Wreck of the Dandenong

This traditional Australian folk song tells of the sinking of the steamship Dandenong in the autumn of 1876 during a storm near Jervis Bay, New South Wales, Australia. Evidence of the song's early origins is sparse: contemporary versions stem from a recording made by John Meredith (collector and folk musician) in 1954. Meredith recorded the song as sung by 73-year-old Mary Byrnes, who remembered singing it as a little girl, placing it at least as far back as the 1880s or early 90s.^[1]

There lyrics can be found in newspaper records of the mid-20th century. The earliest example is from the children's pages of the Newcastle Sun in 1931, where it appears (with slightly different wording, and an extra verse at the end) as a poem, attributed to a Mr James Brennan of Greta (NSW), and sent in to the paper (after his death) by his daughter, a Mrs RLM Robinson.^[2] Mary Byrnes' version appears in 1954, the same year she provided her version to John Meredith, in an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, which describes her memory of the song as a song sung during harvest work in the vicinity of Orange (NSW).^[3]

The song's trail then grows quiet once more until the recording was rediscovered in the Australian Archives in the late 1990s. Australian folk musician Kate Burke created an arrangement and added a refrain, and she and Ruth Hazleton included it on their 2000 album A Thousand Miles or More.^[4]

The Longest Johns released their version of the song on 3 October 2025 on the Stricken EP from Pieces of Eight.

Factoids

The Dandenong left Melbourne with 53 passengers and a crew of 30, but encountered gale-force winds just off of Jervis Bay. In a public inquiry, the chief officer reported that the ship sustained heavy damage during the storm, including a shearing of their propeller shaft. Every attempt was made to stop the leak, including plugging it with blankets and bedding, but all hope was lost when the ship's stern settled low enough that the waters extinguished the boiler fires and the pumps failed.

The barque mentioned in the song was the Albert William, which saw the distress signal flown by the Dandenong and hove-to in order to try and aid in recovery efforts. Though they made valiant effort to ferry passengers and recover lifeboats cast by the Dandenong, many passengers were lost in transit. Recounting the arrival of the first lifeboat at the barque, the chief officer of the Dandenong said:

"The sea was terrific but five adults and eight children succeeded in getting into the lifeboat...but on getting alongside the Albert William, the barque rolled so heavily she struck [the lifeboat] and split her in two, precipitating all aboard into the water." Of those aboard the first lifeboat, only four survived.

The Albert William was able to recover 28 passengers and 12 crew from the Dandenong, but there were no other survivors. Though boats were dispatched as quickly as possible from neighbouring ports to assist, by the time of their arrival the Dandenong had already sunk.

The captain, officers, and crew were found to have done all in their power to save the ship.^[5]

Lyrics

As performed on the album.

Oh, wild and furious blew the blast
And the clouds were hangin' round
When the Dandenong from Melbourne sailed
To Newcastle port was bound
She had eighty three poor souls on board
Through the storm she cleaved her way
Well, it's sad to relate her terrible fate
Was just off Jervis bay

{Chorus}
And I dream of you, I dream of sleep
And I dream of you, I dream of sleep
I dream of being warm
But through the night I have to sail
All through this raging storm

While steering through the briny waves
A propelling shaft gave way
And the waters they came crashing in
Which filled us with dismay*
All hands on board did all they could
'Til at length all hope was gone
And they hoisted a signal of distress
On board of the Dandenong

{Chorus}

It was not long until a barque
Of a brisk and lively crew
Came bearing down and the Captain cried
"We'll see what we can do!"
Came bearing down with might and main
In spite of land or wave
They did all they could as sailors would
Those precious lives to save

{Chorus}

Now some in boats they tried to reach
That kind and friendly barque
And numbers of their lives were saved
But the night came on pitch dark
What mortal man then could do more
When the storm increased on strong
And the rest now sleep in the briny deep
Along with the Dandenong

{Chorus}

Recordings

Stream/Purchase

YouTube Videos

Full Band Streams

Chill Streams

Gaming Streams

*

↑ https://folkstream.com/107.html
↑ The Newcastle Sun (12 Sept 1931), "The Wreck of the Dandenong", archived by Trove
↑ Russel Ward, "Men of the Western Plains", The Sydney Morning Herald (25 May 1954) p 11, archived by Trove .
↑ https://mainlynorfolk.info/folk/songs/thewreckofthedandenong.html
↑ https://jervisbaymaritimemuseum.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-sinking-of-ss-dandenong-off-jervis.html

[1] ttps://folkstream.com/107.html

[2] The Newcastle Sun (12 Sept 1931), "The Wreck of the Dandenong", archived by Trove

[3] Russel Ward, "Men of the Western Plains", The Sydney Morning Herald (25 May 1954) p 11, archived by Trove .

[4] ttps://mainlynorfolk.info/folk/songs/thewreckofthedandenong.html

[5] ttps://jervisbaymaritimemuseum.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-sinking-of-ss-dandenong-off-jervis.html

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