William Crighton - Killara Lyrics

Arrested on the streets of Glascow
His majesty a debt I owe
They threw me onto the Fortune
And I lagged into Sydney cove
I felt the cat of nine tails
Before my feet hit the yellow sand
With boots full of blood
I trod onto a strange land

They called her Mary
She don't speak the keeper said
Cleans the cabins and the stables
Brings the water and the bread
The Grunters got her in the mountains
Dragged her down to the lodging slum
Now she remains silent
Amongst the grunts and the spilled rum

Black fulla come to stop them once
So they tied him to the scraggin' pole
Three hundred lashes
But they couldn't kill his soul
Mary was wailing
Smacking herself with stones
The grunters burned his body
And for the night left her alone

They put me on the iron gang
The stock of the colony
Need a road over the mountains
And in a few years you might be free
Breaking stones and building
Dyin' every day
Shackled round my ankles

She was coming with he water
The Grunters were all drunk
When they saw her coming
They chained our gang to a red gum stump
And then a Grunter named Jackson
Started tugging at her clothes
She remained silent
Kept walking like water flows

And then Jackson got his musket
Cracked it across her back
And the Grunters all took turns on her
Until they passed out on the track
No rain had yet fallen
Thunder roared all around
Mary lay in the dirt
Bloody
Face up to the dark cloud

And then lightning struck an Iron Bark
Lit the scrub down underneath
Me and the gang were still chained up
And the Grunters still asleep
I watched the fire roll over them
I could feel the blisters on my head
Then from through the flames
She rode on Jackson's thoroughbred

Her name is Killara
She's the river and the wind
And she moves through the bloodwoods
And the fire is her friend

Her name is Killara
She's the river and the wind
And she moves through the bloodwoods
And the fire is a friend

And if you're ever in the Watagans
You can hear her voice
Singing out the truth for you
Leaving you with a choice