Van Diemen's Land

Me and three more went out one night into the Squire's Park We were hoping that we'd get some game the night it being dark To our sad misfortune they captured us with speed And they brought us down to Warwick jail It caused our hearts to bleed Young Men all be aware, lest you be drawn into a snare Come Monday morning at the court we did appear Like Job we stood with patience our sentence to hear No jury, bail nor witness our case it did go hard Our sentence was for fourteen years straight away Being sent on board The ship that bore us from the land the Speedwell was her name For full five months and upwards we ploughed the ragin' main We saw no land nor harbour I tell you it's no lie All around us one Black Ocean above us one Blue Sky About the Fifth of August its then that we made land And at 5 o'clock next morning they tied us hand to hand To see our fellow sufferance, it filled me heart with woe There's some chained to the harrow and others to the plough To see our fellow sufferance filled me with despair They'd leather smocks and Lindsay shorts their feet And hands were bare They tied them up two by two like horses in a dray And the ganger he stood over them with his Malacca cane There was a female servant there Rosanna was her name For 16 years a convict from Wolverhampton came She often told her tale of love when she was young at home Now its rattling of her chains in a foreign land to roam So, come all of you young poaching lads and a warning take from me Mark you well the story that I tell and guard your destiny It's all about transported lads as you must understand The hardships we did undergo going to Van Diemen's land