Jim Jones at Botany Bay
Encyclopedia
"Jim Jones at Botany Bay" is a traditional Australia
n folk ballad first published in 1907. The narrator, Jim Jones, is found guilty of an unnamed crime (although the song refers to "flog the poaching out of you" Poaching was a transportable offence) and sentenced to transportation
. En route, his ship is attacked by pirates, but the crew holds them off. Just when the narrator remarks that he would rather have joined the pirates or indeed drowned at sea than gone to Botany Bay
, he is reminded by his captors that any mischief with be met with the whip. The final verse sees the narrator describing the daily drudgery and degradation of life in the penal colony, and dreaming of joining the bushranger
s and taking revenge on his floggers.
The ballad was most probably sung to the tune of the old Irish rebel song Skibbereen
, Charles MacAlister in his Old Pioneering Days in the Sunny South (1907) gives the tune as Irish Molly Oh
Come gather round and listen lads, and hear me tell m' tale,
How across the sea from England I was condemned to sail.
The jury found me guilty, and then says the judge, says he,
Oh for life, Jim Jones, I'm sending you across the stormy sea.
But take a tip before you ship to join the iron gang,
Don't get too gay in Botany Bay
, or else you'll surely hang.
Or else you'll surely hang, he says, and after that, Jim Jones,
Way up high upon yon gallows tree, the crows will pick your bones.
Our ship was high upon the seas when pirates came along,
But the soldiers on our convict ship were full five hundred strong;
They opened fire and so they drove that pirate ship away
But I'd rather joined that pirate ship than gone to Botany Bay.
With the storms a-raging round us, and the winds a-blowing gales
I'd rather drowned in misery than gone to New South Wales.
There's no time for mischief there, remember that, they say
Oh they'll flog the poaching out of you down there in Botany Bay
.
Day and night in irons clad we like poor galley slaves
Will toil and toil our lives away to fill dishonored graves;
But by and by I'll slip m' chains and to the bush I'll go
And I'll join the brave bushrangers there, Jack Donahue
and Co.
And some dark night all is right and quiet in the town,
I'll get the bastards one and all, I'll gun the floggers down.
I'll give them all a little treat, remember what I say
And they'll yet regret they sent Jim Jones in chains to Botany Bay.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n folk ballad first published in 1907. The narrator, Jim Jones, is found guilty of an unnamed crime (although the song refers to "flog the poaching out of you" Poaching was a transportable offence) and sentenced to transportation
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
. En route, his ship is attacked by pirates, but the crew holds them off. Just when the narrator remarks that he would rather have joined the pirates or indeed drowned at sea than gone to Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
, he is reminded by his captors that any mischief with be met with the whip. The final verse sees the narrator describing the daily drudgery and degradation of life in the penal colony, and dreaming of joining the bushranger
Bushranger
Bushrangers, or bush rangers, originally referred to runaway convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who had the survival skills necessary to use the Australian bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities...
s and taking revenge on his floggers.
The ballad was most probably sung to the tune of the old Irish rebel song Skibbereen
Skibbereen (song)
Skibbereen, also known as Dear Old Skibbereen, is an Irish folk song, in the form of a dialogue wherein a father tells his son about the Irish famine, being evicted from their home, and the need to flee as a result of the Young Ireland rebellion of 1848.-History:The first known publication of the...
, Charles MacAlister in his Old Pioneering Days in the Sunny South (1907) gives the tune as Irish Molly Oh
Lyrics
One version of the traditional lyrics is shown below.Come gather round and listen lads, and hear me tell m' tale,
How across the sea from England I was condemned to sail.
The jury found me guilty, and then says the judge, says he,
Oh for life, Jim Jones, I'm sending you across the stormy sea.
But take a tip before you ship to join the iron gang,
Don't get too gay in Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
, or else you'll surely hang.
Or else you'll surely hang, he says, and after that, Jim Jones,
Way up high upon yon gallows tree, the crows will pick your bones.
Our ship was high upon the seas when pirates came along,
But the soldiers on our convict ship were full five hundred strong;
They opened fire and so they drove that pirate ship away
But I'd rather joined that pirate ship than gone to Botany Bay.
With the storms a-raging round us, and the winds a-blowing gales
I'd rather drowned in misery than gone to New South Wales.
There's no time for mischief there, remember that, they say
Oh they'll flog the poaching out of you down there in Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
.
Day and night in irons clad we like poor galley slaves
Will toil and toil our lives away to fill dishonored graves;
But by and by I'll slip m' chains and to the bush I'll go
And I'll join the brave bushrangers there, Jack Donahue
Jack Donahue
Jack Donohue was a bushranger in Australia. He had numerous ballads written about him, including Bold Jack Donahue.Jack Donahue was born in Dublin in 1806...
and Co.
And some dark night all is right and quiet in the town,
I'll get the bastards one and all, I'll gun the floggers down.
I'll give them all a little treat, remember what I say
And they'll yet regret they sent Jim Jones in chains to Botany Bay.
Recordings
- Ewan MacCollEwan MacCollEwan MacColl was an English folk singer, songwriter, socialist, actor, poet, playwright, and record producer. He was married to theatre director Joan Littlewood, and later to American folksinger Peggy Seeger. He collaborated with Littlewood in the theatre and with Seeger in folk music...
, "Jim Jones at Botany Bay" (on "Convicts and Currency Lads" 1957) - Marian Henderson, "Jim Jones of Botany Bay" (PIX magazine EP, 1964)
- A. L. LloydA. L. LloydAlbert Lancaster Lloyd , usually known as A. L. Lloyd or Bert Lloyd, was an English folk singer and collector of folk songs, and as such was a key figure in the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s....
, "Jim Jones at Botany Bay" (on "The Great Australian Legend" 1971) - Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, "Jim Jones" (on Good as I Been to YouGood as I Been to YouGood as I Been to You is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 28th studio album, released by Columbia Records in November 1992.It is composed entirely of traditional folk songs and covers, and is Dylan's first entirely solo, acoustic album since Another Side of Bob Dylan in 1964...
, 1992) - Martin CarthyMartin CarthyMartin Carthy MBE is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and later artists such as Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days...
, "Jim Jones in Botany Bay" (on Signs of LifeSigns of Life- Film :* Signs of Life , by Werner Herzog* Signs of Life , a U.S. film- Literature :* Signs of Life by M...
, 1999) - Martyn Wyndham-Reed, "Jim Jones at Botany Bay" (on Undiscovered Australia, 19xx)
- The Currency, "Jim Jones" (on "888Eight-hour dayThe eight-hour day movement or 40-hour week movement, also known as the short-time movement, had its origins in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where industrial production in large factories transformed working life and imposed long hours and poor working conditions. With working conditions...
", 2008) - Mawkin:CausleyJim CausleyJim Causley is an English folk singer, songwriter, and musician from Whimple, East Devon, England.-Biography:Jim Causley is a folk singer and musician from Devon who specializes in the traditional songs and music of the West Country and Devon in particular...
, "Botany Bay" (on Cold Ruin, 2008) - Mick Thomas and the Sure Thing, "Jim Jones at Botany Bay" (on Dead Set Certainty, 1999)