BILLY MACLEAN - © Dennis O'Keeffe 1992, tune James Connolly

Audio

Where, oh where is young Billy McLean,
Where, oh where is that gallant man,
He's gone to organise the union,
That working men they might yet be free.

Then who, then who will lead the van,
Then who, then who will lead the van,
Then who, but our young Billy,
The hero of the working man.

Where, oh where, have our shearers gone,
Where, oh where, is that gallant band,
They've gone to fight for the workers union,
That working men they might yet be free.

Who carried no gun when they shot him down,
Who carried no gun when they shot him down,
Who, but our young Billy,
To Goulburn Jail they sentenced him.

This wounded man could not survive,
This innocent man could not survive,
They sent him home to his lonely mother,
And lay him in his bed to die.

Who mourns the death of this great man,
Who mourns the death of this great man,
Oh bury him down, in yon green garden,
With union men on every side.

So they buried him down, in yon green garden,
With union men on every side,
And they swore they would form a mighty union,
That young Bill's name might be filled with pride.


The song is on his CD "Matilda in a Tucker Bag"

Dennis writes
"Billy McLean was shot by a scab one week before the legendary Swagman Samuel Hoffmeister died at the fourmile billabong during the 1894 shearers strike. Both men lost their lives fighting for the rights of Australian workers."