Talk:Botany Bay (song)

Public Domain 1885 song
The song is public domain. The reference to one of the sources is acknowledged. DDB (talk) 00:04, 25 January 2008 (UTC)


 * It would be a good idea to bring this song into the Australia Wiki project imho. DDB (talk) 00:33, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

DDB (talk) 19:49, 25 January 2008 (UTC) Posted on my user page in relation to Ssilvers query. "I believe it to be notable as it is considered an Australian classic. I have no particular affection or fondness for the number, other than it being a folk song I was introduced to through schooling in Sydney. It appears in lists of music collaborations of Australian Folk music, and it was on one such item that I recently was reminded of the song. As to the placement in the bio, the song's fame is such that the author probably should have it noted on their page. However I understand that that might seem strange to someone who is unaware of its local impact. I have no desire to get into a dispute over it, however, but I might note that it would have been courteous were you to have expanded on your reasoning at your initial removal. Had you explained the pro forma to me I would not have assumed that you eliminated the reference solely because of my error in date. However, no harm done." One might believe that this referral for deletion on grounds of lack of notability is based on an inflated sense of the proprietary DDB (talk) 10:50, 25 May 2008 (UTC) Google search on Botany Bay Folk SongDDB (talk) 10:54, 25 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks. The fact that you think it is a classic does not establish its fame.  You need to add information from reliable sources WP:RS that establishes that the song is/was popular, like if it had very signicant sales, or is published in numerous collections, or is frequently sung on the radio or other media or events, etc.  Then other editors, and readers in general, can understand, from published sources, why this song is important.  Let me know if you need help organizing the information, once you have done the research and added the information and references.  Best regards, -- Ssilvers (talk) 15:37, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. I'll get started over the next few days .. full time work gets in the way .. DDB (talk) 09:14, 26 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Ssilvers, DDB is right -- We're Bound For Botany Bay is both a 'classic' and 'important'. Every Australian has learned this song at school for a hundred years!  And the people sang it much earlier.  The fact that we, and our sailor and convict ancestors, sing it is what "established it's fame", long before radios, record-sales, media-events and Wikipedia's 'rules' regarding sources.  And in fact, long before Stephens & Yardley for that matter;  for on that, most of the info in this article is simply wrong -- it is a folk song, after all;  and like most, there was no one composer and who did so is simply not known.  The source?  Australian history!  But the lyrics and music clearly denote its origins ~ Irish, Cornish, Scots and Cockney seamen and convicts, both composed it off-the-cuff, in various forms, and made it famous by singing it as they worked.  It coalesced into its roughly current form some time before 1865~70.  But some penny broadsheets, being sold in Sydney Cove and Port Jackson, and Plymouth, Portsmouth and Gosport in England, and carvings in ship-timbers and convict-barracks, show some of the lyrics as far back as 1815!  Stephens & Yardley didn't compose it -- they used it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.181.93.58 (talk) 15:38, 7 December 2016‎

Other versions and songs
Botany Bay is also the title of a song collected in Wiltshire, England in 1898. Perhaps this page can incorporate other versions like this, but I need to do some more research into its origins and relationship to the song that forms the basis for this article. See --Sabrebd (talk) 11:55, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * There's another song of the same name that may be Irish in origin. I'm at least familiar with it from versions by bands that perform Irish music, such as The Dubliners and Blaggards. The lyrics are very different from the one described in the article or linked above. This one has a jaunty tone, suggesting the singer is going to leave the troubles of home for a fine new life in Botany Bay (maybe it's supposed to be sardonic). It sounds traditional, but it may have been a more recent composition. --BDD (talk) 23:48, 19 March 2014 (UTC)

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