Fanny Bay

Words: Unknown
Tune: Dr Arthur Collahan



With a couple of little drinks to make us happy
And a couple of little beers to make us gay
And a couple of little gins to keep our strength in
You'll find yourself at last in Fanny Bay

Some are white and some are black and some are yellow
And some are old and some are young and gay
But what costs you thirty bob in Castlereagh Street
You can get for two and six in Fanny Bay



Fanny Bay is the name of the jail in Darwin, Northern Territory. This song was collected by Ron Edwards from Bill Harney in the 1950s.


The tune is the well-known Galway Bay written in 1947 by neurologist, Dr Arthur Colahan.


The illustration to this post is a photograph of the old gates to Fanny Bay prison.