In 1803 we sailed out to sea

Out from the sweet town of Derry

For Australia bound if we didn't all drown

And the marks of our fetters we carried

In rusty iron chains we sighed for our wains

Our good women we left in sorrow

As the mainsails unfurled, our curses we hurled

On the English, and thoughts of tomorrow



Chorus:

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

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



At the mouth of the Foyle, bid farewell to the soil

As down below decks we were lying

O'Doherty screamed, woken out of a dream

By a vision of bold Robert dying

The sun burned 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 meet their receiver



I cursed them to hell as her bow fought the swell

Our ship danced like a moth in the firelight

White horses rode high as the devil passed by

Taking souls to Hades by twilight

Five weeks out to sea, we were now forty-three

Our comrades we buried each morning

And in our own slime we were lost in a time

Of endless nights without dawning



Van Diemen's land is a 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, I've ended my bond

My comrades ghosts walk behind me

A rebel I came - I'm still the same

On the cold winters night you will find me