52 - Good Ship Ragamuffin / Shores of Botany Bay

Words: Traditional
Tune: Traditional

This Irish classic is sung from the perspective of an Irish labourer, preparing to depart for Australia. Some people sing "immigrant ship" instead of "emigrant ship" - we are using "emigrant" to reflect the perspective of the character.

Following folk tradition, we suggest pronouncing "quay" to rhyme with "bay". If you're singing-along please follow the pronunciation of whoever is leading the song.

I’m on me way down to the quay
Where the ship at anchor lays
To command a gang of navvies there
They told me to engage
I thought I’d drop in for a drink before I sailed away
For to take a trip on an emigrant ship
To the shores of Botany Bay

Farewell to your bricks and mortar
Farewell to your dirty lime
Farewell to your gangway and your gangplanks
And to hell with your overtime
For the good ship Ragamuffin
Is lying at the quay
For to take old Pat with a shovel on his back
To the shores of Botany Bay

The boss came up this morning
And he says, “Well, Pat, you know
That if you don’t mix that mortar quick
I’m afraid you’ll have to go”
Well, of course he did insult me
So I demanded all me pay
And I told him straight I was gonna emigrate
To the shores of Botany Bay

Farewell to your bricks and mortar…

And when I reach Australia
I’ll go and search for gold
There’s plenty there for digging up
Or so I have been told
And when I’ve made me fortune
There’ll be no more bricks to lay
I’ll take me ease doing what I please
On the shores of Botany Bay

Farewell to your bricks and mortar
Farewell to your dirty lime
Farewell to your gangway and your gangplanks
And to hell with your overtime
For the good ship Ragamuffin
Is lying at the quay
For to take old Pat with a shovel on his back
To the shores of Botany Bay