Van Dieman's Land Chords

Lyrics & chords

[Verse 1]
[Am]Now [G]come[Am] all you wild and wicked youths,[G]
[Em]wheresoever you [G]may [Am]be
I pray now pay [G]at [Am]tention
[C]and listen [G]unto [Am]me
The fatal [G]awful [Am]transports [C]as
you shall [Em]under[Am]stand
The hardships they do under[G]go upon
[Em]Van [Am]Diemon's Land.

[Verse 2]
My [Am]parents reared me tenderly,
[G]good lea[Em]rning they give to me[Am]
'Til all my [G]bad com[Am]panions
be[C]guiled my [Em]home from [Am]me
I was brought [G]up in [Am]Worcestershire,
near [C]to the [Em]town did [Am]dwell
my name is Henry Ab[G]bott,
and [Em]many knows [G]me [Am]well.

[Verse 3]
Me [Am]and three more went out one
[G]night to [Em]Squire Daniel's [Am]farm
To get some game [G]was [Am]our intent
[C]as the night come [Em]falling [Am]down
But to [G]our sad mis[Am]fortune,
[C]they took us [Em]there with [Am]speed
They sent us off to Warwick [G]jail
which [Em]made our hearts to [Am]bleed.

[Verse 4]
It was [Am]at the March assizes,
[G]at the bar[Em] we did ap p[G]ea[Am]r
Like Job we stood with patience
to [C]hear our [Em]sentence [Am]there
And being some [G]old of[Am]fenders,
it [C]made our [G]case go [Am]hard
Our sentence were for fourteen [G]years,
[Em]and we were sent on [Am]board.

[Verse 5]
The [Am]ship that bore us [G]from the [Em]land,
the [G]Speedwell [Em]was her [Am]name
And for four months and a half we
plowed [Em]across [C]the rag[G]ing mai[Am]n
No land [D]or [G]harbor [Am]could we see,
and be[C]lieve it [Em]is no l[Am]ie
For around us one black [G]water
and above [Em]us one b[G]lue sky.
[Am]

[Verse 6]
I oft- times look behind [G]me to
[Em]wards my nat[G]ive [Am]shore
And that cottage [G]of con[Am]tentment
that [C]I shall see n[Em]o mo[Am]re
Likewise my [G]aged [Am]father,
who [C]tore his [G]hoary [Am]hair[Em]
[Am]Also my tender [G]mother
whose [Em]arms once did [G]me [Am]bear.

[Verse 7]
It was [Am]on the fourth of July,
[G]the day we [Em]made the [G]land[Am]
At four o'c[G]lock we [Am]went on shore,
all [C]chain and [Am]hand in hand
And to see [D]our [G]fellow [Am]sufferers,
I [C]fear I [G]can't tell [Am]how
Some chained unto [G]a harrow,
[Em]and [G]some unt[Em]o a plow.
[Am]

[Verse 8]
So we were marched [G]in to the town
[Em]without no more [Am]delay
And there a gentle[G]man [Am]took me,
[C]a bookkeeper f[G]or to b[Am]e
I took my [G]occu[Am]pation,
my [C]master [G]likes me [Am]well
My [G]joys are [Am]out of measu[G]re,
I'm sure [Em]no one ca[G]n tell.
[Am]

[Verse 9]
He kept a female servant,
[G]Rosanna was her nam[Am]e
For fourteen years a convict,
[C]from Worcester[G]shire [Am]she came
We oft- times [G]tell our [Am]love tales there where
we are so far [G]from [Am]home[Em]
For [Am]now we're rattling of our
[G]chains in [Em]foreign lands to [Am]roam.