Moondine Joe
Let me tell you a story about a fellow I know
A lovable natural borne looser, named Moondine Joe;
Moondine ,after the bunch of Aborigines he is said to
have hung around with
And Joe; you know short for John
Yes Moodine ! reputedly a bushranger
More a harmless thief with a peculiar ability to
Antagonise authorities than a stick-up man.
A man of mediocre sense!
He probably would not have been transported
And received a lesser term if he hadn’t
Mouthed off at the judge so much
Protesting his innocence
So in Western Australia he resorted mainly to
Duffing cattle and sheep
Once when caught with a stolen horse
On which he put his mark
He got caught out and he ended up in gaol
But no gaol could hold Moondine Joe
He escaped from his cell,
Rode off with the horse and the
Magistrate’s saddle and bridle as well
Killed the horse and cut off its brand
So there was no evidence ;
Resulting in a much lesser sentence ,
with only the saddle and bridle
To hang on his head.
His continuing stints in gaol
And repeated successful attempts at escape
Proved to be an exemplary example
For other prisoners to try to emulate
This made him the darling of the public and the press
Much to the chagrine of the screws;
So much so that his security was severely tightened
And the Governor Of Western Australia;
John Hampton , who wasn’t the brightest of chaps,
Challenged “If you get out again, I’ll forgive you!”
He did, and he was;
-was free again
How did he do it you may ask?
I can give you one example:
They put him in the gaol yard
In a corner breaking rocks
Which he built up in a heap
While swinging occasionally at the wall.
You can imagine their despair
When they looked behind the heap
And he was no longer there
A sizable escape hole
Had been dug right through the wall
And Moondine must have felt pretty good
When through it he did crawl
He spent a few more years in and out of the can
Until he married a widow named Louisa
And on the straight and narrow
Thanks to a good woman
Spent his remaining years fossicking for gold
Unfortunately Louisa died in her forties
And that unhinged him
He ended up dying in the Fremantle Lunatic Asylum
Leastways , that’s what I’ve been told
Yes
Even in the asylum, he managed to escape.
