Name: Australia
Duration: P00H03M21S
Description: In just four and a half verses 'Australia' gives a very complete account of a young man's drift into crime and the hardship suffered by convicts transported to Australia. I learned this from Bob Hart, another of the great singers who were still around in Suffolk when I lived there.

Australia

from Jewels by Chris Foster

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In just four and a half verses 'Australia' gives a very complete account of a young man's drift into crime and the hardship suffered by convicts transported to Australia. I learned this from Bob Hart, another of the great singers who were still around in Suffolk when I lived there.

lyrics

Come all you good people where so ever you may be
Come listen a while to my story

Now when I was a young man and my age seventeen
I ought to been serving Victoria our queen
But those hard hearted judges O how cruel they have been
To send us poor lads to Australia

I fell in with a damsel she was handsome and gay
I neglected my work more and more every day
And to keep her like a lady I went on the highway
And for that I was sent to Australia

Now the judges they stand with the whips in their hands
And they drive us like horses to plough up the land
You should see us poor young fellows working in that gaol yard
How hard is our fate in Australia

Australia Australia I would never see no more
Worn out by fever cast down to death's door
But should I live to see say seven years more
O I would then bid adieu to Australia

© traditional arranged Chris Foster

credits

from Jewels, track released February 1, 2017
Chris Foster vocal and guitar

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Chris Foster Reykjavik, Iceland

Chris Foster grew up in the south west of England. A master of his trade, he was recently described as “one of the finest singers and most inventive guitar accompanists of English folk songs, meriting legend status.” Over the past 40 years, he has toured throughout the UK, Europe, Canada and the USA. He has recorded six solo albums as well as working on many collaborative projects. ... more

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