| It was 1803 when we sailed out to sea | |
| And away from the sweet town of Derry | |
| For Australia bound and if we didn't drown | |
| The mark of the fetter we'd carry. | |
| Our ship was The Gull, fourteen days out of Hull | 5 |
| And on orders to carry the croppy | |
| Like a ghost in the night she sailed out of sight | |
| Leaving many a wee'an unhappy. | |
| In our rusty iron chains well we sighed for our wee'ans | |
| And our good wives we'd left in our sorrow | 10 |
| And the main sails unfurled our curses we hurled | |
| At the English and the thought of tomorrow. | |
| At the mouth of the Foyle we bade farewell to our soil | |
| And the sea turned as blue as the heavens. | |
| The breeze filled our sails of a yellowish pale | 15 |
| And the captain lay drunk in his cabin. | |
| The Gull cut the sea carving our destiny | |
| And the sea spray rose white and came flying. | |
| O'Docherty screamed, awoken out of his dreams | |
| By a vision of bold Robert dying. | 20 |
| The sun burnt us cruel as they dished out the gruel | |
| And Dan O'Connor lay dying with fever. | |
| Sixty rebels today, bound for Botany Bay, | |
| God, how many would reach the receiver. | |
| I cursed them to hell as our bows fought the swell | 25 |
| And we danced like a moth in the firelight. | |
| White horses rode by as the devil passed by | |
| Taking ten souls to Hades in the twilight. | |
| Five weeks out to sea we were now forty-three | |
| And the strongest wept bitter like children. | 30 |
| Jesus, we screeched and our God we beseeched | |
| But all we got was a prayer from a pilgrim. | |
| In our own smelling slime we were lost in time | |
| Hoping God in his mercy would claim us. | |
| But our spirits shone high like stars in the sky | 35 |
| We were rebels and no man would tame us. | |
| We were all about lost, two round score was our cost | |
| When the man on the mast shouted, “Land hoe!” | |
| The crew gave a cheer as we cradled our fear | |
| And the fathoms gave up and we swam low. | 40 |
| Van Diemen's land a hell for a man | |
| Who would live out his whole life in slavery, | |
| Where the climate was raw and the gun made the law | |
| And neither wind or the rain cared for bravery. | |
| Twenty long years have gone and I've ended my bond | 45 |
| And my comrades' ghosts walk behind me. | |
| A rebel I came and I died just the same | |
| It's on the cold wind at night that you'll find me. | |
