Tommy Makem – Botany Bay Lyrics

Chorus:
Farewell to your bricks and mortar, farewell to your dirty lime
Farewell to your gangers and gangplanks and to hell with your overtime
For the good ship Raggamuffin is lying at the quay
For to take old Pat, with a shovel on his back
To the shores of Botany Bay

I'm on my way down to the quay, where the ship and anchor lay
To command a gang of navvies that they told me to engage
I thought I would stop in for awhile before I went away
For to take a trip on an emigrant ship to the shores of Botany Bay

The boss comes up this morning and he says to me "hello
If you don't mix your mortar right, I'm afraid you'll have to go"
Well, since he did insult me, I demanded all my pay
And I told him straight I was going to emigrate to the shores of Botany Bay

And when I reach Australia, I'll go and dig for gold
There's plenty there for the digging up or so I have been told
Or else I'll go back to my trade and a hundred bricks I'll lay
Eight bob I'll lift for an eight hour shift on the shores of Botany Bay