Slabhraidh

## Play in 3/4 time 

Bb 
 
   F                         Bb 
My mothers and fathers, they tended the land 
              Eb            Bb                               F 
Brought forth food from the soil with the knowledge in their hands 
    F                    Bb 
The pot hanging low over peat fire ablaze 
        Eb            Bb        F            Bb 
As its hung here for uncounted lifetimes of days 
 

 
        Eb                   Bb 
And the fire went out in the morning so early 
   F                           Eb          Bb 
We took down the slabhraidh to take on the journey 
   Eb                              Bb         Gm 
No smoke and no singing warmed the air around Greaulainn 
      Bb           F              Eb         Bb 
As we stepped on a boat bound for Melbourne 
 

 
          F                     Bb 
There are papers in London that I cannot read 
           Eb         Bb                     F 
Saying the land I was born on belongs not to me 
       F                           Bb 
At the will of Captain Fraser they moved us aside 
         Eb            Bb           F             Bb 
Moved us outwards then upwards then away with the tide 
 

 
        Eb                   Bb 
And the fire went out in the morning so early 
   F             Eb            Bb 
We took down the slabhraidh to take on the journey 
   Eb                              Bb         Gm 
No smoke and no singing warmed the air around Greaulainn 
      Bb           F              Eb         Bb 
As we stepped on a boat bound for Melbourne 
 

 
  F                       Bb 
A new life was born and a young life was taken 
       Eb      Bb                         F 
On the boat to Victoria, storm-tossed and shaken 
F                              Bb 
This land of promise where the sun burns our eyes 
     Eb             Bb       F           Bb 
This land of bright futures, endless and dry 
 

 
        Cm                       Eb 
And the government told us if we cleared all the trees 
           Bb                   F 
Brought in horses and cattle to keep back the weeds 
        Cm                  Eb 
Planted regular fields with familiar seeds 
           Bb                     F 
They would give us the land to do with as we pleased 
        Cm                           Eb 
But the seasons were strange and the crops turned to dust 
        Bb                        F 
And the slabhraidh lay fallow and riddled with rust 
       Gm                              Bb           Eb 
And we dreamed of green pastures and a sky we could trust 
       Bb        F             Eb           Bb 
Oh how far can a crow fly from Greaulainn 
 

 
        F                     Bb 
Now the papers in London that Ill never see 
          Eb          Bb                   F 
Say these Wadawurrung fields belong now to me 
        F                                Bb 
Theres space for my children, they will call it their own 
        Eb              Bb           F 
But not far beneath the surface this isnt my home 
 

 
        Eb                   Bb 
And the fire went out in the morning so early 
   F             Eb            Bb 
We took down the slabhraidh to take on the journey 
   Eb                              Bb         Gm 
No smoke and no singing warmed the air around Greaulainn 
      Bb           F              Eb         Bb 
As we stepped on a boat bound for Melbourne