1. Come and listen for a momentlads
And hear me tell my tale.
How across the sea from England
I was condemned to sail.
Now the jury found me guilty
Then says the judgesays he
"Ohfor lifeJim JonesI m sending you
Across the stormy sea.
But take a tip before you ship
To join the iron gang.
Don t get too gay in Botany Bay
Or else you ll surely hang.
Or else you ll surely hang" says he.
"And after thatJim Jones
It s high above on the gallows tree
The crows will pick your bones."
2. And our ship was high upon the sea
Then pirates came along
But the soldiers on our convict ship
Were full five hundred strong.
For they opened fire and somehow drove
That pirate ship away.
But I d rather have joined that pirate ship
Tan gone to Botany Bay.
With the storms ragin round us
And the winds a-blowin gale
I d rather have drowned in misery
Than gone to New South Wales.
3. Now it s day and night and the irons clang
And like poor galley slaves
We toil and toiland when we die
Must fill dishonored graves
And it s by and by I ll slip my chains
Wellinto the bush I ll go
And I ll join the bravest rankers there
Jack Donohue and co.
And some dark nightwhen everything
Is silent in the town
I ll shoot those tyrants one and all
I ll gun the flogger down.
OhI ll give the land a little shock
Remember what I say
And they ll yet regret they ve sent Jim Jones
In chains to Botany Bay.
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