Intro: Gm / Bb / F / C / Gm / Bb / F / Gm / Dm
(Gmin)In 1803 we (Bb)sailed out to sea, (F)out from the (C)sweet town of (Gmin)Derry
For Australia bound, if we (Bb)didn’t all drown, the (F)marks of our (C)fetters we (Gmin)carried.
(C)In our rusty iron chains, we (Bb)cried for our wains.
Our (C)good women we left in (Dmin)sorrow.
As the (Gmin)mainsails unfurled, the (Bb)curses we hurled,
At the (F)English and (C)thoughts of to(Gmin)morrow.
At the mouth of the Foyle, bid farewell to the soil as down below decks we were liein’
O’Daugherty screamed, woken out from a dream by a vision of bold Robert dyin’
The sun burned cruel as we dished out the gruel.
Dan O’Connor was down with a fever.
Sixty rebels today, bound for Botany Bay
How many will reach their receiver?
Chorus
(Bb)Oh, (F)oh, I (Gmin)wish I was (F)back home in (Gmin)Derry,
(Bb)Oh, (F)oh, I (Gmin)wish I was (F)back home in (Gmin)Derry,
We cursed them to Hell as our bow fought the swell, our ship danced like a moth in the firelight.
White horses rode high as the Devil passed by, taking souls to Hades by twilight.
Five weeks out to sea, we’re now 43.
We buried our comrades each morning.
In our own slime, we were lost in the time
Of endless night without dawning.
Chorus
Van Deman’s Land is no place for a man
To spend out his whole life in slavery.
Where the climate is raw and the gun makes the law
Neither rain nor wind care for bravery.
Twenty years have gone by, and I’ve ended my bond,
My comrades ghosts walk beside me.
A rebel I came, I’m still the same
In the cold wind of night you will find me.
Chorus, Repeat
****Chords and Lyrics supplied by Tom McNevin Yardley, PA USA.
Cheers Tom, and welcome to the songs2play website.
