Folk & Traditional Song Lyrics www.traditionalmusic.co.uk Cyprus Brig 
Cyprus Brig 
Poor Tom Brown from Nottingham Jack Williams and poor Joe They were three gallant poacher boys their country well does know And by the laws of the Game Act that you may understand Were fourteen years transported boys unto Van Diemen's Land 
When we landed in this colony to different masters went For little trifling offences boys to Hobart Town gaol were sent Now the second sentence we received and ordered for to be Sent to Macquarie Harbour that place of tyranny 
Down Hobart Town streets we were guarded on the Cyprus Brig conveyed Our topsails they were hoisted boys our anchor it was weighed The wind it blew a nor nor west and on we steered straight way Till we brought her to an anchorage in a place called Research Bay 
Now confined in a dismal hole those lads contrived a plan To take possession of that brig or else die every man The plan it being approved upon we all retired to rest And early next morning boys we put them to the test 
Up steps bold Jack Muldemon his comrades three more We soon disarmed the sentry and left him in his gore Liberty Oh Liberty it's Liberty we crave Deliver up your arms my boys or the sea shall be your grave 
First we landed the soldiers the captain and his crew We gave three cheers for Liberty and soon bid them adieu William Swallows he was chosen our commander for to be We gave three cheers for Liberty and boldly put to sea 
Play on your golden trumpets boys and sound your cheerful notes The Cyprus Brig's on the ocean boys by justice does she float 
The seizure of convict ships by convicts happened a number of times. This particular event occured in August 1829, and a manuscript in the Mitchell Library has a poem of 48 lines that commemorates the seizure. Titled 'Seizure of the Cyprus Brig in Recherche Bay' it is printed in Geoffrey Ingleton's True Patriots All and attributed to Frank MacNamara (Frank the Poet).
 Collected by Lloyd Robson from J.H.Davies of Newtown, Tasmania. MG 
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