G'day mikesamwild,

It's one of the great 'Bushranger Songs' ... and has a well documented history back to those who knew Ben Hall. That's why I posted the 'collected' words - in contrast to the version from Trevor Lucas, who was always prone to 're-Englishing' our songs ... in ways that grated with me!

I won't say that John Manifold's published version has to be in its virgin state ... Manifold also had his revisionist tendencies ... and I don't automatically take his versions as "original" ... or even "unmodified". That said, this song, in Manifold's published form, got a lot of singing in the jeady days of the "folk Revival: ... and it's bloody hard to correct even one word in one line nowadays!

Regard(fully),

Bob