Between the Lines - Issue Seven

The Seizure of the Cyprus Brig
An astonishing story of mutiny, and a fine example of how to tell a true tale in verse.

This article contains a brief history of the seizure of the vessel the ‘Cyprus’ in Van Diemen’s Land in 1829, with references to verses from a remarkable Australian ballad. The convict bard Francis MacNamara (‘Frank the Poet’) obviously heard the tale of the seizure in his time as a convict at the Port Arthur penal settlement and his ballad ‘The Seizure of the Cyprus Brig in Recherche Bay, Aug, 1829’ is the result. The singing or reciting of the ballad, with its obvious sympathies, was immediately banned under the threat of hanging so the song naturally became popular - variants were sung and have been collected in Tasmania. One version was collected from Sonny Helberg of Cygnet. She remarks that she learnt it from a man named Wilson, who in turn had learnt it from “an old Port Arthur man (convict) who used to sing it with much feeling and a very doleful tone while tapping on the table with his knife”. These are Francis MacNamara’s original words.

Come all you sons of freedom, a chorus join with me,
I'll sing, a song of heroes, and glorious liberty.
Some lads condemned from England sailed to Van Diemen's shore,
Their country, friends and parents perhaps never to see more.

When landed in this Colony to different Masters went,
For trifling offences, to Hobart Town jail were sent;
A second sentence being incurred we were ordered for to be
Sent to Macquarie Harbour, that place of tyranny.

The hardships we'd to undergo are matters of record
But who believes the convict, or who regards his word?
For starved and flogged and punished, deprived of all redress,
The bush our only refuge, with death to end distress.

Hundreds of us were shot down, for daring to be free,
Numbers caught and banished to life-long slavery.
Brave Swallow, Watt and Davis were in our noble band
Determined at the first slant to quit Van Diemen's land.

The Brig

The ‘Cyprus’ was a wooden, two masted, 108 tonne brig. The colonial government of Van Diemen’s Land purchased the vessel in 1826 and is was rebuilt in 1829, at Macquarie Harbour.

William Swallow

William Swallow (alias Waldon) was born in England, in 1785. His early adult life was spent as a sailor, but it is after being transported to Sydney as a convict that his story takes an extraordinary turn. In 1810 he unsuccessfully attempted to hijack a ship in Port Jackson and as a punishment was sent to Van Diemen’s Land. Whilst being transported there on the ship the ‘Deveron’ they were stranded in a ferocious storm. The sailors looked up at the mess of broken rigging and beams, understandably reluctant to risk their lives in an effort to get the ship mobile. Swallow reportedly remarking that “his own life was of little moment” successfully saved the Deveron. When the boat reached Hobart Town the appreciative sailors smuggled Bill back on board and helped him to escape. He had made his way as far as Rio di Janeiro when he was unlucky enough to be captured again by the British authorities. He escaped again! This time he stowed away on a ship headed for London. When he was recognised in London he was arrested, and sent to Van Diemen’s Land for a second time! Another offence in Hobart Town resulted in Swallow being sent to the infamous Macquarie Harbour penal settlement, on the west coast of Van Diemen’s Land. His transportation was the ‘Cyprus’, leaving Hobart on the 5th of August 1829…

John Popjoy

John Popjoy was born in London, England, in 1800. On the 3rd of April 1817 John was sentenced to a years hard labour for stealing a gelding worth 5 pounds, and selling the horse to the knackery. On the 12th of April he was sentenced to death for the same offence! This sentence was later commuted to 14 years transportation to Van Diemen’s Land. As with William Swallow, a secondary offence saw Popjoy on the ‘Cyprus’ in August 1829, headed for Macquarie Harbour. There is some confusion in the records but it seems most probable that the vessel had 12 sailors, 11 soldiers and passengers, and 33 convicts on board. The Captain’s name was Harris but the vessel seems to have been under the command of Lieutenant Carew.

The Seizure

Marched down in chains and guarded, on the ‘Cyprus Brig’ conveyed
The topsails being hoisted, the anchor being weighed,
The wind it blew sou'-sou'-west and on we went straightway,
Till we found ourselves wind-bound, in gloomy Recherche Bay.

At the time William Swallow was recovering from a serious illness. The prisoners had been given relief from the hold, a few at a time, and were allowed on deck for fresh air. Was this part of a ‘contrived plan’? On the 9th of August a storm blew up and the ‘Cyprus’ took refuge in Recherche Bay, on the southeast coast of the island.

'Twas August eighteen twenty-nine, with thirty-one on board,
Lieutenant Carew left the brig, and soon we passed the word
The Doctor too was absent, the soldiers off their guard;
A better opportunity could never have occurred.

Confined within a dismal hole, we soon contrived a plan,
To capture now the ‘Cyprus’, or perish every man.
But thirteen turned faint-hearted and begged to go ashore,
So eighteen boys rushed daring, and took the brig and store.

We first addressed the soldiers, “For liberty we crave!
Give up your arms this instant, or the sea will be your grave,
By tyranny we've been oppressed, by your Colonial laws,
But we'll bid adieu to slavery, or die in freedom's cause.”

We next drove off the Skipper, who came to help his crew,
Then gave three cheers for liberty, 'twas answered cheerly too.
We brought the sailors from below, and rowed them to the land
Likewise the wife and children of Carew in command.

Meanwhile a party consisting of John Popjoy, Lieutenant Carew, Doctor Walter Williams, the chief mate, and a soldier left the brig in a long boat and set out on a fishing excursion. Shortly after they heard a gun shot and returned to find that the convicts had seized the ‘Cyprus’. The ringleader appeared to a be convict named Ferguson actively assisted by convicts William Watt and George Davis. (The collected versions of Frank’s poem variously credit Michael Hogan, Charlie Towers and Jack Muldemon with disarming the sentry and leaving him in his gore! Frank’s original poem is not as specific and it is interesting to ponder how these names entered the folklore.) Carew first begged to be allowed back on board and was refused by Watt, who shot twice at him with his pistol, saying “Stop, you shall not come on board - we now have possession of the vessel!”. Carew then asked for his sword, which was also denied. He then asked that his wife and children be allowed to join him in the long boat and, after a delay, this request was granted. At this stage Captain Harris was still on board ship but under the control of the mutineers. Swallow and Davis tried to obtain the ship’s register from him but it had been left back at Government House in Hobart Town.

Supplies of food and water we gave the vanquished crew,
Returning good for evil, as we'd been taught to do.
We mounted guard with watch and ward, then hauled the boat aboard;
We elected William Swallow, and obeyed our Captain's word.

John Popjoy was at this time ordered back onto the ‘Cyprus’, handcuffed, and sent below deck. William Swallow repeatedly claimed at this point that he was being pressed against his will into joining the mutiny and commanding the ship. He was reported to have said “You see, gentlemen, I am a pressed man. I am unarmed and surrounded by armed men”. He also made a request that extra blankets be sent ashore, in particular for the comfort of Mrs Carew. The soldiers, convicts and crew reluctant to take part in the mutiny were put ashore in 5 separate locations around the bay with minimal rations. John Popjoy freed himself and swam ashore to join the castaways.

The morn broke bright, the wind was fair, we headed for the sea
With one cheer more for those on shore and glorious liberty.
For navigating smartly Bill Swallow was the man,
Who laid a course out neatly to take us to Japan.

The Cyprus was laden with stores for Macquarie Harbour, enough food to sustain 400 men for 6 months. The mutineers (including a couple of mariners) repainted the vessel and disguised it as the American brig ‘Friends’ of Boston. At around three in the morning the castaways heard three cheers ringing out from the ship and, well disguised and provided for, the pirates set sail. Swallow steered a course first for New Zealand, where they landed at Cloudy Bay on the 22nd of August 1829, then on to Tahiti, The Friendly Isles (Fiji) and then north to Japan.

Then sound your golden trumpets, play on your tuneful notes,
The ‘Cyprus Brig’ is sailing, how proudly now she floats.
May fortune help the noble lads, and keep them ever free
From Gags, and Cats, and Chains, and Traps, and Cruel Tyranny.

The Plan Unravels

When they approached Japan near Yokohama, the Japanese authorities would not let them land. Several months passed and the condition of the ship deteriorated so much that a desperate plan was required. They sank the Cyprus, no doubt to destroy incriminating evidence, and boarded a Chinese junk off the coast of Formosa (Taiwan). More months went by and in this time they witnessed the burning and sinking by the Japanese of an English ship, the ‘Edward’, under Captain Waldon, Another account simply has them discovering the wreck and finding the captain’s name engraved on the sextant. William Swallow and a couple of his mates appeared in the Chinese port Whampoa, and told the Chinese authorities that they were Captain Waldon and some of his crew and thus secured a free trip back to England! Unfortunately for Swallow, one more of the remaining mutineers turned up in Canton and the concocted story began to fall apart. This last fellow was also sent to England, and his ship overtook Swallow’s mid journey. Five of the mutineers, William Swallow alias Waldon (45), George Davis alias Huntley (27), William Watts alias Williams (32), Alexander Stephenson alias Telford (23) and John Beveridge alias Anderson (30) were arrested on their return to England in 1830, but the evidence against them at this stage seemed inconclusive - inadequate to gain a conviction.

Meanwhile, the castaways back in Recherche Bay had their own story to relate. They made several attempts to make Hobart overland but were thwarted by what they termed ‘hostile blacks’. After 13 days exposed to the harsh elements, supplementing their few rations with mussels and other bush food, they formed a plan. John Popjoy played an important role. He fashioned a boat out of branches covered with a canvas hammock (sewed by Mrs Carew) and made it waterproof with soap and tree resin. Popjoy, along with a man named Masters and two others, sailed twenty miles to Partridge Island where the ships ‘Orelia’ and ‘Georgina’ were anchored. These ships carried the news to Hobart and a rescue ensued. For his ‘heroic’ part in the rescue, John Popjoy received a pardon and sailed home to England.

This was bad news for William Swallow and his mates. John Popjoy had repeatedly used his rescue tale to gain leniency in several criminal cases
against him back in England. When the mutineers were brought before the bench, the clerk of the court remembered Popjoy’s story and, in a strange twist of fate, a crucial witness was found. The weight of evidence was now substantial and none of the prisoners made any defence except William Swallow who repeated his claim that he had been pressed into serving the mutineers, and the story was confirmed by Popjoy. Doctor Williams also gave evidence at the trial and backed up Swallow’s version of the story. When the verdict came the judge donned his dreaded black cap. A sentence of death was passed on all but William Swallow. The verdict for Swallow? Not guilty! Was he an innocent man all along, or simply too clever for all concerned?

Judge Sir Charles Robinson’s Extraordinary Summation

“You have been convicted by a jury of your country of the crime laid to your charge, of piratically and feloniously carrying away by force of arms the vessel named in the indictment. This offence is capital in itself, and it is considered by the law of the land as a crime of the greatest magnitude; for robberies of this description may be effected upon property of great value and are generally attended with much personal violence and loss of life. Your case is attended by circumstances peculiar to yourselves, inasmuch as you have all been convicted of crimes in the former part of your lives, of which you were declared guilty, and were sentenced to be transported from this country to Botany-bay, and when there you were again sentenced to be transported to an inferior settlement in that place. You were, therefore, under the most favourable dispensation of the laws of your country, but it appears that instead of being grateful for the leniency which was thus shown to you, and endeavouring by your future good conduct to atone for your past transgressions, you rather chose to resist the lawful authority under which you were placed, and continued that act of outrage which brought you here. These circumstances, however, form no part of your offence, nor will they be considered in your sentence, but I have felt it to be my duty to remind you of them inasmuch as they will be considered elsewhere by those to whom your case will be submitted. It forms, therefore, an awful consideration for yourselves, and ought to prepare you for the final completion of that sentence which it becomes my painful duty to pronounce.”
So Swallow’s mates were hanged. While Swallow had been found innocent of piracy, the authorities soon found other charges relating to his being ‘at large’, and he was transported for a third time to Van Diemen’s Land! He spent 3 years at Macquarie Harbour. When the penal settlement was closed in 1834, he was transferred to Port Arthur and died there soon after of tuberculosis.

Sources and Notes

There is understandably some contradictory evidence about the seizure, and there has only enough room here for the barest details of this extraordinary story. I have largely based this article on a report of the mutiny trial printed in the Times newspaper of London in 1830. I’d also like to acknowledge the help of Kieran Hosty, curator of the Australian National Maritime Museum. Thanks to Bob Bolton for sending me copies of the collected ballads. I have also used Robert Hughes’ ‘The Fatal Shore’ as a reference. Thanks to Jason Neville for his assistance with the research, andto Chloe Roweth and Ian Large for helping to bang this article into shape.

Telling the story…collected variants of “The Seizure of the Cyprus Brig”

This remarkable story fascinated London so much that plays were performed almost straight away, dramatizing the tale for audiences in England. Sections of Marcus Clarke’s novel ‘For the Term of His Natural Life” were inspired by the saga. For interest I have included two variants of Francis MacNamara’s ballad collected in the field.

From Sonny Helberg, of Cygnet, Tasmania...

Confined there in a dismal hold,
We then contrived a plan,
To take possession of the brig
Or else die every man.

The plan it being approved upon,
We then retired to rest,
Determined in the morning
To put it to the test.

So then up jumped Michael Hogan
Charlie Towers and two more,
Who soon disarmed the sentry
And left him in his gore.

We then addressed the soldiers
Saying “Liberty we crave,
Deliver up your arms, my boys,
Or the sea will be your grave!”

We landed all our officers,
Our captain and the crew.
Three cheers we gave for liberty
And bade them all adieu.

Forever happy may they be,
May kind fortune keep them free,
Who boldly fought and nobly gained
Their glorious liberty.

Recorded by Dr Lloyd Robson from the singing of Mr J H Davies of Newtown, Tasmania in 1961...
The first verse in this version comes from an older ballad, ‘Van Diemen’s Land’'

Poor Tom Brown from Nottingham, Jack Williams and poor Joe,
They were three gallant poacher boys, their country all does know,
And by the laws of amalgaymack (sic), that you may understand,
Were fourteen years transported boys, to Van Diemen’s Land.

When we landed in this colony to different masters went,
For little trifling offences, boys, to Hobart Town gaol were sent,
Now the second sentence we received and ordered for to be
Sent to Macquarie Harbour, that place of tyranny.

Down Hobart Town streets we were guarded, on the Cyprus Brig conveyed,
Our topsails they were hoisted boys, our anchor it was weighed.
The wind it blew a nor' nor' west and on we steered straightway,
Till we brought her to an anchorage in a place called Research (sic) Bay.

Now confined in a dismal hole those lads contrived a plan,
To take possession of that brig or else die, every man,
The plan it being approved upon we all retired to rest,
And early next morning, boys, we put them to the test.

Up steps bold Jack Muldemon, his comrades three more,
We soon disarmed the sentry and left him in his gore,
"Liberty, oh liberty, it's liberty we crave,
deliver up your arms, my boys, or the sea shall be your grave.”

First we landed the soldiers, the captain and his crew,
We gave three cheers for liberty and soon bid them adieu.
William Swallow he was chosen our commander for to be,
We gave three cheers for liberty and boldly put to sea.

Play on your golden trumpets, boys, and sound your cheerful notes,
The Cyprus Brig's on the ocean, boys, by justice does she float.

An image of the castaways printed in the Hobart Town Courier. Mrs Carew and child supervise John Popjoy and one other’s construction of the rescue boat, while Carew appears to mourn his sad fate.