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A ballad about Bold Jack Donahue, the Australian bushranger who escaped the hangman's noose - not once but twice, and was eventually shot dead in a gun battle with the horse police in 1830. The original Wild Colonial Boy, he was so famous in his day that the authorities banned the singing of songs about him, which is why all songs about the Wild Colonial Boy have characters in them with the initials J.D......... Violin by Jessie Morgan

lyrics

================ LYRICS =================
Bold Jack Donahue
(Traditional)
----------------------------------
[ V.1 ]
“ In Dublin Town I was brought up, that city of great fame,
My friends and my relations they will tell to you the same ;
It was for the sake of five hundred pounds I was sent across the main,
To spend my life in New South Wales and wear a convict's chain. ”
-----------------------------------------------------
[ V.2 ]
“ I'd scarce been there twelve months or more upon the Australian shore,
When I took to the highway as I'd oft-times done before,
There was me and Jacky Underwood, and Webber and Walmsley too,
These were the brave associates of bold Jack Donahue. ”
-----------------------------------------------------
[ V.3 ]
Now Donahue was taken all for a notorious crime,
And sentenced to be hanged upon the gallows tree so high,
But when they came to Sydney gaol, he left them in a stew
For when they came to call the roll, they missed Jack Donahue.
-----------------------------------------------------
[ V.4 ]
When Donahue made his escape, to the bush he went straightway,
The squatters they were all afraid to travel by night or day,
For every day in the newspaper they brought out something new,
Concerning that bushranger called bold Jack Donahue.
-----------------------------------------------------
[ V.5 ]
As Donahue was cruising one summer's afternoon,
Listening to the kookaburras, their happy laughing tune,
A sergeant of the horse police discharged his carabine,
And called aloud on Donahue to fight or to resign.
-----------------------------------------------------
[ V.6 ]
"Resign to you, you cowardly dogs, a thing I’ll never do,
For I'll fight this night with all my might ", cried bold Jack Donahue,
" I'd rather roam the bush so wild like a dingo or kangaroo,
Than work one hour for government ", cried bold Jack Donahue.
-----------------------------------------------------
[ V.7 ]
He fought six rounds with the horse police until that fatal ball,
Which pierced his heart and made him start, caused Donahue to fall,
And as he closed his mournful eyes, he bid this world adieu,
Saying, "Convicts all, pray for the soul, of bold Jack Donahue".
===========================================

credits

from Convicts and Bushrangers, track released November 20, 2019
Traditional. Violin by Jessie Morgan

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The Queensland Tiger

The Queensland Tiger covers traditional Australian ballads mainly from 19C.: e.g. Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson, Breaker Morant, Charles Thatcher, etc…. true to the original works.
website : www.thequeenslandtiger.com or Youtube channel : The Queensland Tiger ... more

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