G'day

Since the most difficult heritage to preserve is the non-tangible, my introduction to the list is also a record for posterity of a 19th Century sea-shanty:

     In South Australia I was born - 
     Heave away! haul away!
     South Australia round Cape Horn,
     Bound for South Australia.

     Heave away you ruler kings -
     Heave away, haul away,
     Heave away, you'll hear me sing,
     Bound for South Australia.

     There's one thing there that grieves my mind -
     It's leaving nancy Blair behind.

     I'll tell you the truth and tell you no lie -
     I'll love that girl till the day I die.

     As I was walloping around Cape Horn -
     I'd wished to God, I'd never been born.

     And now I'm on a foreign strand -
     With a bottle of whisky in my hand.

     I'll drink one glass to the foreign shore -
     And another to the girl that I adore.

     Fare thee well, and fare thee well -
     And sweet news to my girl I'll tell.

With thanks to the Bushwhackers who reintroduced many Australians to the delights of the old folk tunes.  Lyrics published in "The Bushwhackers Australian Song Book, Eds. Jan Wositzky and Dobe Newton, Publ. Anne O'Donovan Pty Ltd, 1978.

Cheers

david