The Ballad of the Kelly Gang

This is one of several songs about Ned Kelly and his gang, particularly the 1878 robbery at Euroa. It is sung to the tune of The Wearing of the Green.

Folklorist Warren Fahey collected the song in 1973 from 92-year-old Joe Watson in Caringbah, New South Wales.

Here is me singing the song and here are the lyrics.

The Streets of Forbes

This is one of a number of songs written about the Australian bushranger, Ben Hall, who was born in northern New South Wales in 1837 to ex-convict parents. He supposedly became an outlaw only after being unjustly imprisoned, and is generally viewed as an Australian version of Robin Hood. He was arrested twice for giving assistance to the notorious bushranger, Frank Gardiner, but was acquitted. After a marriage break-up he took over the gang Gardiner left behind when he fled to Queensland. In October, 1863, a member of his gang, Bourke, who was only 17 when he joined the gang, was killed during an atttack on the house of Henry Knightly, a gold warden and police magistrate, and then in November, another member, O'Meally, was shot dead by David Henry Campbell, whose homestead they attacked. Another member, Vane, was so upset that he gave himself up to a Catholic priest and was sentenced to fifteen years. The other member, Gilbert, left for a while but was back with Hall the following year with a new member, John Dunn. They held up travellers on the road between Sydney and Melbourne. The New South Wales Government, angry at the failure of the police to capture the three outlaws, passed an act allowing them to be shot on sight if they refused to surrender. The police surrounded Hall near Forbes, on the Lachlan River, and killed him. He was 28 years old and was not known to have killed any of his victims. Gilbert was shot in 1865 at the home of John Dunn's grandfather. Dunn escaped, but was caught and hanged in 1866.

Billy Dargin was an Aboriginal tracker who worked with the police. He was poisoned some years later, supposedly by friends of Ben Hall.

The lyrics, and possibly the melody, of this song were written by Hall's brother-in-law, who saw his body dragged through the town.

By the way, a "prad" just means a horse.

Here is my performance of the song, and here are the lyrics.

The Wild Colonial Boy

The origins of this outlaw ballad are obscure, though valiant attempts have been made to find the identity of Australia's second best-known bushranger (after Ned Kelly). The first written version of this song dates from 1881, and the main character is known variously as Jack Doolan, Jack Dowling and Jack Duggan.

Here are the lyrics.