G'day and thanks again,

Martin: Your James Orr certainly fits into the time for the song I am seeking. He would have been about 30 when the song was sung in Sydney - certainly old enough to have been through the '78, spent time in enforced or evasive exile and written about it. If the song is neither of those provided by Frank Maher, I would appreciate your help with the words.

The second of Frank's looks like it may be related to our Australian song and could well be sung to the same tune.

Frank: Thanks for the two sets of words. I think the first, Lament of the Irish Emigrant may be from a little later, possibly the Famine era/goldrush period, but the second certainly fits the tune I have and has a reasonably similar 'style' to it. I wonder if it is the same as the Song of an Exile, by James Orr, that Martin Ryan has in Sparling's Irish Minstrelsy (1888). I shall have to find a library copy - or see what Martin can scan in.

I shall pass on all this to the lady who started this query and hope for even more!

Regards,

Bob Bolton