John Warner 1994
Warner says this basic story happened “frequently”. This particular group helped a rich explorer named Pawe? Strzelecki in 1840, and if not for the convicts and his Koori guide Charlie Tarra he would have died. They were later pardoned, likely with his assistance. Nancy Kerr & James Fagan: https://kerrfagan.bandcamp.com/track/andersons-coast and John Roberts John Roberts – Anderson’s Coast, 3/25/12 have slightly different harmonies on the “return to thee” line of the chorus but both are good.
Old Bass Strait roars like a great mill race And where are you, my Annie? And the same moon shines on this distant place As shone that night on my Annie’s face. Chorus And Annie dear, don’t wait for me, I fear I’ll never return to thee. There’s naught to do but endure my fate And watch the moon, the lonely moon, Light the breakers of wild Bass Strait. We stole a vessel and all her gearÿ And from Van Diemen’s north did steer Till Bass Strait’s wild waves, they wrecked us here. A mile inland as our path was laid We found a government stockade, Long, long deserted, but stoutly made. And somewhere’s west port Melbourne lies Through swamps infested with snakes and flies And the fool who walks there, the fool he dies. We hail no ships, though time it drags, For our chain gang roll and government rags, They mark us out as Van Diemen’s lags. We fled the lash and the chafing chain, We fled starvation and brutal pain, But here we are, and here remain.