A Tale They Won't Believe

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 were 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

When the sun came up next morning
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

Our five of us were nervous
And I'll tell you, that's a fact
But you should've 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 starving
And for food we're at a loss
We were hungry men with murder on our minds

So that night, we made 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

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 Tiers
A country full of tasty game, for us it held no cheer
We had no guns, we were travelling without hope

The axe had loomed so ominous
And God's hand was at play
The sick man is the type of game that cannot 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
Can't say that I feel guilty, after all it wasn't me

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

The three of us kept moving
One was fading fast
He'd been bitten by a snake, and you could see he would not last
Stay easy, my good man, your time's at hand

When he could last no longer
His days were fading fast
We were far too weak to carry him
Subsistency comes first
Stay easy, my good 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
It was a messy job
But it was one we had to do

When the sun came up next day, guess what
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'd been looking at me funny
Sort of eyeing me for days
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 once wielded now was mine

So that night, I made a fire, out of twigs and out of bark
And my stomach, it kept rumbling
Out through the night, so dark
Can't say that I enjoyed it
It wasn't exactly fun

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's 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

They thought I was covering
For my mates, still at large
That they'd be roaming in the bush
So wild and free
And back to Old Macquarie Harbour they sent me

But I remember, 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

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
When I get down
When I get down to Hobart Town