AustLit

The Freeman's Journal paraphrases, and quotes from, portions of John Boyle O'Reilly's diary from the period September 1867 (just prior to O'Reilly's transportation) to 13 November 1867 (while on board the Hougoumont en route to Australia).

The writer for Freeman's concludes by stating: 'At the close of the diary are given copies of poems written for the Wild Goose. The best of them are by a convict named J. B. O'Reilly, who seems to be a man of no ordinary talent. Several of the poems by this writer are of a very superior description.' (The journal publishes one of O'Reilly's poems, written from his cell in Dartmoor Prison, at the end of this article. The poem, with the first line 'A plaintive tale is briefly traced on yonder new-raised stone', did not appear in Wild Goose.)