The Lady Juliana
Sit down beside me Elizabeth Rose
I’ve a story to tell
It’s worth the saying, Elizabeth Rose
Worth the hearing as well
This was not my first home, as well you may know
I was born far away
First set my foot here long ages ago
Seventy years to the day
What I recall of the London Streets
In the year Seventeen Eighty Nine
There was no shelter, little to eat
There was nothing that I could call mine
Apprehended for stealing another girl’s clothes
I was sentenced to sail away
Not twelve years old then, Elizabeth Rose
No older than you are today
Chorus:
I remember the day we sailed away
On the Lady Juliana
It was the whole world to the young Mary Wade
Before we made land in Australia
So we set sail for the end of the world
First ship of the second fleet
A cargo of convicts, all women and girls
Dredged from the city streets
Most had been prostitutes, pickpockets, thieves
Who lived by their wits alone
Though every one had reason to grieve
None of us wept for our home
Though my small crime had brought little more
Than the price of one loaf of bread
If not for the whim of the mad King George
I’d have gone to the gallows instead
And had we stayed, we all would have paid
That same terrible cost
But we landed alive, most did survive,
Only five souls had been lost
Well they may judge us in England today
As the rabble they swept from their land
But I’ll leave it to God on my reckoning day
To say where the fault truly stands
No matter how we try to pretend
We are savage just under our skin
As we see very well in the fine-mannered men
In the court of the English King
The rule of the sea and the law of the land
Are different, as everyone knows
And the oldest profession is much in demand
And so we fared far better than most
Though it is rare for fortune to smile
On those who reach Botany Bay
For Elizabeth Rose, my granddaughter's child
Life is better today
I remember the day we sailed away on the Lady Juliana
It was a new world for the young Mary Wade the day we made land in Australia© 2014 - Kat Eggleston, Paperboat Music, BMI