G'day all,

I'm hoping that someone with a deep and distant knowledge of the Irish tradition (like, say, Liam's Brother) might know of a song called The Exile's Lament. A friend asked me about it after reading that it was sung in Sydney, in 1800, by a ship's captain and it moved his Irish crew to tears.

At first (before checking the dates) I thought of a local song The Exile of Erin, a rather wordy piece published in the Sydney Gazette in 1829. This version is clearly written by someone of Irish sympathies and real experience of forced labour in the clearing of the outer parts of convict era Sydney. I understand that it is based on an earlier model - presumably known in Ireland - and it is possible that this could also be known as The Exile's Lament.

I got no joy from DigiTrad with a general search for "Exile", so it is not there under either name. The tune, at least, must be found in printed literature as the Australian folklorist Ron Edwards set the Sydney Gazette words to a tune of the same name (which he presumably located during the 1950s). Ron is a few thousand kilometres away to the north of here and doesn't dabble with these new-fangled InterNet gadgets, so it may be some time before I can get an answer from him and I'm hoping for a strong response from the Irish Brigade!

Regards,

Bob Bolton