A poem by Francis MacNamara (1839)
Recited by Denis Kevans
When Christ from Heaven comes down straightway,
All His Father's laws to expound,
MacNamara shall work that day
For the Company underground.
When the man in the moon to Moreton Bay,
Is sent in shackles bound
MacNamara shall work that day
For the Company underground.
When the Cape of Good Hope to Twofold Bay
Comes for the change of a pound.
MacNamara shall work that day
For the Company underground.
When cows in lieu of milk yield tea,
And all lost treasures are found,
MacNamara shall work that day
For the Company underground.
When the Australian Co's heaviest dray
Is drawn 80 miles by a hound,
MacNamara shall work that day
For the Company underground.
When a frog, a caterpillar and a flea
Shall travel the globe all round,
McNamara shall work that day
For the Company underground.
When turkeycocks on Jews harps play
And mountains dance at the sound,
MacNamara shall work that day
For the Company underground.
When Christmas falls on the 1st of May
And O'Connell's King of England crown'd,
MacNamara shall work that day
For the Company underground.
When thieves ever robbing on the highway
For their sanctity are renowned,
MacNamara shall work that day
For the Company underground.
When the quick and the dead shall stand in array
Cited at the trumpet's sound,
Even then, damn me if I'd work a day
For the Company underground.
Nor overground.
Notes
Denis Kevans recorded this poem in 1984 for the cassette tape 'Trains of Treasure' a collection of Australian Railway songs and poems produced by the Combined Railway Unions Cultural Exhibition Committee at Chullora Railway Workshops in Sydney.
The convict record of MacNamara is unclear about his trade and as he worked at a number of jobs. He was however described as a 'miner' when he was transported. Whether he ever worked in a mine in Australia is not clear, but he did write two poems that made it clear he certainly didn't want to! The first was in the form of a petition from his sheep (he worked as a shepherd for the Australian Agricultural Company) pleading that his services to them should be continued and that he should not be sent to the company coal mine in Newcastle.
Our cries from the hills shall resound
To the extremes of the Poles
If our friend goes underground
At Newcastle to wheel coals.
see A Petition from the A.A. Co. Flocks at Peel River
The Company Underground above uses the same biting humour to describe what is essentially a refusal to work and the surrealistic impossible events that would still not change his decision.
