An Cat Dubh

Lyrics to Back Home In Derry

Strophe:

A C

In eighteen o4three we sailed out to sea

G D a

Out from the sweet town of Derry

A C

For Australia bound if we didn4t all drown

G D a

The marks of our fetters we carried

D C

In our rusty iron chains we cried for our weans

D e

Our good women we left in sorrow

A C

As the main sails unfurled wild curses we hurled

G D a

On the English and thoughts of tomorrow

At the mouth of the Foyle bid farewell to the soil

As down below deck we were lying

O4Doherty screamed woken out of a dream

By a vision of Bold Robert dying

The sun burnt us cruel as we dished out the gruel

Dan O`Connor was down with a fever

Sixty rebels today bound for Botany Bay

How many will reach their receiver?

Refrain:

C G a G a

Oh oh oh oh I wish I was back home in Derry

Strophe:

I cursed them to hell as our bough fought the swell

Our ship danced like moth in the firelight

White horses rode high as the devil passed by

Taking souls to Hades by twilight

Fve weeks out to sea we were now fourty-three

We buried our comrades each morning

In our own slime we were lost in a time

Endless night without dawning

Van Diemen4s Land is the hell for a man

To live out his whole life in slavery

Where the climate is raw and the gun makes the law

Neither wind nor rain care for bravery

Twenty years have gone by and I4ve ended me bond

My comrades ghosts walk behind me

A rebel I came and I4m still the same

On the cold winds of night you will find me