in the charge on Beersheba. After the war Harrington worked as a plasterer before joining the Department of Aircraft. He was a bush balladist and spent time in country Victoria, working as a rouseabout, drover and farmer, so as to further experience life in the bush. He wrote song lyrics and a number of broadside poems. He was a founding member of the Bread and Cheese Club (q.v.), and also a member of the Australian Poetry Lovers' Society.