"The Shores Of Botany Bay" lyrics

"The Shores Of Botany Bay"

I'm on me way down to the quay
Where the ship at anchor lays
To command a gang of navvies there
They told me to engage
I thought I'd drop in for a drink
Before I sailed away
For to take a trip on an immigrant ship
To the shores of Botany Bay

Farewell to your bricks and mortar
Farewell to your dirty lime
Farewell to your gangway and your gangplank
And to Hell with your overtime
For the good ship Ragamuffin
She's lying at the quay
For to take old Pat with a shovel on his back
To the shores of Botany Bay

The best years of our lives we spent
Working on the docks
Building mighty wharves and piers
From earth and ballast rocks
Our pensions keep our jobs secure
But I won't rue the day
When I'll take a trip on an immigrant ship
To the shores of Botany Bay

Farewell to your bricks and mortar
Farewell to your dirty lime
Farewell to your gangway and your gangplank
And to Hell with your overtime
For the good ship Ragamuffin
She's lying at the quay
For to take old Pat with a shovel on his back
To the shores of Botany Bay

The boss comes up this morning
And he says, "Well, Pat, you know
That if you don't mix that mortar quick
I'm afraid you'll have to go"
Well, of course he did insult me
So I demanded all me pay
And I told him straight I was going to emigrate
To the shores of Botany Bay

Farewell to your bricks and mortar
Farewell to your dirty lime
Farewell to your gangway and your gangplank
And to Hell with your overtime
For the good ship Ragamuffin
She's lying at the quay
For to take old Pat with a shovel on his back
To the shores of Botany Bay

And when I reach Australia
I'll go and search for gold
There's plenty there for digging up
Or so I have been told
And when I've made me fortune
There'll be no more bricks to lay
I'll take me ease doing what I please
On the shores of Botany Bay

Farewell to your bricks and mortar
Farewell to your dirty lime
Farewell to your gangway and your gangplank
And to Hell with your overtime
For the good ship Ragamuffin
She's lying at the quay
For to take old Pat with a shovel on his back
To the shores of Botany Bay

Farewell to your bricks and mortar
Farewell to your dirty lime
Farewell to your gangway and your gangplank
And to Hell with your overtime
For the good ship Ragamuffin
She's lying at the quay
For to take old Pat with a shovel on his back
To the shores of Botany Bay


Writer(s): Dp, George Millar
You May Also Like
Stan Rogers - "Take It From Day To Day" Well, it's not the hours of watch-on-watch And it's not the work that I mind so much Or the long cold miles from my lover's touch 'Though for sure she's far away No stranger, I, to the touch of...
Ye Banished Privateers - "Fire Down Below" When I was young, yes just a lad, me father told me son, Ye have te promise never ever a sailor to become. Upon our family befallen, has an awful curse, And if ye try te fight yer fate, yeah'll only...
The Rumjacks - "Uncle Tommy" Early one November me Uncle Tommy joined the army Kitted him out for danger and ferried him o'er the sea He threw me o'er his shoulder, sang to me a dirty ditty Telling me when I were older "you'll...
Flogging Molly - "What's Left Of The Flag" His eyes they closed And his last breath spoke He had seen all to be seen A life once full, now an empty vase Wilt the blossoms on his early grave Walk away me boy Walk away me boy And by morning...
The Dreadnoughts - "Randy Dandy-Oh" Now we are ready to head for the Horn Weigh, hey, roll an' go! Our boots an' our clothes boys are all in the pawn To be rollickin' randy dandy O! Heave a pawl, oh, heave away Weigh, hey, roll and...