VAN DIEMAN'S LAND
Traditional
Come all you gallant poachers that
ramble free from care,
That walk out on a moonlight night
with your dog, your gun, your snare;
The harmless hare and pheasant you
have at your command,
Not thinkin' of your last career upon
Van Dieman's land.
'Twas poor Jock Brown frae Glesca,
Will Guthrie and Munro,
They were three daring poachers, the
country well did know;
The keepers caught them hunting with
all their guns in hand,
They were fourteen years transported
unto Van Dieman's land.
The very day we landed upon that fatal
shore,
The settlers they came round us, some
forty score or more;
They herded us like cattle and sold us
out of hand,
And yoked us to the plough, my boys,
to plough Van Dieman's land.
There came a lass frae sweet Dundee,
Bess Logan was her name,
And she was given sentence for playing
of the game;
The captain bought her freedom and
married her out of hand,
And she gave us all good usage going
to Van Dieman's land.
Although the poor of Scotland do
labour and do toil,
They're robbed of every blessing and
produce of the soil;
Your proud imperious landlords, if you
break their commands,
They'll send you on the British hulks
to plough Van Dieman's land.
Footnote:
The 1820 Radicals
transported to Australia landed in Port Jackson on 23 May 1821, so this
week it seemed appropiate to have a transportation ballad. Of all the
transportation ballads 'Van Dieman's Land' has by far the widest
circulation - it exists in many variants, not only in the British Isles
and Ireland but in Australia and North America as well.
