Name: The Blackman River Bridge
Duration: P00H04M43S
Description: The Blackman River Bridge was built in Tunbridge in 1848, the same year that revolutions took place all over Europe, including in Ireland. Irish rebels were transported to Van Diemens Land and one of them, Thomas Meagher, held meetings with his co-conspirators at this bridge every Monday night. In time, they all escaped to the United States and went on to fight in the Civil War.

The Blackman River Bridge

from Midland Highway: The Musical by Daniel J Townsend

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The journey from Hobart to Launceston now has a soundtrack! As heard on ABC Radio Tasmania (Sep-Nov 2020), Midland Highway: The Musical features ten songs about ten towns along this magical stretch of road. (Your car has a CD player, right? Buy this!)

Includes unlimited streaming of Midland Highway: The Musical via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Soon I Will Sing You a Song, Broken Voices and The Eyes Of Men, Midland Highway: The Musical, The Podcast: A Tale of Two Cities, A Tale of Two Cities, World Until Yesterday, and Iscariot. , and , .

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about

The Blackman River Bridge was built in Tunbridge in 1848, the same year that revolutions took place all over Europe, including in Ireland. Irish rebels were transported to Van Diemens Land and one of them, Thomas Meagher, held meetings with his co-conspirators at this bridge every Monday night. In time, they all escaped to the United States and went on to fight in the Civil War.

lyrics

The Blackman River Bridge was built in the year of The Famine Rebellion,
Ireland, 1848, they took a stand
For nothing seen could come between the dreamers and the dream
The dreamers and the dream

All over Europe it was "the springtime of the people"
In Germany and Italy and France the people were free
An Irishman named Thomas Meagher had seen how it could be:
Crossing bridges over waters deep,
Walking where the grass is green

Thomas Meagher to Paris sailed to see the new republic
And he returned with hopeful heart, a new flag in his hands
He said, 'Friends, we are divided now by one unholy stream,
Unite and fight the ones who drown the dream!'

Ireland in 1848, The Famine Rebellion
Men who once were enemies, as one beneath the flag
Ireland for the Irish! Yes! The English crown be damned!
But Thomas Meagher was caught and brought to prison to be hanged

Jail walls make some men small, but dreamers can dream alone in a cell
80,000 signatures spoke loudly one demand:
'Spare the life of Thomas Meagher, for good men must walk free'
And the judge agreed

He said, 'Where I am sending you are men of your rebellion
And you must keep your distance from any Irish man.
Van Diemens Land can be your chance to put away that dream;
Autumn leaves upon the stream,
Floating out to sea.'

The Blackman River Bridge was built the year of that Famine Rebellion
And Monday nights Thomas Meagher would hold a meeting there
For Irish rebels cast away, planning their escape someday,
Crossing bridges over waters deep,
Walking where the grass is green,
The dreamers and the dream
The dreamers and the dream

credits

from Midland Highway: The Musical, released November 20, 2020
Daniel J Townsend

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Daniel J Townsend TAS, Australia

"A head full of stories, a soul old enough to have lived them, and a heart young enough to believe in their power to move us."

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