Zeitgeist London

By zeitgeistlondon

Bound for Botany Bay

As an expat Aussie living in London (14 years now) and working in criminal law, I'm no stranger to the Old Bailey.

But to my fellow countrymen it has a resonance, of history and the birth of a new colony. This Court was responsible for sentencing a good number of convicts to transportation to New South Wales; and so helped the birth of a nation.

So ingrained is this in Australian folklore, school children still learn this song "Bound for Botany Bay":

Farewell to old England forever!
Farewell to my rum pals as well
Farewell to the well known Old Bailey
Where I used to cut such a swell.

Singing Tooral liooral liaddity,
Singing Tooral liooral liay!
Singing Tooral liooral liaddity,
And we're bound for Botany Bay!

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