Young Ewing Allison - The Derelict

[corsair91]

Young Ewing Allison - The Derelict


Young Ewing Allison
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_E._Allison
https://allpoetry.com/Young-Ewing-Allison

principally known for his lyrics to "Fifteen Men on a Dead Man's Chest"
which he entitled Derelict.
This was written, in 1900, for a musical version of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.


Dead Man's Chest
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Man%27s_Chest
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Dead_Man%27s_Chest
https://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=642753



Derelict
https://allpoetry.com/Derelict


Derelict

Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest”
Drink and the devil had done for the rest”
The mate was fixed by the bos'n's pike,
The bos'n brained with a marlin spike,
And Cookey's throat was marked belike
It had been gripped
By fingers ten;
And there they lay,
All good dead men
Like break-o'-day in a boozing-ken”
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

Fifteen men of the whole ship's list”
Dead and be damned and the rest gone whist!”
The skipper lay with his nob in gore
Where the scullion's axe his cheek had shore”
And the scullion he was stabbed times four.
And there they lay,
And the soggy skies
Dripped all day long
In upstaring eyes”
In murk sunset and at foul sunrise”
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

Fifteen men of 'em stiff and stark”
Ten of the crew had the Murder mark”
'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead,
Or a yawing hole in a battered head”
And the scuppers glut with a rotting red
And there they lay”
Aye, damn my eyes”
All lookouts clapped
On paradise”
All souls bound just contrariwise”
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum.

Fifteen men of 'em good and true”
Every man jack could ha' sailed with Old Pew”
There was chest on chest full of Spanish gold,
With a ton of plate in the middle hold,
And the cabins riot of stuff untold,
And they lay there,
That had took the plum,
With sightless glare
And their lips struck dumb,
While we shared all by the rule of thumb”
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

More was seen through the stern light screen”
Chartings no doubt where a woman had been!”
A flimsy shift on a bunker cot,
With a thin dirk slot through the bosom spot
And the lace stiff dry in a purplish blot.
Oh was she wench¦
Or some shuddering maid?
That dared the knife”
And took the blade!
By God! she was stuff for a plucky jade”
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest”
Drink and the devil had done for the rest”
We wrapped 'em all in a mains'l tight
With twice ten turns of a hawser's bight
And we heaved 'em over and out of sight”
With a Yo-Heave-Ho!
And a fare-you-well!
And a sullen plunge
In the sullen swell,
Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell!
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

[corsair91]

"Derelict" by Young E. Allison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQw3Fc4Ujl0

a poem inspired by a novel.
The novel is "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson,
the poem is titled "Derelict" and was written by Young Ewing Allison

[fleetp]

Thanks for posting the words to the poem.

[Pirate]

(Verse 1)
Fifteen bargirls in Shooters Bar,
Dressed in feathers, they've come so far.
Swaying hips and sparkling eyes,
They dance to the beat as the night skies rise.

(Chorus)
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil, they've left us numb.
In Shooters Bar, where dreams unfold,
Fifteen men and their stories untold.

(Verse 2)
From different paths, they came in stride,
Seeking solace where the sailors reside.
Some for family, some for thrills,
They found sisterhood amid the spills.

(Chorus)
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil, they've left us numb.
In Shooters Bar, where dreams unfold,
Fifteen men and their stories untold.

(Bridge)
As the night grew wild, the music played,
The bargirls twirled, a pirate's parade.
Legends of the sea, tales of old,
In Shooters Bar, their spirits were bold.

(Chorus)
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil, they've left us numb.
In Shooters Bar, where dreams unfold,
Fifteen men and their stories untold.

(Verse 3)
Behind the curtain, they shed their attire,
Revealing dreams that burned like fire.
Sisters in arms, they shared their dreams,
Beyond Shooters Bar, where life redeems.

(Chorus)
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil, they've left us numb.
In Shooters Bar, where dreams unfold,
Fifteen men and their stories untold.

(Outro)
With hearts ablaze, they bid farewell,
Their spirits lifted, ready to sail.
Shooters Bar, a memory divine,
Fifteen bargirls, forever intertwined.

[corsair91]

Fifteen men on a dead man's chest; yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum? Exploring the truth behind the pirate stereotype

https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-history/piracy-and-privateering