G'day Rob,

I just had a look through my collection and I can't find much written on this song. The earliest reference I have is the 7" ep Ned Kelly 1880 - 1980, 100 Years a Hero, Ned Kelly Centenary Committee, Brickfield Hill, Sydney (BEP001, Bail Records, Sydney South).

This has Redgum singing it and the track is credited (Trad. arranged Redgum). I presume that means that Redgum picked up the words indirectly from some other folkie's rendition of a song heard on an earlier record or at some concert ... presumably a song written by, or set to music by Trevor Lucas.

However this is all supposition as I never dealt directly with Redgum, since they were based in Melbourne. If I run across Warren Fahey, who released their first LP on his Larrikin label, I will see what he remembers of the song - otherwise, I am in the dark!

Regards,

Bob Bolton