The Wild Colonial Boy
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Irish
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
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Lyrics:
There was a wild colonial boy, Jack Duggan was his name.
He was born and raised in Ireland in a place called Castlemaine.
He was his father's only son, his mother's pride and joy
And dearly did his parents love the wild colonial boy.
At the early age of sixteen years, he left his native home
And to Australia's sunny shore he was inclined to roam.
He robbed the rich, he helped the poor, he shot James McAvoy.
A terror to Australia was the wild colonial boy.
One morning on the prairie as Jack he rode along
A listening to the mockingbird a singing a cheerful song
Out stepped a band of troopers, Kelly, Davis and Fitzroy.
They all set out to capture him, the wild colonial boy.
"Surrender now Jack Duggan for you see we're three to one.
Surrender in the Queen's high name for you're a plundering son."
Jack pulled two pistols from his belt and he proudly waved them high.
"I'll fight, but not surrender", said the wild colonial boy.
He fired a shot at Kelly, which brought him to the ground
And turning 'round to Davis, he received a fatal wound.
A bullet pierced his proud young heart from the pistol of Fitzroy
And that was how they captured him, the wild colonial boy.
"The Wild Colonial Boy" is a traditional Irish-Australian ballad of which there are<br> many different versions, the most prominent being the Irish and Australian versions.<br> The original was about Jack Donahue, an Irish rebel who became a convict, then a<br> bushranger and was eventually shot dead by police. This version was outlawed as<br> seditious, so the name in the song was changed to Jack Doolan. The Irish version is<br> about a Jack Duggan, young emigrant who left the town of Castlemaine, County Kerry,<br> Ireland, for Australia in the early 19th century. According to the song, he spent his<br> time "robbing from the rich to feed the poor". In the song, Duggan is fatally wounded<br> in an ambush when he is shot in the heart by Fitzroy.<br> "The Wild Colonial Boy" has been recorded by Dr. Hook, Rolf Harris, Larry Kirwan,<br> John Doyle, The Irish Rovers, The Brothers Four, Mick Maloney and The Clancy Brothers<br> among others and was also featured in the film The Quiet Man. <br>
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