We left Macquarie Harbour it was in the pouring rain

none of us quite sure if we would see England again

some fool muttered death or liberty

there was six of us together a jolly hungry crew

and as the days went by you know our hunger quickly grew

some fool muttered death or liberty

So that night we made fires out of twigs and out of bark

and our stomachs they were grumbling all through the night so dark

we were only trying to keep ourselves alive

but when the sun came up next morning well the six had turned to five

And I said, right there’s another one, don’t you frown,

Chew the meat and hold it down, It’s a tale they won’t believe,

When I get down to Hobart town

All five of us were nervous and I'll tell you that’s a fact

bu you should have seen the bastard who was carrying the axe

He was a sick man he had murder in his heart

And then we reached the Franklin River, and it took two days to cross

we were wet and almost starvin’ and for food were at a loss

we were hungry men with murder on our minds.

So that night we made a fire out of twigs and out of bark

and our stomachs they were rumbling all through the night so dark,

And they were making noises the dead could not ignore

and when the sun came up next morning,

the five had turned to four!

And I said, right there’s another one, don’t you frown,

Chew the meat and hold it down, It’s a tale they won’t believe,

When I get down to Hobart town

Well the four of us kept marching to a place called Western Teirs

A country full of tasty game but for us it held no cheer

we had no guns we were traveling without hope.

But the axe it loomed so ominous and God's hand was at play

a sick man is a type of game which can not run away

so stay easy, my poor man, your time's at hand.

So that night we made fires out of twigs and out of bark

and our stomachs they were grumbling all through the night so dark

I can't say I feel guilty, after all it wasn't me

but when the sun came up next morning the four had turned to three

And I said, right there’s another one, don’t you frown,

Chew the meat and hold it down, It’s a tale they won’t believe,

When I get down to Hobart town

well the three of us kept moving but one was fading fast

he had been bitten by a snake and you could see he would not last

stay easy my good man your time is at hand

and when he could last no longer his days were fading fast

we were far to weak to carry him subsistency comes first

stay easy my good man your time is at hand

So that night we made fires out of twigs and out of bark

and our stomachs they were grumbling all through the night so dark

It was a messy job but it was one we had to do

but when the sun came up next morning the three had turned to two

And I said, right there’s another one, don’t you frown,

Chew the meat and hold it down, It’s a tale they won’t believe,

When I get down to Hobart town

Now he had been looking at me funny, sort of eyeing me for days,

And you would not need to be too bright to know that bastard’s ways:

He was a sick man, he had murder in his heart.

But even bastards have to rest, and even bastards have to sleep,

And when he was in the land of Nod straight over I did creep,

and the axe that he had wielded now was mine.

So that night, I made the fire, out of twigs and out of bark,

and my stomach it kept rumbling all through the night so dark.

I can’t say that I enjoyed it, and it wasn’t exactly fun,

but when the sun came up next morning, the two had turned to one!

And I said, right there’s another one, don’t you frown,

Chew the meat and hold it down, It’s a tale they won’t believe,

When I get down to Hobart town

Well now history is a pack of lies, as any fool can tell,

So when I got down to Hobart town I told my story well,

But do you think they would believe one word I said?

For they thought that I was covering for my mates still at large,

Said they’d be roaming in the bush so wild and free,

And back to old Macquarie Harbour they sent me

But I remember the fires made out of twigs and made of bark

and my stomach it was grumbling all through the night so dark

And this young fool he just said to me it's liberty or death

and he looked a rather tasty one, I just could not help it singing

And I said, right there’s another one, don’t you frown,

Chew the meat and hold it down, It’s a tale they won’t believe

When I get down to Hobart town

A tale they won't believe

Chords

em d c d am d em em d c d

based on Australia’s colonial past

a macabre account of escaped men making

their way across Tasmania, resorting to

cannibalism to survive the long trek in the bush.

from a passage in Robert Hughes’ The Fatal Shore