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Maggie May


We sit and sing of Maggie May
And how the Peelers found her
And how the local Magistrate
Sent and outward bound her,
Far away to Van Dieman's land
On a convict prison ship.
If she survived the journey
Almost certainly a one way trip.

We don't think of the hard life
She'd had as a Liverpool whore
Servicing the local gentry and
The tars off the Men O' War.
Tough hard men of the sea
A rough and ready faction
Paying as little as they could
For quick and cheap satisfaction.

How many times was she beaten
In pursuit of her desperate trade
How many customers cut and ran
Without paying the bargain made.
So If Maggie rolled a client
Took the chance that came her
To make a bit of easier  cash
Should we judge and blame her.

Transportation to Australia
For such an impulsive crime
A hard and  bitter blow indeed
In a  hard and vicious time.
So when you sing of Maggie May
Just give some thought please
To the type of clientele who
Bought her for release.

So I wish  you luck Maggie May,
Hope you survived and did well,
Hope you found a better way
In that Van Dieman's Land Of hell:
Maybe found a good  husband,
Became a good and faithful wife
And both settled down to enjoy
Your respectable married life.

So Maggie Maggie May's
In a sad and sorry situation
On that convict ship and off
To involuntary deportation
In far Van Dieman's land,
Where she'll be for evermore
And Lime Street's sadly  lost
Another honest working whore.










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