Versions

Version	Length	Source	Availability
Studio	3:08	Mark Seymour Slow Dawn album.	Moderately common. Available new in digital form.

 Recommended Version.

Commentary

Anthem to the convicts of Williamstown. The short rebellion of 1857 when the grievances of convict laborers spilled blood and ended the life of magistrate John Price. It is said their ghosts still lurk on the shores of Hobsons Bay beneath the looming tower of Westgate. A history of cruelty and courage just below the surface of suburban life

Lyrics

Moonlight across the water
Listen you can still hear the ghost
Old Jon Price goes walkin’
He can’t abandon his post

Shadows lurk on the shore line
You can hear them rattle their chains
Convicts who lifted bluestone
But no one remembers their names

Down by the dirty old river
Where their bones still rise from the ground
You can hear them rattle at midnight
Must be the Dogs of Williamstown

Them hard little mongrels are barkin’
They just keep holding on
Where the hell do they run to now?
When their dungeon masters have gone?

The Dogs of Williamstown!
Oh the hammer comes down
On the Dogs of Williamstown

Feel them run through the alley
All the ancient secrets they keep
Ships of the empire are long gone now
But their bones are never asleep

Shadows howling at midnight
Where the hammer always comes down
Creatures of leisure will never outlast
The Dogs of Williamstown!

The Dogs of Williamstown!
I see the shadows rising at midnight
The hammer always comes down
On the Dogs of Williamstown!