Van Diemen's Land Lyrics as follows: (To the tune; THE STAR OF THE COUNTY DOWN) VAN DIEMEN'S LAND Come on ye gallant poachers that ramble void o' care That waltz out on a moonlit night with dog and gun and snare The harmless hare and pheasant, boys, ye have at your command Never thinking that you'll be transported to Van Diemen's Land For fourteen years and longer, I've been a poacher bold I was aye stout and sturdy and I never felt the cold One night I went to Ben-a-Bhuird, my gun into my hand And the last thing on my mind was sailing to Van Diemen's Land But waiting for to capture me, six keepers in a row They've caught me and they've tied me, my luck to overthrow They marched me off to Aberdeen, my trial for to stand And the next day I am on a ship bound for Van Diemen's Land 'Twas in the month of April we were landed on the shore The jailers came around us, full half a score or more They drew us up like horses, and marched us off the sand And yoked us to the ploughs, me boys, to plough Van Diemen's Land. The houses that we dwell in here are made of clod and clay With rotten straw for bedding to end our working day Around our camps are blazing fires, we slumber when we can And we fight the wolves and tigers here, upon Van Diemen's Land Sometimes when I do slumber, I have a pleasant dream That my true love was along wi' me doon by yon purlin' stream In Scotland I am walking with her, walking hand in hand But I wake up broken hearted, here in Van Diemen's Land Here's a hearty health to all my friends that poacher are by name Here's a toast unto the poacher lad when in pursuit of game May they aye be at their liberty, not taken out of hand Lest they be transported here unto Van Diemen's Land Here's a health unto my native land as I look out from the shore And to the bonnie braes o' Mar, for those I'll see no more Fareweel unto the bonnie lass who'll never understand Why I was roughly taken from her to Van Diemen's Land
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