"Botany Bay" is a song that can be traced back to the musical burlesque, ''

Little Jack Sheppard ''Little Jack Sheppard'' is a Victorian burlesque, burlesque melodrama written by Henry Pottinger Stephens and William Yardley (cricketer), William Yardley, with music by Meyer Lutz, with songs contributed by Florian Pascal,Florian Pascal was a ps ...

'', staged at the

Gaiety Theatre, London The Gaiety Theatre was a West End theatre in London, located on Aldwych at the eastern end of the Strand. The theatre was first established as the Strand Musick Hall in 1864 on the former site of the Lyceum Theatre. In 1868, it became known a ...

, England, in 1885 and in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, in 1886. The show was written by

Henry Pottinger Stephens Henry Pottinger Stephens, also known as Henry Beauchamp (1851 – 11 February 1903), was an English dramatist and journalist. After beginning his career writing for newspapers, Stephens began writing Victorian burlesques in the 1870s in coll ...

and

William Yardley William Yardley (1632 – 6 May 1693) was an early settler of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and is the namesake of the borough of Yardley, Pennsylvania. As a persecuted Quaker minister, Yardley and his wife, Jane ( nee Heath) moved from Ranscloug ...

, with music composed and arranged by

Wilhelm Meyer Lutz Wilhelm Meyer Lutz (19 May 1829 – 31 January 1903) was a German-born British composer and conductor who is best known for light music, musical theatre and Victorian burlesque, burlesques of well-known works. Emigrating to the UK at the age of ...

. The show's programme credits "Botany Bay" as "Old Air arr. Lutz". Sheet music from Allan & Co. in Australia credits Florian Pascal, the pseudonym of Joseph Williams Jr. (1847–1923), a music publisher and composer who published the show's music. Pascal composed other numbers in the score but received no credit for "Botany Bay" in the programme.

Earlier history

The song's earlier history is less clear. A song "Botany Bay", catalogued by the British Library as from the 1780s and described as "sung by the

Anacreontic Society The Anacreontic Society was a popular gentlemen's club of amateur musicians in London founded in the mid-18th century. These barristers, doctors, and other professional men named their club after the Greek court poet Anacreon, who lived in the 6th ...

", has no obvious connection, being concerned with

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

's landing rather than the subsequent deportation of convicts. However, the song's verses have lines in common with ''Farewell to Judges and Juries'' which had been performed in 1820. As for the melody, ''The Era'' (London) of 25 October 1890 describes it as "written over a hundred years ago", and it appears to have been adapted from the folk song "Mush, Mush", with its refrain "Mush, mush, mush, turaliaddy! Sing, mush, mush, mush, turalia!". Black-eyed Sue and Sweet Poll of Plymouth taking leave of their lovers who are going to Botany Bay

Black-eyed Sue and Sweet Poll of Plymouth taking leave of their lovers who are going to Botany Bay

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...

was the designated settlement for the first fleet when it arrived in Australia in the eighteenth century. It was a settlement intended for the transport of convicts to Australia. The song describes the period in the late 18th and 19th centuries, when British convicts were deported to the various

Australian penal colonies Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

by the British government for seven-year terms as an alternative to incarceration in Britain. The second verse is about life on the convict ships, and the last verse is directed to English girls and boys as warning not to steal. After the production of ''Little Jack Sheppard'', the song became a popular folk song and has been sung and recorded by

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American musician, actor, and author with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his own rad ...

and many others. It is played as a children's song on compilations, particularly in Australia. The song is referenced in various documentaries researching the transport of convicts to Australia, although that practice in New South Wales had ended in 1840, 45 years before the song was written.

Lyrics

There are no "official" lyrics to "Botany Bay" and slight variations can be found in different sources and by different performers. } Farewell to old England for ever, Farewell to my rum coesalso "rum skulls" as well, Farewell to the well-known Old Bailey Where I used forsometimes "Where I once used to…" to cut such a swell. ''Chorus:'' Singing too-ral-li, oo-ral-li, addity, Singing too-ral-li, oo-ral-li, ay, Singing too-ral-li, oo-ral-li, addity, And we're bound for Botany Bay. There's the captain as is our commander, There's the bo'sun and all the ship's crew, There's the first- and the second-class passengers, Knows what we poor convicts go through. 'Taint leaving old England we cares about, 'Taint cos we mis-spells what we knows, But because all we light-fingered gentry Hops around with a log on our toes. These seven long years I've been serving nowsometimes "For seven long years I'll be staying here…" And seven long more have to staysometimes "For seven long years and a day…" All for bashing a bloke down our alleysometimes "Just for meeting a bloke…" And taking his ticker away. Oh, had I the wings of a turtle-dove, I'd soar on my pinions so high, Straight backalso "Slap bang…" to the arms of my Polly love, And in her sweet presence I'd die. Now all my young Dookies and Duchesses, Take warning from what I've to say: Mind all is your own as you toucheses Or you'll find us in Botany Bay.

Covers

The song "Toorali" on the 2008 album '' Summerland'' from Australian band The Herd uses an adapted excerpt from the song "Botany Bay" for its chorus and main verse. Another song titled "Toorali" by Australian post-hardcore band Eleventh He Reaches London uses parts of the song's chorus, appearing on their 2009 album '' Hollow Be My Name''. A verse and chorus of the song can also be heard sung by Deborah Kerr,

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...

, Peter Ustinov, and

Glynis Johns Glynis Margaret Payne Johns (born 5 October 1923) is a South African-born British former actress, dancer, musician and singer. Recognised as a film and Broadway icon, Johns has a career spanning eight decades, in which she appeared in more than ...

in the 1960 film '' The Sundowners''.

Kate Rusby Kate Anna Rusby (born 4 December 1973) is an English folk singer-songwriter from Penistone, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Sometimes called the "Barnsley Nightingale", she has headlined various British folk festivals, and is one of the be ...

covered the song for her 1999 album '' Sleepless''. Australian singer Mirusia with Dutch violinist

André Rieu André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu (; is a Dutch violinist and conductor best known for creating the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra. Rieu and his orchestra have turned classical and waltz music into a worldwide concert touring act. He r ...

performed the song on their album ''

Waltzing Matilda "Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem". The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing) ...

'' in 2008. The song can also be heard being sung by itinerant Australian shearers in the US TV miniseries '' The Thorn Birds'' (1983)., in ''The Thorn Birds''

References

External links

* {{authority control 1885 songs Australian folk songs Australian poems Botany Bay Songs about boats Songs about Australia Songs about crime Songs about criminals