Lyrics Esther - Katie Noonan

Esther

I stole two piece of lace it was a short fall from grace
15 years old, a child sent away
A child I was but a mother to be as well
Newgate Gaol walls my babies’s first home
New South Wales bound on the Lady Penryhn we were
Below the water line, 100 women, my daughter and I
16, 000 miles, 8 months this dark, dank hole
Starvation and disease knocking at our door
This is a woman’s story in a man’s time
This is a gentle face in a brute world
Then I saw your eyes, kindsp and fair blue
A Lieutenant above the decks but by cape town our love was true
But the sadness in this land runs so deep
In the penal hell hole I strive to make my home
But as the corpses pile high, our blessings are many
7 children, a home and a farm
Though charged with mutiny, here I am free
And almost 30 years since we met, I finally marry thee
This is a woman’s story in a man’s time
This is a gentle face in a brute world
Leaden Hearts
What is this place how hard is my fate?
How galling this chain round my neck?
Now I am bound to slavery
‘Til I regain my liberty
Once i was a tender child on my mother’s knee
But now I am prison bound for slavery
No pen can write, no tongue can tell
The aching heart that bids farewell
Forget me not
When this you see, remember me
Though many miles we distant be
When this you see, remember me
When this you see, remember me
Please bear me in your mind
I’ll love til death shall stop my breath
Weep not for me with this heavy heart
I am confined here with grief
Though time may fly and hopes may die
And joyful dreams may set, you I’ll never forget
May time roll on, quick though it flew
My love’s constant true to you
‘Til I am free and me you see
No pen can write, no tongue can tell
The aching heart that bids farewell
Forget me not
When this you see, remember
Though many miles we distant be
When this you see, remember me
When this you see, remember me
Let not absence banish our love
Cause I’ll love til death shall stop my breath
I’ll love til death shall stop my breath