Chorus:
         G  C             G   C G
Hold me now,   oh hold me now
          Em C            D
Til this hour   has gone around.
         Bm                 Em C
And I'm gone on the rising tide
        G D                G  C G
For to face  Van Diemen's Land.

Verse:
               G  C             G   C G
It's a bitter pill   I swallow here
       Em C               D
To be rent   from one so dear.
                Bm                 Em C
We fought for justice and not for gain
               G D            G  C G
But the magistrate  sent me away.


                    G  C                     G   C G
Now the kings will rule   and the poor will toil
                 Em C                    D
And tear their hands   as they tear the soil.
                Bm                   Em C
But a day will come in this dawning age
                 G D                  G  C G
When an honest man   sees and honest wage.

Chorus:
         G  C             G   C G
Hold me now,   oh hold me now
          Em C            D
Til this hour   has gone around.
         Bm                 Em C
And I'm gone on the rising tide
        G D                G  C G
For to face  Van Diemen's Land.

Verse:
                   G  C             G   C G
Still the gunman rules   and widows pay
           Em C              D
a scarlet coat  now a black beret.
                    Bm                 Em C
They thought that blood and sacrifice
               G D                  G  C G
Could out of death   bring forth a life.

Chorus:
         G  C             G   C G
Hold me now,   oh hold me now
          Em C            D
Til this hour   has gone around.
         Bm                 Em C
And I'm gone on the rising tide
        G D                G  C G
For to face  Van Diemen's Land.