 In describing the brutalisation of Irish convicts in Australia, Kelly paraphrases lines from "A Convict's Tour of Hell" and "The Convict's Lament on the Death of Captain Logan", poems attributed to Frank the Poet (Francis MacNamara), a convict who was imprisoned in Port Arthur at the same time as John "Red" Kelly, Ned's father.It is speculated that "Red" Kelly passed on MacNamara's poetry to his son.Two copies were made of Ned Kelly’s letter, one by publican John Hanlon and one by a government clerk.