|
|
|
|
|
|
page 3 (cont.)
Broadside Ballads
Ballads about poaching were extremely common, because poaching itself was so widespread. As the majority of people were unable to procure fresh meat honestly, they took to stealing or poaching. It was so prevalent that it was hardly an exaggeration to say that nearly every man you met was a poacher! It was generally thought that those men were justified in their actions. In 1828 the penalties for poaching became three months imprisonment for the first offence, six for a second and seven years transportation for a third. But if three or four men, one of whom carried a gun or bludgeon, were found in a wood, all were liable for transportation for fourteen years to Van Diemen's Land. The island was first used as a penal settlement in 1804 and continued as such for another forty-nine years. Port Arthur was considered one of the most dreaded prisons. VAN DIEMAN'S LAND Come, all you gallant poachers, That ramble free from care, That walk out of a moonlight night, With your dog, your gun, and snare; Where the lusty hare and pheasant You have at your command, Not thinking that your last career Is on Van Diemen's Land There was poor Tom Brown from Nottingham, Jack Williams, and poor Joe, Were three as daring poachers As the country well does know; At night they were trepanned By the keepers hid in sand, And for fourteen years transported were Unto Van Diemen's Land. Oh! when we sailed from England We landed at the bay, We had rotten straw for bedding, We dared not to say nay. Our cots were fenced with fire, (we slumber when we can,) To drive away the wolves and tigers Upon Van Diemen's Land. Oh! when that we were landed Upon that fatal shore, The planters they came flocking round, Full twenty score or more; They ranked us up like horses, And sold us out of hand, They yoked us to the plough, my boys, To plough Van Diemen's Land. There was one girl from England, Susan Summers was her name, For fourteen years transported was, We all well knew the same; Our planter bought her freedom, And he married her out of hand, Good usage then she gave to us, Upon Van Diemen's Land. Oh! oft when I am slumbering, I have a pleasant dream: With my sweet girl I am sitting, Down by some purling stream, Through England I am roaming, With her at my command, Then waken, brokenhearted, Upon Van Diemen's Land. God bless our wives and families, Likewise that happy shore, That isle of sweet contentment Which we shall see no more. As for our wretched females, See them we seldom can, There are twenty to one woman Upon Van Diemen's Land. Come all you gallant poachers, Give ear unto my song, It is a bit of good advice, Although it is not long: Lay by your dog and snare; To you I do speak plain, If you knew the hardships we endure You ne'er would poach again. Anonymous. This oral version was collected in Sussex, England, in 1893, and is essentially the same as the broadside in the Kidson Collection and included in Ron Edward's folio collection, The Transport's Lament. There are many broadside versions of this ballad including the version collected and annotated by Colm O'Lochlainn in Irish Street Ballads, 1952 edition, as reprinted in Stewart and Keesing's 1957 Edition of Old Bush Songs. The Baring-Gould collected version cites the tune 'The Transports.' next ....
© Warren Fahey |
