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Margaret Walters - Labouring With The Hoe

from The People Have Songs - Volume 2 by Various Artists

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about

These words were written by a spirited Irish convict, well-known in Australia’s penal colonies as Frank the Poet. In between collecting fine traditional material for her solo albums Margaret assembled the tune from folk sources.

lyrics

I was convicted by the laws
Of England’s hostile crown
Conveyed across those swelling seas
In slavery’s fetters bound
Forever banished from that shore
Where love and friendship grow
That loss of freedom to deplore
And work the labouring hoe

Despised rejected and oppressed
In tattered rags I’m clad
What anguish fills my aching breast
And drives me almost mad
When I hear the settler’s threatening voice
Say “Arise to labour go!
Take scourging convict for your choice
Or work the labouring hoe

Growing weary from compulsive toil
Beneath the noontide sun
While drops of sweat bedew the soil
My task remains undone
I’m flogged for wilful negligence
Or the tyrant calls it so
Oh what a doleful recompense
For labouring with the hoe

Behold yon lofty woodbine hills
Where the rose in the morning shines
Those crystal brooks that do distil
And mingle with those vines
There seems to me no pleasure gained
They but augment my woe
While here an outcast doomed to live
And work the labouring hoe

You generous sons of Erin’s isle
Whose heart for glory burns
Pity a wretched exile
Who his long-lost country mourns
Restore me heaven to liberty
Whilst I lie here below
Untie this clue of bondage
And release me from the hoe!

credits

from The People Have Songs - Volume 2, released August 14, 2020
words by Francis MacNamara
sung by Margaret Walters

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all rights reserved

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about

Miguel Heatwole image

Miguel Heatwole Sydney, Australia

Miguel’s a versatile singer, choral director & composer. His interests include folk & world music, political satire, the environment, trade unionism & the responsible enjoyment of alcohol. His songwriting embraces themes like peace & justice, the family cat, & visceral passionate attraction. His enthusiasm for recording community singing has let many people share the power of their songs. ... more

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