The Death Of Ned Kelly By John Manifold

Ned Kelly fought the rich men in country and in town;
Ned Kelly fought the troopers until they ran him down;
He thought that he had fooled them, for he was hard to find,
But he rode into Glenrowan with the troopers close behind.

‘Come out of that, Ned Kelly,’ the head zarucker calls,
‘come out and leave your shelter, or we’ll shoot it full of holes.’
‘If you take me,’ says Kelly, ‘that’s not the speech to use;
I’ve lived to spite your order, I’ll die the way I choose!”

‘Come out of that, Ned Kelly, you done a lawless thing :
You robbed and fought the squatters, Ned Kelly, you must swing.’
‘If those who rob,’ says Kelly, ‘are all condemned to die,
You had better hang the squatters; they’ve stolen more than I.”

‘You’d best come out, Ned Kelly, you done the government wrong,
For you held up the coaches that bring the gold along.’
‘Go tell your boss,’ says Kelly, ‘who lets the rich go free,
That your bloody rich man’s government will never govern me.’

‘You talk all right, Ned Kelly, your tongue is slick, I own;
But I have men to help me and you are all alone.’
They burned the roof above him; they fired the walls about,
And head to foot in armour Ned Kelly stumbled out.

Although his guns were empty he took them by surprise;
He wore an iron breastplate and armour on his thighs.
Although his guns were empty he made them turn and flee,
But one came in behind him and shot him in the knee.

And so they