G'day Landlady's Daughter,

I guess that most readers will miss the gentle irony of Mick's remark: His father was an Irish immigrant who was particularly proud of the fact that he had not been assisted in any way in coming to Australia.

By the time John Meredith collected this song (~ late 1950s) Australia was "assisting" migrants ... usually English ... to Australia, so that they had only to pay £10 for their passage (about US$30 at the time). These New Australians were commonly referred to as "Ten pound Poms" by the locals.

Mick's Dad uses that, ironically, to echo the earlier "assistance" to our Irish, up the late 1860s ... transportation as convicts ... notionally for 'crimes' against the state, but ultimately for being poor Irish, in a land occupied and plundered ... and either acting in rebellion, or stealing to keep their families alive.

Regards,

Bob Bolton (whose only traceable Irish ancestor ... appears to have been Ned Kelly's aunt!)