Sea Shantys

[Salty Dog]

The Yankee Ship


Well, a Yankee ship sailed down the river
Blow, boys, blow
Oh, a Yankee ship in the Congo River
Blow, me bully boys, blow


How do you know she's a Yankee clipper?
The Stars and Stripes they fly above her

And who do you think's the skipper of her?
Old Holy Joe the darkie slaver

And what do you think she's got for cargo?
Guns and shot, she runs the embargo

What do you think they'll have for dinner?
Hot water soup, but slightly thinner

Blow today, and blow tomorrow
Blow for all old tars in sorrow

[Salty Dog]

The Banks of Newfoundland - English version


You bully boys of Liverpool
I'll have you all beware
When you sail on them packet ships,
no dungaree jumpers wear
But have a big monkey jacket
all ready to your hand
For there blows some cold nor'westers
off the banks of Newfoundland


We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her
with holy stone and sand
For there blows some cold nor'westers
on the banks of Newfoundland


We had Jack Lynch from Malnahinch,
Mike Murphy and some more
I tell you well, they suffered like hell
on the way to Baltimore
They pawned there gear in Liverpool
and sailed as they did stand
For there blow some cold nor'westers
on the banks of Newfoundland


Now the mate he stood on the fo'c'sle head
and loudly he did roar
Come rattle her in me lucky lads,
you're bound for America's shore
Come wipe the blood off that dead man's face
and haul or you'll be damned
For there blow some cold nor'westers
on the banks of Newfoundland


So now we're off the hook me boys,
and the land is white with snow
And soon we'll see the pay table
and we'll spend the whole night below
And on the docks, come down in flocks,
those pretty girls will say
Ah, It's snugger with me than on the sea,
on the banks of Newfoundland

[Salty Dog]

Barrett's Privateers - Stan Rogers


Oh the year was 1778
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
A letter of marque came from the king
To the scummiest vessel I've ever seen
God damn them all
I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier,
The last of Barrett's Privateers


Oh Elcid Barrett cried the town
For twenty brave men all fishermen who
Would make for him the Antelope's crew


The Antelope sloop was a sickening site
She'd list to the port and her sails in rags
And the cook in the scuppers with the staggers and jags


On the King's birthday we put to sea
Ninety-one days to Montego Bay
Pumping like madmen all the way


On the ninety-sixth day we sailed again
When a great big Yankee hove in sight
With our cracked four-pounders we made to fight


The Yankee lay low down with gold
She was broad and fat and loose in stays
But to catch her took the Antelope two whole days


Then at length she stood two cables away
Our cracked four-pounders made awful din
But with one fat ball the Yank stove us in


The Antelope shook and pitched on her side
Barrett was smashed like a bowl of eggs
And the main truck carried off both me legs


Now here I lay in my twenty-third year
It's been six years since we sailed away
And I just made Halifax yesterday

[Salty Dog]

Captain Kidd - Songs of the Nfld. Outports p. 837


Oh my name was Robert Kidd
As I sailed, as I sailed
Oh my name was Robert Kidd
As I sailed
My name was Robert Kidd
And God's laws I did forbid
As so wickedly I did
As I sailed, as I sailed
As so wickedly I did
As I sailed


Oh I murdered William Moore
I murdered William Moore
And I laid him in his gore
Not many leagues from shore


I was sick and nigh to death
And I vowed at every breath
For to walk in wisdom's path


My repentance lessened not
My vows I soon forgot
And damnation was my just lot


I spied three ships from Spain
Oh I spied three ships from Spain
I spied three ships from Spain
And I fired on them a-main
And most of them I slain


I spied three ships from France
And to them I did advance
And I took them all by chance


Then fourteen ships I saw
Oh then fourteen ships I saw
Then fourteen ships I saw
And they by my hand did fall


Overtaken now at last
I must die, I must die
And into prison cast
And sentence being past


Come all you young and old
See me die, see me die
Come all you young and old
You are welcome to my goal
And by it I've lost my soul
I must die, I must die


I had ninety bars of gold
As I sailed, as I sailed
And riches uncontrolled
And dollars many-fold


Farewell the raging main
I must die, I must die
Oh farewell the raging main
Farewell the raging main
To Turkey, France, and Spain
I never shall see it again
For I must die, I must die

[Salty Dog]

Common Sailors


I'm the man before the mast
That ploughs the raging sea
And on this simple subject
Will you please enlighten me
Common sailors we are called
Come tell me the reason why
And on this simple subject I'll reply


Don't you call us common sailors anymore
Don't you call us common sailors anymore
Good things to you we bring
Don't you call us common men
We're as good as anybody that's on shore


The young girls of this country
Their growing days we bless
We brings them silks and satins
Out of which they makes a dress
To gain the heart of some young man
As fancy dresses do
Don't never despise the sailor boys
That sails the ocean blue


The young gents of this country
They're sitting at their ease
Not thinking on the stormy nights
That we spent on the seas
We brings the leaves to make cigars
To decorate their face
They wouldn't call us common
If they were sometimes in our place


When speaking of a man ashore
We never hear you say
He's a common this or common that
Be his calling what it may
Be he a travelling tinker,
Or a scavanger, or a sweep
Then why call us common sailors
Who battle with the deep

[Salty Dog]

Diesel and Shale - Cyril Tawney


On the 5th of November back in '53
The big man at Dolphin, sure, he sent for me
"We brought you here, sonny, 'cause we want you to know
We've booked you a berth in water below"
With the diesel and shale, diesel and shale
We've booked you a berth with the diesel and shale


But when I protested, "I'm no volunteer"
They said "we ain't had one in many's a year
But that's a wee secret between you and me
There's many a pressed man down under the sea"
With the diesel and shale, diesel and shale
Down under the sea with the diesel and shale


"Oh doctor, oh doctor, I don't think I'm well"
"Well, never mind, sonny, we'll very soon tell
Try holding your breath 'til I counts up to three
There! That proves you're fit to go under the sea"
With the diesel and shale, diesel and shale
To go under the sea with the diesel and shale


I went to the storeroom to gather me rig
They gave me a sweater ten sizes too big
I climbed down that boat like an old polar bear
I says to meself "there's a smell in the air"
And it's diesel and shale, diesel and shale
There's a smell in the air and it's diesel and shale


A blast on the klaxon, ring on the gong
And then you go down where no mortal belongs
Where the air's goin' bad, the bread's goin' stale
They mix you a nightcap of diesel and shale
Diesel and shale, diesel and shale
They mix you a nightcap of diesel and shale


We circled the Med for a summer or two
Where the water's so warm and the sky is so blue
'Least that's what they tell me, but I wouldn't know
You don't see much sun when you're stuck down below
With the diesel and shale, diesel and shale
When you're stuck down below with the diesel and shale


"Oh Susie, oh Susie, won't you be mine?
Submariners' wives have a hell of a time
You'll live like a duchess with cash on the nail
If you don't mind the smell of the diesel and shale"
Diesel and shale, diesel and shale
If you don't mind the smell of the diesel and shale


Then the big man at Dolphin, 'e told me at last
"It's time you went back to your ship with a mast"
"I'll feel just like Jonah, leaving his whale
But you know where to stick all your diesel and shale
Diesel and shale, diesel and shale
You know where to stick all your diesel and shale

[Salty Dog]

Don't Forget Your Old Shipmate
- traditional, made famous in Master and Commander



Safe and sound at home again
Let the waters roar, Jack
Safe and sound at home again
Let the waters roar, Jack

Long we've tossed on the rolling main
Now we're safe ashore, Jack
Don't forget your old shipmate
Fal dee ral dee ral dee rye eye doe!

Since we sailed from Plymouth Sound
Four years gone, or nigh, Jack
Was there ever chummies, now
Such as you and I, Jack?

We have worked the self-same gun:
Quarterdeck division
Sponger I and loader you
Through the whole commission

Oftentimes have we laid out
toil nor danger fearing,
Tugging out the flapping sail
to the weather bearing


When the middle watch was on
And the time went slow, boy
Who could choose a rousing stave
Who like Jack or Joe, boy?

There she swings, an empty hulk
Not a soul below now
Number seven starboard mess
Misses Jack and Joe now

But the best of friends must part
Fair or foul the weather
Hand yer flipper for a shake
Now a drink together

[Salty Dog]

Grey Funnel Line - Ciril Tawney


Don't mind the rain or the rolling sea
The weary night never worries me
But the hardest time in a sailor's day
Is to watch the sun as it dies away
Here's one more day on the Grey Funnel Line


The finest ship that sails the sea
Is still a prison for the likes of me
But give me wings like Noah's dove
I'll fly up harbour to the girl I love
Here's one more day on the Grey Funnel Line


Oh once my heart was wild and free
Like a flashing spar on the open sea
But now that spar has washed ashore
And come to rest at my true love's door
Here's one more day on the Grey Funnel Line


Each time I gaze behind the screws
Makes me long for Saint Peter's shoes
I'd dance on down that Walker Shore
And rest in my true love's arms once more
Here's one more day on the Grey Funnel Line


Oh Lord if dreams were only real
I'd feel my hands on that wooden wheel
And with all my heart I'd turn her round
And tell the boys that we're homeward bound
Here's one more day on the Grey Funnel Line


I'll pass the time like some machine
Until the waters turn to green
Then I'll dance on down that walk ashore
And sail the Grey Funnel Line no more
And sail the Grey Funnel Line no more

[Salty Dog]

The 'I'm Alone' - Wade Hemsworth


Remember, yes, I remember well
The most famous rum-runner of them all,
Remember, yes, I remember well
The most famous rum-runner of them all
She was the schooner from Lunenburg, I'm Alone
And in the Gulf of Mexico she went down
Under fire from a Yankee cutter
On the high seas, outside treaty water


Oh, I'm Alone
A long way from Lunenburg she went down
Because skipper John Randell wouldn't heave-to
On the I'm Alone


It was nineteen hundred and twenty-nine
When the smuggling of liquor was a profitable pastime.
Many a Maritimer didn't see why
He shouldn't turn a profit - Uncle Sam was dry
Many a family took on style
Because Prohibition made it very worthwhile
To be a good Samaritan
To long-sufferin', thirsty Americans


The schooner's captain was a wild Newfoundlander,
A hard-drivin' man, name of John Thomas Randell.
A decorated veteran of the First World War
And a sea-goin' gentleman adventurer.
From Belize he would take the I'm Alone
Towards the coast of Louisiana
And he'd anchor south of Trinity Shoal
Where he'd meet his man
And discharge the cargo according to plan


It was all clear sailing for the I'm Alone
With the profits from six or seven trips salted down.
The coast guard had bothered her a couple of times,
But skipper John's seamanship had left 'em behind.
One March morning, in the wind and the swell,
She was reachin' along under jumbo, jib and storm trysail
When the cutter Dexter
Swept in on the I'm Alone's starboard quarter


Now the Dexter's captain was a very rough man;
He had sworn that he'd never lose the I'm Alone again.
He ran a string of signals, saying: How do you do?
Now you know that I'll fire if you don't heave-to!
Skipper John semaphored immediately:
I'm on the high seas and you have no jurisdiction over me.
So the Dexter's captain
Sent several volleys through the I'm Alone's riggin'


The bullets tore the booms and the sails and the lines -
They even tore a hole in the Red Ensign.
When skipper John saw it, he was fit to be tied
At the disrespect shown to his national pride.
The crew said, "Sir, don't you trouble your mind;
We'll all go down together with the old Red Ensign a-flyin'!"
So he signaled to the Dexter:
Shoot and be damned to you, for I'll not surrender!


Well the Dexter opened fire; it didn't take long
When her guns stitched a seam along the I'm Alone's waterline.
Skipper John ordered every man to sea -
There was water on the bridge when he himself jumped free.
Stern in the air, the I'm Alone went down:
Such a heavy sea a-runnin'
It's a wonder only one man was drowned -
The bo'sun was the one
Who was pulled aboard the cutter when his life was gone


And that's how it happened; there isn't much more.
The I'm Alone became an international affair.
Skipper John and his seamen were all released
Because the U.S. government couldn't make a case.
That kind of violence is bound to happen
When a law like Prohibition sits up and begs to be broken.
And we still recall
The story of the I'm Alone and skipper John Randell

[Salty Dog]

The Last Shanty - Tom Lewis


Well me father often told me when I was just a lad
A sailor's life was very hard, the food was always bad
But now I've joined the navy, I'm aboard a man-o-war
And now I've found a sailor ain't a sailor any more
Don't haul on the rope, don't climb up the mast
If you see a sailing ship it might be your last
Just get your civies ready for another run ashore
A sailor ain't a sailor, ain't a sailor anymore


Well the killock of our mess he says we've had it soft
It wasn't like this in his day when he was up aloft
We like our bunks and sleeping bags, but what's a hammock for?
Swinging from the deckhead, or lying on the floor?


Well they gave us an engine that first went up and down
Then with more technology the engine went around
We know our steam and diesel but what's a mainyard for?
A stoker ain't a stoker with a shovel anymore.


Well they gave us Aldiss lamp so we could do it right
They gave us a radio, we signaled day and night
We know our codes and cyphers but what's a semaphore?
A bunting-tosser doesn't toss the bunting anymore


Two cans of beer a day and that's your bleeding lot
Now we get an extra one because they've stopped the tot
So we'll put on our civie clothes and find a pub ashore
A sailor's still a sailor just like he was before

[Rusty Edge]

[Salty Dog]

It sure is! I was unaware of it too until reading those lyrics. Here is a Wikipedia story on it:


I'm Alone was a Canadian ship used as a rum runner during Prohibition in the United States. The auxiliary schooner was built in Nova Scotia in 1923, and for six years, she transported contraband alcohol.[1] Another source says the ship was built in the United Kingdom.[2] Her registry was in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.[3] I'm Alone was intercepted in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana by USCGC Wolcott on 22 March 1929, as the schooner was returning from Belize with liquor. The crew of I'm Alone disobeyed orders to stop and was shelled and sunk by USCGC Dexter. Seven of the ship's eight crew members were rescued. The eighth, a French Canadian boatswain, Leon Mainguy, died.[4] The surviving crew members, including captain John "Jack" Randell, were arrested and jailed in New Orleans.[2]

The sinking caused tensions in Canadian–American relations, with Envoy Vincent Massey criticizing the Americans' actions. The Canadian government sued for damages. Coast Guard intelligence personnel, led by Elizebeth Friedman, were able to demonstrate in international arbitration that the owners of I'm Alone were Americans, despite the ship's Canadian registry. As a result, the US paid a fine much lower than the amount initially requested by Canada.[1] Captain Randell and Amanda Mainguy, the widow of the crew member who died, both received restitution.[2]

[Salty Dog]

Legend - Tom Lewis


I'm marchin' inland from the shore
Over me shoulder I'm carryin' an oar
When someone asks me "What is that funny thing you've got?"
Then I know I'll never go to sea no more, no more
Then I know I'll never go to sea no more


Lord Nelson knew the perfect way to cure your mal-de-mere
And if you pay attention, his secret I will share
To any sea-sick sailor he'd give this advice for free
If you're feeling sea-sick, sit underneath a tree


Columbus he set sail to find out if the world was round
He kept on sailing west until he ran aground
He thought he'd found the Indies, but he found the U.S.A.
I know some navigators who can still do that today


Drake is in his hammock, and a thousand miles away
Grenville's Revenge is at the bottom of the bay
Manys the famous sailor never came home from the sea
Just take my advice, Jack, come and follow me


So, sailor take a warnin' from these men of high renown
When you leave the ocean and it's time to settle down
Never cast your anchor less than ninety miles from shore
There'll always be temptation to be off to sea once more

[Salty Dog]

Lowlands - a slow shanty, as sung by Rika Ruebsaat at the VFSS Shanty Workshop, November 30, 1988


I dreamed a dream the other night
Lowlands, lowlands away my John
I dreamed a dream the other night
Lowlands, my lowlands away


I dreamed I saw my own true love
He stood so still, he did not move


So dank his hair, so dim his eye
I knew he'd come to say goodbye


"I'm drowned in the lowland sea," he said.
"Oh you and I will ne'er be wed."


"I'll never kiss you more," he said
"Ne'er kiss you more, for I am dead."


I will cut off my bonny hair
No other man will find me fair


I dreamed a dream the other night
I dreamed a dream the other night

[Salty Dog]

The Mermaid Song - as sung by Capt. Jim Parsons


When I was a lad in a fishing town
My old man said to me:
"You can spend your life, your jolly life
Sailing on the sea.
You can search the world for pretty girls
Til your eyes grow weak and dim,
But don't go fishing for a mermaid, son
If you don't know how to swim"


'Cause her hair was green as seaweed
Her skin was blue and pale
I loved that girl with all my heart
I only liked the upper part
I did not like the tail


So I signed aboard of a whaling ship
And my first very day at sea
There I spied in the waves,
Reaching out for me
"Come live with me in the sea said she,
Down on the ocean floor
And I'll show you many's a wonderous thing
That you've never seen before


So over I jumped and she pulled me down,
Down to her seaweed bed
A pillow made of tortoise-shell
She placed beneath my head
She fed me shrimp and caviar
Upon a silver dish
From her head to her waist was just to my taste
But the rest of her was a fish


'Cause ...


Then one day, she swam away
So I sang to the clams and the whales
"Oh, how I miss her seagreen hair
And the silvery shine of her scales
Then her sister, she swam by
And set my heart awhirl
From her head to her waste was an ugly fish
But the rest of her was a girl


'Cause her hair was green as seaweed
Her skin was blue and pale
I loved that girl with all my heart
I did not like the upper part
And that's how I get my ...