All For Me Grog     (Altered lyrics by Craig Lutke and Terrie Lutke)         top of page
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Well it's all for me grog, me jolly jolly grog
It's all for me beer and tobacco
For I spent all me tin with the lassies drinking gin
Far across the western ocean I must wander

Where are me boots, me noggin', noggin' boots?
They're all gone for beer and tobacco
For the heels they are worn out and the toes are kicked about
And the soles are looking out for better weather

Chorus

Where is me shirt, my noggin', noggin' shirt?
It's all gone for beer and tobacco
For the collar is all worn, and the sleeves they are all torn
And the tail is looking out for better weather

Chorus

Where are me guns, me noggin' noggin' guns?
They're all gone for beer and tobacco
Well me flints are all worn out and me bore is rusted out
And me balls are lookin' out for better weather

Chorus

Where is me bed, me noggin' noggin bed
It's all gone for beer and tobacco
Well I lent it to a whore and now the sheets are all tore
And the springs are looking out for better weather.

Alternate chorus:
Well it's all for me grog, me jolly jolly grog
It's all for me beer and tobacco
I spent all me coin always thinkin' with me groin
And now the ladies spend what I have squandered.

Where are me sails, me noggin' noggin' sails
They're all gone for beer and tobacco
Well I we cut 'em with a sword when the ladies come on board
And now we use 'em all as padding for our pleasure

Alt. Chorus

I'm sick in the head, I haven't been to bed
Since I came ashore with me plunder
I see centipedes and snakes and I'm full of pains and aches
And I think I'll make a path for way up yonder

Ar Fa La La Low             top of page
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There's lilt in this song I sing, there's laughter and love
There's song of the sea so blue and heaven above
Of reason there's none, no, and why should there be for why
As long as there fire in the blood and a light in the eye

Chorus
Ar fa la low ha row ere fa la la le
Ar far la low ha row ere fal la la le
Ar far la low ha row ere fal la la le
Fa le fa low ha row ere fal la la le

The heather's ablaze with moon, the myrtle so sweet
There's a song in the air, the road a song at our feet
So step it along as light as a bird on the wing
And while we are stepping we' join our voices and sing

Chorus

And whether the blood be high, lowland or no
and whether the skin be black or white as the snow
Of kith and of kin we are one be it right be it wrong
As long as our voices join the chorus of song

Chorus

Away, Rio!             top of page
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The anchor is weighed and the sails they are set,
Away, Rio!
The maids we are leaving we'll never forget,

Chorus:
For we're bound for the Rio Grande,
And it's away, Rio! Away, Rio!
We're bound away this very day,
For we're bound for the Rio Grande!

So it's pack up your donkey and get under way,
Away, Rio!
The girls we are leaving can take our half pay.

We've a jolly good ship and a jolly good crew,
Away, Rio!
A jolly good mate and a good skipper, too.

We'll sing as we heave to the maidens we leave,
Away, Rio!
And you who are listening, goodbye to you.

Sing good bye to Nellie and good bye to Sue
Away, Rio!
And you who are listening, good bye to you

And good-bye, fare you well, all you ladies of town
Away, Rio!
We've left you enough for to buy a silk gown

Now you Bowery ladies we'd have you to know
Away, Rio!
We're bound to the south'ard, O Lord, let us go!

Heave with a will and heave long and strong,
Away, Rio!
Sing the good chorus, for 'tis a good song.

Heave only one pawl, then 'vast heavin', belay!
Away, Rio!
Heave steady, because we say farewell today.

We'll sell our salt cod for molasses and rum
Away, Rio!
And get home again 'fore Thanksgiving has come

The chain's up and down, now the bosun did say,
Away, Rio!
Heave up to the hawsepipe, the anchor's aweigh.

Our good ship's a-going out over the bar
Away, Rio!
And we'll point her nose for the South-er-on Star
O say was you ever in Rio Grande?
Away, Rio!
O was you ever on that strand?

The Ballad of Captain Kidd         top of page
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My name is Captain Kidd, as I sailed, as I sailed
My name is Captain Kidd, as I sailed
My name is Captain Kidd, God's laws I did forbid
And most wickedly I did, as I sailed, as I sailed
And most wickedly I did, as I sailed

Oh, my parents taught me well, as I sailed, as I sailed
My parents taught me well, as I sailed
My parents taught me well to shun the gates of Hell
But against them I rebelled, as I sailed, as I sailed
Against them I rebelled, as I sailed

Well, I murdered William Moore, as I sailed, as I sailed
I murdered William Moore, as I sailed
I murdered William Moore and I left him in his gore
Forty leagues from shore, as I sailed, as I sailed
Forty leagues from shore, as I sailed

And being cruel still, as I sailed, as I sailed
And being cruel still, as I sailed
And being cruel still the gunner I did kill
And his precious blood did spill, as I sailed, as I sailed
His precious blood did spill, as I sailed

Well, my repentance lasted not, as I sailed, as I sailed
My repentance lasted not, as I sailed
My repentance lasted not, my vows I soon forgot
Damnation was my lot, as I sailed, as I sailed
Damnation was my lot, as I sailed

To execution dock I must go, I must go
To execution dock I must go
To execution dock, lay my head upon the block
And no more the laws I'll mock, as I sail, as I sail
No more the laws I'll mock, as I sail

My name is Captain Kidd, as I sailed, as I sailed
My name is Captain Kidd, as I sailed
My name is Captain Kidd, God's laws I did forbid
And most wickedly I did, as I sailed, as I sailed
And most wickedly I did, as I sailed

Oh, my name was Captain Kidd

The Ballad of Sam and Marie     (David Ruffin & Christopher Dallion)         top of page
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Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Broadside Buddies" CD

(Chorus)
There’s a tale that is told
By sea-farin’ men bold
A tale as old as the sea
Of that terrible sound
When the Wydah went down
And drown’d Black Sam Bellamy

He was young, dark and bold
And his eyes sparkled gold
When he saw her there under that tree
So he told her his story
Of his quest for great glory
And it touched the heart of Marie

She was barely fifteen
And was fair as a queen
Oh, for sure she captured his eye
So they tarried a while
‘Til Marie was with child
Then Sam sailed their fortune to find

(Chorus)

He was southerly bound
Where Spain’s treasure went down
In a storm that ravaged the sea
But no gold could he take
So his fortune to make
Sam turned them to vile piracy

For two years and more
On high seas and shore
Black Sam, his plunder did take
‘Til the Wydah he spied
And to make her his prize
He pursued three days in her wake

(Chorus)

Now Sam stands at the rail
‘Neath the billowing sail
Of the Wydah, that slaver set free
And he sailed for Cape Cod
A free man, by God
A prince, and he dreamed of Marie

But a great gale blew down
The good ship ran aground
And her crew was cast in the drink
Black Sam paid the toll
And the sea took his soul
And his gold in the sand it did sink

(Chorus)

Then high over the gale
There went up a wail
Lost souls in a terrible groan
But the sound heard above
Was the one from Sam’s love
As she saw his corpse there on the stone

Now she walks every day
In the sand by the bay
And she watches each ship on the tide
For the people all say
How she went mad that day
When she found her sweet pirate had died

(Chorus)

Banana Boat Pirates     (Altered lyrics by the Bilge Pumps)             top of page

Day-O, Day-O. Daylight come and me want to go home
Day-O, Day-O. Daylight come and me want to go home

Pirates out sailing on the sea
Daylight come and me want to go home
Got big bananas for the girls to see
Daylight come and me want to go home

(Chorus)

All day plunder and debauchery
Don’t even have time to stop and pee

(Chorus)

6 shot, 7 shot, 8 shot, rum!
Bilge Pump pirates are nothing but scum!

Come Mister Tallyman, grab on me banana
We got a party tonight in my cabana

Bilge Pumps singing like passing gas
It’d sound better if they used their ass

(Chorus)

6 shot, 7 shot, 8 shot, drunk!
Live with the Bilge Pumps, you smell like skunk!

(Chorus)

Singing for the Tallyman sure sounds good
We’re so happy, we’re a sportin’ wood!

(Chorus X 2)

Barrett's Privateers     (Stan Rogers)             top of page
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O the year was Seventeen Seventy-eight
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
A letter of marque came from the king
To the scummiest vessel I've ever seen

Chorus:
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

O Elcid Barrett cried the town
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
For twenty brave men all fishermen who
Would make for him the Antelope's crew

The Antelope sloop was a sickening site
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
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
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
Ninety-one days to Montego Bay
Pumping like madmen all the way

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

The Yankee lay low down with gold
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
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
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
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
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
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
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
It's been six years since we sailed away
And I just made Halifax yesterday

Beer                         top of page
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A time ago, way back in history
When all there was to drink was nothing but cups of tea
Along came a man by the name of Charlie Mops
And he invented a wonderful drink and he made it out of hops.

Chorus

He ought to be an Admiral, a Sultan, or a King
And to his praises, we should always sing.
Look what he has done for us, he's filled us up with cheer.
The Lord bless Charlie Mops, the man who invented,
Beer, beer, beer, tiddly-beer, beer beer.

A barrel of malt, a bushel of hops, you stir it around with a stick
The kind of lubrication that makes your engine tick.
Forty pints of malt a day will drive away the cracks
It's only 1-8 p a pint or 2 and 6 with tax.

Chorus

Clancy's bar, O'Riley's Pub, the hole in the wall as well
There's one thing you can be sure of, it's Charlie's Beer they sell
So come on all you lucky lads, at 11:00 she stops
Five short seconds now, to remember Charlie Mops
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, (sniff, sniff).

Chorus

Beggarman             top of page
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I am a little beggarman, a begging I have been
For three score years in this little isle of green
I'm known along the Liffey from the Basin to the Zoo
And everybody calls me by the name of Johnny Dhu

Of all the trades a going, sure begging is the best
When a man is tired he can sit him down and rest
He can beg for his dinner, he has nothing else to do
But to slip around the corner with his old rigadoo

I slept in a barn one night in Currabawn
A shocking wet night it was, but I slept until the dawn
There was holes in the roof with the rain a comin’ thru
And the rats and the cats were a playing peek a boo

Who should I waken but the woman of the house
With her white spotted apron and her calico blouse
She began to frighten and I said boo
Sure, don't be afraid at all, it's only Johnny Dhu

I met a little girl while a walkin out one day
Good morrow little flaxen haired girl, I did say
Good morrow little beggarman and how do you do
With your rags and your tags and your auld rigadoo

I'll buy a pair of leggins and a collar and a tie
And a nice young lady I'll go courting by and by
I'll buy a pair of goggles and I'll color them with blue
And an old fashioned lady I will make her too

So all along the high road with my bag upon my back
Over the fields with my bulging heavy sack
With holes in my shoes and my toes a peeping thru
Singing, skin a ma rink a doodle with my auld rigadoo

O I must be going to bed for it's getting late at night
The fire is all raked and now tis out of light
For now you've heard the story of my auld rigadoo
So good and God be with you, from auld Johnny Dhu

Black & Tans                 top of page
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I was born on a Dublin street
where the Royal drums did beat
And the loving English feet they tramped all over us,
And each and every night
when me father’d come home tight
He'd invite the neighbors outside with this chorus

Chorus:
Oh, come out you black and tans,
Come out and fight me like a man
Show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders
Tell them how the IRA
Made you run like hell away,
From the green and lovely lanes in Killashandra.

Come let me hear you tell
How you slammed the great Pernell,
When you fought them well and truly persecuted,
Where are the smears and jeers
That you bravely let us hear
When our heroes of sixteen were executed.

Chorus

Come tell us how you slew
Those brave Arabs two by two
Like the Zulus they had spears and bows and arrows,
How you bravely slew each one
With your sixteen pounder gun
And you frightened them poor natives to their marrow.

Chorus

The day is coming fast
And the time is here at last,
When each yeoman will be cast aside before us,
And if there be a need
Sure my kids will sing, "Godspeed!"
With a verse or two of Steven Beehan's chorus

Chorus

The Black Ball Line             top of page
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Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Greatest Hits Vol. VIII" CD

I served me time on the Black Ball line
To me way-aye-aye, hurray-ah
In the Black Ball line I served my time
Hurrah for the Black Ball Line

The Black Ball Ships are good and true
They are the ships for me and you

For once there was a Black Ball Ship
That fourteen knots an hour could clip

They'll carry you along through frost and snow
And take you where the wind don't blow

You will surely find a rich gold mine
Just take a trip in the Black Ball Line

Just take a trip to Liverpool
To Liverpool, that Yankee school

And now we're bound for New York Town
It's there we'll drink, and sorrow drown

Blow the Man Down             top of page
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Come all ye young fellows that follow the sea
To me, way hey, blow the man down
Now please pay attention and listen to me
O, give me some time to blow the man down

I'm a deep water sailor just come from Hong Kong
You give me some whiskey, I'll sing you a song

When a trim Black Ball liner's preparing for sea
On a trim Black Ball liner I wasted me prime

When a trim Black Ball liner preparing for sea
You'll split your sides laughing such sights you would see

There's tinkers and tailors, shoemakers and all
They're all shipped for sailors aboard the Black Ball

When a big Black Ball liner's a-leaving her dock
The boys and the girls on the pier-head do flock

Now, when the big liner, she's clear of land
Our bosun he roars out the word of command

Come quickly, lay aft to the break of the poop
Or I'll help you along with the toe of me boot

Pay attention to orders, now, you one and all
For see high above there flies the Black Ball

'Tis larboard and starboard, on deck you will sprawl
For kicking Jack Rogers commands the Black Ball

Blow Ye Winds     (Alternate lyrics by David Ruffin)         top of page
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I head it said down Kingston way
And off in old Rio
There’s money and fightin’ to be had
If a-piratin’ ye go

(Chorus)
Blow ye winds in the mornin’
Blow ye winds, Hi-Ho
Clear away our running gear
And blow ye winds, Hi-Ho

We’ll load our guns with cannonballs
Our sails we’ll load with rum
And sure we’ll take a galleon
Before the week is done

The captain’s on the quarterdeck
The Bosun’s at the rail
Be careful where you step, me lads
I fear he’s missed the pail

The Cabin Boy is down below
And probably on his knees
The Gunner’s eatin’ lard and cheese
And helping with the breeze

The Surgeon’s got his saw in hand
And everybody hides
I know he’s drunk up all the rum
We should have left him tied

You see the Lookout’s way up top
And scratchin’ in his pants
I fear that swabbie’s got the crabs
I think it was in France

When we get home, our ship made fast
You’ll find us drinkin’ rum
And chasin’ wenches ‘round the bar
I’d like to catch me one

Bonnie Ship the Diamond                 top of page

Oh the Diamond is a ship, me lads, for the Davis Strait she's bound
And the quay it is all garnished with bonnie lasses 'round
Captain Thompson gives the order to sail the ocean wide
Where the sun it never sets, me lads, nor dark clouds dim the sky

So it's cheer up, me lads, let your heart never fail
For the bonnie ship the Diamond goes a fishing for the whale

All along the quay at Peterhead the lasses stand around
With their shawls all pulled around them and the salt tears runnin' down
Now don't you weep, my bonnie lass, though you'll be left behind
For the rose will bloom on Greenland's ice before we change our mind

Chorus

Here's a health to the Resolution, likewise the Eliza Swan
Here's a health to the Battler of Old Montrose and the Diamond ship of fame
We'll wear our trousers made of white and the jackets made of blue
When we return to Peterhead, we'll have sweethearts anew

Chorus

It will be bright both day and night when the Greenland lads come home
With a ship that's full of oil, me lads, and money to our names
We'll build those cradles for the rock and the blankets for to tear
And every lass in Peterhead will sing "Hushabye, my dear"

Chorus X 2

Botany Bay                 top of page
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Farewell to your bricks and mortar farewell to your dirty lime
Farewell to your gangers and gang planks, and to hell with your over time
For the good ship Ragamuffin she's lying at the Quay
To take old Pat with a shovel on his back to the shores of Botany Bay

I'm on my way down to the quay where the ship at anchor lays
To command a gang of navvys that they told me to engage
I thought I'd drop in for a drink before I went away
For to take a trip on an emigrant ship to the shores of Botany Bay

Chorus

The boss came up this morning, he says "well Pat you know
If you don't get your navvys out I'm afraid you'll have to go"
So I asked him for my wages and demanded all my pay
For I told him straight, I'm going to emigrate to the shores of Botany Bay

Chorus

And when I reach Australia I'll go and look for gold
There's plenty there for the digging of, or so I have been told
Or else I'll go back to my trade and a hundred bricks I'll lay
Because I live for an eight hour shift on the shores of Botany Bay

Chorus

Cape Cod Girls                 top of page
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Cape Cod girls don't use no combs
Heave away, haul away!
Combs their hair with cod fish bones
Heave away, haul away!

Chorus:
Heave away, me bully, bully boys
Heave away, haul away!
Heave away, and don't ye make a noise
We’re bound for Australia

Cape Cod cats don't have no tails
Lost them all in southeast gales

Cap Cod kids don't have no sleds
They slide down hills on cod fish heads

Cape Cod ladies don't have no frills
Skinny and light as codfish gills

Cape Cod folks don't have no ills
Cape Cod doctors feed 'em Codfish pills

Clean Song             top of page

There was a young sailor
Who looked through the glass,
And spied a fair mermaid
With scales on her island

Where seagulls
Fly over their nests
She combed the long hair
That hung over her shoulders

And caused her
To tickle and itch.
The sailor cried out
"There's a beautiful mermaid,"

A-sitting out
There on the rocks,
The crew came around
A-grabbing their glasses

And crowded four deep
To the rail,
All eager to share
In this fine piece of news.

Which the captain soon
Heard from the watch.
He tied down the wheel
And he reached for his crackers

And cheese which
He kept near the door.
In case he might someday
Encounter a mermaid.

He knew he must
Use all his wits
Crying "Throw out a line.
We'll lasso her flippers."

And then we will
Certainly find
If mermaids are better
Before or be brave

"My good fellows."
The captain then said.
"With fortune we'll break
Through her mermaiden."

Heading to starboard
They tacked with dispatch.
And caught that fair mermaid
Just under her elbows

And hustled her
Down below decks,
And each took a turn
At her feminine setting

Her free at the end
Of the farce,
She splashed in the waves,
Falling flat on her after

A while the crew
Noticed some scabs,
Soon they broke out with the pox
And the scratching

With fury,
Cursing with spleen,
This song may be dull
But it's certainly clean.

Congo River             top of page
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Oh was you ever on the Congo River
Blow, boys, blow!
Black fever makes the white man shiver
Blow, me bullyboys, blow!

A Yankee ship came down the river
Blow, boys, blow!
Her masts and yards they shone like silver
Blow, me bullyboys, blow!

Chorus:
And blow me boys and blow forever
Blow, boys, blow!
Aye, blow me down the Congo River
Blow, me bullyboys, blow!

Yonder comes the Arrow packet
She fires her guns can’t you hear the racket

What do think she had for cargo
Why, black sheep that had run the embargo

Chorus

Who do you think was the skipper of her
Why, Bully Hayes, the sailor of her

Who do think was the first mate of her
Why Shanghai Brown from Hells half-acre

Chorus

And what do you think they get for supper?
Oh, a punch in the mouth and a roll in the skuppers

And what do you think they had for dinner
Why a monkey's heart and a donkey’s liver

Chorus (x2)

Danny Boy       (altered lyrics by David Ruffin)       top of page
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Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Broadside Buddies" CD

Oh, Danny Boy
The Priest, the Priest is calling
It’s confirmation down at church again.
The alter calls and we know your confessing
To all those times you shared the Father’s sin.

But after mass, they’re having lunch this Sunday
The nuns are playing Bingo in the hall,
But in the garden you’ll find Father Harrigan
And Danny Boy, behind the Rect’ry wall.

Oh, Danny Boy
Your pants, your pants keep falling.
Around your knees, and to the deck again.
You’ve spent too long awaiting Captain’s orders
As Cabin Boy it’s back to work again.

But in the morning when the sun is gleaming,
And gentle breezes blow from sea to glen
You’ll be on deck and hanging on the railing
We’ll hear you sing those pirate songs again!

The Dark Lady     (Ek Ong Kaar Kaur Khalsa)             top of page
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A fierce one-eyed man named Baron LaBonne
A meaner pirate had never been known
And he sailed on the Dark Lady
A ship strong and sound with a perilous crew
And high on the mast the skull and bones flew
Fleet and swift was the Dark Lady

And every night the Baron would drink a toast
He'd say, "Here's to our lovely lady host!
My one true love... I
"Hear, hear!" the crew replied
And the Dark Lady sighed

A rich Spanish galleon was spotted one night
The Dark Lady's crew prepared for the fight
Clash of swords.... No Spaniards survived it
Except for the maiden with dark eyes so bold
Found in the hull with the jewels and the gold
LaBonne laughed and took her for ranson

And every night the Baron would drink a toast
He'd say, "Here's to our lovely lady host!
My one true love... I
"Hear, hear!" the crew replied
And the Dark Lady sighed

The girl Carlotta was a beauty quite rare
With each passing night LaBonne couldn't bear
His empty bed... He brought her to it
The Baron soon found he felt more than desire
His love for her grew and his heart filled with fire
He proclaimed that they would marry

The night the Baron drank with jubilee
He said, "Here's to my lovely bride-to-be!
My one true love... I
"Hear, hear !" the crew replied
And the Dark Lady cried

The following night and storm brewed at sea
The Dark Lady saw her chance to be free
Of her rival, the beauty Carlotta
The ship steered her south to the heart of the gale
Where a wave swept the maiden out over the rail
Sweet revenge on an unfaithful lover

That night the Lady drank a toast
She said, "Here's to your lovely lady host!
Your one true love... I
No voices replied
And the Dark Lady smiled

And now every night when a storm fills the sky
They say that a ghost ship sails in its eye
Fleet and swift is the Dark Lady
A ship strong and sound with a perilous crew
And high on the mast the skull and bones flew
While the Captain gazes out to sea

And every night the Baron must drink a toast
And say, "Here's to our lovely lady host
My one true love... I
"Hear, hear!" the ghost crew replies
And the Dark Lady smiles

Day of the Clipper     (Steve Romanoff)             top of page
Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Brigands with Big'uns" CD

You can see the squares of canvas dancing over the horizon
You can feel the chanty wailing to the heaving of the men
You can feel the seas up to your knees and you know the sea is rising
And you know the clipper's day has come again
To the men on high, the bosun's cry commands a killing strain
Till every mother's son begins to pray
With a hearty shout, she comes about as she heads into the rain
And the ship has never seen a better day

Chorus:
Sailing ships and sailing men will sail the open waters
Where the only thing that matters is the wind inside the main
So all you loving mothers keep your eyes upon your daughters
For the sails will mend their tatters and the masts will rise again

Wooden beams and human dreams are all that makes her go
And the magic of the wind upon her sails
She'd rather fight the weather than the fishes down below
God help us if the rigging ever fails
As the timber creaks, the captain speaks above the vessel's groan
'Til every soul on board can hear the call
It's nothing but the singing of the ship inside her bones
And this is when she like it best of all

Chorus

Where the current goes, the clipper's nose is plowing fields of green
Where fortune takes the crews, we wish them well
Where men could be when lost at sea is somewhere in between
The regions of a heaven and a hell
Well, they're sailing eastern harbors and the California shores
If you set your mind to see them them you can
As you count each mast go sailing past you prouder than before
Then you'll know the clipper's day has come again

Chorus X 2

The Derelict     (Young Ewing Allison)             top of page
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Fifteen men on a dead man's chest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
The mate was fixed by the bosun's pike
The bosun brained with a marlinspike
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
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Dead and be damned and the rest gone whist!
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
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 down in up-staring eyes
In murk sunset and foul sunrise
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

Fifteen men of 'em stiff and stark
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Ten of the crew had the murder mark!
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
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 fixed on paradise
All souls bound just contrawise
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

Fifteen men of 'em good and true - '
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Ev'ry man jack could ha' sailed with Old Pew,
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
There was chest on chest of Spanish gold
With a ton of plate in the middle hold
And the cabins riot of stuff untold,
And they lay there that 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 a sternlight screen...
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Chartings no doubt where a woman had been
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
'Twas a flimsy shift on a bunker cot
With a thin dirk slit through the bosom spot
And the lace stiff dry in a purplish blot
Oh was she wench or some shudderin' maid
That dared the knife and took the blade
By God! she had stuff for a plucky jade
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

Fifteen men on a dead man's chest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
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 sudden plunge in the sullen swell
Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell,
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

Donkey Riding     (altered lyrics by Craig Lutke)         top of page
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Was you ever in Quebec
Launchin' timber on the deck
Where you break your bleedin' neck
Riding on the donkey

(Chorus)
Way-hey and away we go
Donkey riding, donkey riding
Way-hey and away we go
Ridin' on the donkey

Was you ever in Vallipo
Where them gals sport on the shore
She waggles her dots and rolls and goes
Riding on your donkey

Was you ever in Miramashe
Where them ladies tie you to a tree
That kind of service don't come for free
Riding on the donkey

Was you ever at Cape Horn
Where your backside's never warm
Except if you're the Cabin Boy
Riding on the donkey

Was you ever in Timbuktu
Where the gals are black and blue
Touch 'em there and you'll be too
Riding on the donkey

Was you ever in Cardiff Bay
Where the ladies shout, "Hooray!"
They know they soon have all your pay
Riding on the donkey

Was you ever near the Arctic dawn
Them eskimo girls they have good fun
Where the night is six months long
Riding on the donkey

Drunken Sailor     (altered lyrics by Craig Lutke)         top of page
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What do ya do with a drunken sailor?
What do ya do with a drunken sailor?
What do ya do with a drunken sailor?
Early in the morning?

Way-hay, up she rises
Way-hay, up she rises
Way-hay, up she rises
Early in the morning

Put a little lobster in his breeches

Slam his pizzle in a rusted porthole
Then send him off to pee in the poison ivy

Dress him up in women's clothing
Then put him on the shore to join the Army
Cause they're always looking for a few good men

Make him the captain of the Exxon tanker

Turn him over and we'll hide our treasure map

Shave his back and we'll knit a sweater

What'll he do when he gets ashore
He'll run like hell to the nearest whorehouse
What'll he do when he gets to the whorehouse
Way-hay, up he rises

Eliza Lee             top of page
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Oh! The smartest packet ye can find
Ah Hey! Ah Ho! Are you most done?
Is the Ol' Wildcat of the Swallowtail Line!
Oh! Clear away the track an' let the bulgine run!

(Chorus)
Timme Hey, Rig-a-jig, and a jolting gun!
Ah Hey! Ah Ho! Are you most done?
With Eliza Lee all on me knee
Clear away the track an' let the bulgine run!

Oh! the Ol' Wildcat of the Swallowtail Line
She's never a day behind her time!

Oh, we're outward bound for New York Town
Them bowery gals we'll waltz around!

When we've stowed our freight at the West Street Pier
We'll steer back home for some Liverpool beer!

Oh, them bowery gals will give us fun
Chatham Street dives is home from home!

When we all gets back to Liverpool town
I'll stand ye whiskies all around

Oh, when I gets home across the sea
Eliza Lee, will you marry me?

Excursion Around the Bay             top of page
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Well it was on this monday morning and the day be calm and fine
A harbour grace excursion with the boys who had the time
And just before the sailor took the gangway from the pier
I saw some fellow haul me wife aboard as a volunteer

Chorus:
Oh me, oh my, I heard me old wife cry
Oh me, oh my, I think I'm gonna die!
Oh me, oh my, I heard me old wife say,
"I wish I'd never taken this excursion around the bay"

We had fourteen hundred souls aboard, oh what a splendid sight!
Left stong and regimental to make our spirits bright
And meself being in the double, when a funny things they'd say
They choke themselves from laughing when they'd see us in the bay

Me wife she got no better, she turned a sickly green
I fed her cake and candy, fat pork and kerosene
Castor Oil and sugar of candy, I rubbed pure oil on her face
And I said she'll be a dandy when we reaches Harbour Grace!

My wife she got no better, my wife me darling dear
The screeches from her trollear could hear in Carbonear
I tried every place in Harbour Grace, Tried every store and shop,
To get her something for a cure or take her to the hop

She died below the brandy's as we were coming back
We buried her in the ocean, wrapped up in a Union Jack
So now I am a single man, in search of a pretty face
And the woman that says she'll have me, I'm off for Harbour Grace!

The Farmer             top of page
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There was an old farmer who lived by a rock
He sat in the meadow a'shaking his
Fist at the boys who were down by the crick
Their feet in the water, their hands on their

Marbles and playthings and in days of yore
There came a young lady. She looked like a
Pretty young creature, she sat on the grass
She pulled up her dresses and showed us her

Ruffles and laces and white puffy duck
She said she was learning a new way to
Bring up her children and learn them to knit
While the boys in the barnyard were shoveling

Refuse and litter from yesterday's hunt
While the girl in the meadow was rubbing her
Eyes at the fellows as girls sometimes do
To make it quite clear that she wanted to

Go for a nice, pleasant stroll on the grass
Then hurry back home for a nice piece of
Ice cream and cake that stood three layers tall
And after desert she was ready to

Go for another walk down by the dock
With any young man with a sizeable
Roll of one hundreds and a big bulge up front
If he'd ask politely, she'd show him her

Little pet dog who was subject to fits
Then maybe she'd let him grab hold of her
Small tender hands with a movement so quick
Then she'd bend on over and suck on his

Soda so sweetly 'til she finished it
Then pull down her panties to rub on her
Hip that she bruised when she ran down the hall
'Cause he tried to force her to lick on his

Candy so tasty made of butterscotch
And then he spread whip cream all over her
Cookies that she had been baking all night
If you think this is dirty, you know you're damned right!

Fire Maringo     (altered lyrics by Craig Lutke)         top of page
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Lift him up and carry him along
Fire Maringo, fire him away
Put him down where he belongs
Fire Maringo, fire him away!

The deck is awash with blood so red
Pooled up all around the dead

The enemy's ship is alive with fire
There's no plunder in that funeral pyre

Those navy dogs they had no fear
That King's Man O' War, she cost us dear

The captain lays wrapped in his shroud
With ten men killed, he did us proud

Send him overboard and let him lay
Wrapped up in chains so there he'll stay

The ocean floor is filled with bones
Pirates who never will see home

Let's fill her sails and make her go
There's more ships afloat for us to lay low

The Flying Cloud             top of page
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My name is Arthur Hollandin, as you may understand
I was born ten miles from Dublin Town, down on the salt-sea strand
When I was young and' comely, sure, good fortune on me shone
My parents loved me tenderly for I was their only son

Chorus:
Rum-da-deedle-da-da-deem-dadda-ya
Da-deem-da-deedle-ee-aye-o

My father he rose up one day and with him I did go
He bound me as a butcher's boy to Pearson of Wicklow
1 wore the bloody apron there for three long years and more
Till I shipped on board of The Ocean Queen belonging to Tramore

It was on Bermuda's island that I met with Captain Moore
The Captain of The Flying Cloud, the pride of Baltimore
I undertook to ship with him on a slaving voyage to go
To the burning shores of Africa, where the sugar cane does grow

But now our money it is all spent, we must go to sea once more
And all but five remained to hear the words of Captain Moore
'There's gold and silver to be had if with me you'll remain
Let's hoist the pirate flag aloft and sweep the Spanish Main

The Flying Cloud was a Yankee ship, five hundred tons or more
She could outsail any clipper ship hailing out of Baltimore
With her canvas white as the driven snow and on it there's no specks
And forty men and fourteen guns she carried below her decks

We plundered many a gallant ship down on the Spanish Main
Killed many a man and left his wife and children to remain
To none we showed no kindness but gave them watery graves
For the saying of our captain was: "Dead men tell no tales"

We ran and fought with many a ship, both frigates and liners too
Till, at last, a British Man-O-War, The Dunmow, hove in view
She fired a shot across our bows as we ran before the wind
And a chainshot cut our mainmast down and we fell far behind

They beat our crew to quarters as they drew up alongside
And soon across our quarter-deck there ran a crimson tide
We fought until they killed our captain and twenty of our men
Then a bombshell set our ship on fire, we had to surrender then

It's now to Newgate we have come, bound down with iron chains
For the sinking and the plundering of ships on the Spanish Main
The judge he has condemned us and we are condemned to die
Young men a warning by me take, lead not such a life as I

Farewell to Dublin City. and the girl that I adore
I'll never kiss your cheek again nor hold your hand no more
Whiskey and bad company have made a wretch of me
Young men, a warning by me take and shun all piracy...

General Taylor             top of page
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General Taylor gained the day
Walk him along, John, Carry him along
General Taylor gained the day
Carry him to his burying ground

Chorus:
To me way, hey, hey Stormy
Walk him along, John, carry him along
Way, hey, hey, Stormy
Carry him to his burying ground

I wish I wa sold Stormy's son
I'd build me a ship of 10,000 ton

I'd load her down with ale and rum
And every shellback should have some

We dug his grave with a silver spade
His shroud of the finest silk was made

We lowered him down on a golden chain
On every link we carved his name

General Taylor died long ago
He's gone to where the winds don't blow

General Taylor's dead and gone
General Taylor's dead and gone

Grey Funnel Line     (Cyril Tawney)         top of page
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Don't mind the wind nor 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 fades away

Chorus:
It's one more day on the grey funnel line
It'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 harbor to the one I love

Chorus

There was a time my heart was free
Like a floating spar on the open sea
But now that spar is washed ashore
It comes to rest at my real love's door

Chorus

Every time I gaze behind the screws
Makes me long for St Peter's shoes
I'd walk on down that silver lane
And take my love in my arms again

Chorus

Oh Lord, if dreams were only real
I'd have my hands on that wooden wheel
And with all my heart I would turn her 'round
And tell the boys that we're homeward bound

Chorus

I'll pass the time like some machine
Until blue water turns to green
Then I'll dance down that Walker Shore
And sail the Grey Funnel Line no more
And sail the Grey Funnel Line no more

The Gun Shanty     (Craig Lutke)         top of page
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(Chorus)
Boom... the guns go as we roll a broadside
Boom... the guns go and the women run and hide
Because there’s no sin that we haven’t tried
Boom... the guns go ‘cross the ocean blue and wide

Now many people say it’s a pirates life for me
Our cannons sink ships all across the raging sea
And then on shore we'll revel in debauchery
Boom... our guns go, better watch your booty.

(Chorus)

We fired our guns on deck the other day
The Cabin Boy said he wanted to play
Had a question for me, this is what I had to say
You touch a man's guns, son, and people call you gay.

(Chorus)

We spied a rich ship for whose booty we did yearn
We fired into her bow, which caused her to turn
The Captain shook his head, said "You've got alot to learn
If you wanna make her burn, shoot your gun into her stern"

(Chorus)

Now why do you think that I shipped off to sea
When on shore, there’s many women left for me?
There’s a one-legged whore on the shore called Marie
Because of her, now it burns when I pee.

(Chorus)

It’s good thing as a pirate, you don’t live very long
And as a young man, your cannon fires strong
But as an old man, something goes really wrong
You’ll have to take a pill just so it will play along

Boom... the guns go as we roll a broadside
Boom... the guns go and the women run and hide
Because there’s no sin that we haven’t tried
Boom... the guns go ‘cross the ocean blue and wide
Boom... the guns go and the pirate’s swell with pride
Boom... the guns go. Would you like to take a ride?

Haul Away Joe             top of page
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When I was a little lad me mother up and told me,
Way haul away, we'll haul away Joe.
That if I did not kiss the girls me lips would grow all moldy.
Way haul away, we'll haul away Joe.

Way haul away, we'll haul for better weather.
Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.
Way haul away, this good ship now is rollin'.
Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.

I sailed the seas for many a year, not knowin' what I was missin'.
I set me sails afore the gales, an' started in a-kissin'.

So, list me boys, while I tell you about me darlin' Nancy.
She's copper-bottomed, English-built, she's just me style an' fancy.

Saint Patrick was a gentleman. He came from decent people.
He built a church in Dublin town and on it put a steeple.

Once I was in Ireland a'digging turf and taties.
But now I'm on a Yankee ship a'hauling on the braces.

Once I had a Spanish girl but she was fat and lazy.
But then I had an Irish girl, who damn near drove me crazy.

I got meself an Irish girl; her name is Kitty Flannigan.
She stole me boots, she stole me clothes, she stole me plate and pannikin.

King Louis was the king of France before the revolution.
But then he got his head chopped off which spoiled his constitution

Haul, Boys, Haul             top of page
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Now when I was a schoolboy I lived at home at ease
Now I am a trawlin’ man, I sail the wintry seas
I thought I’d like seafarin’ life, it’s all right ‘til I found
It’s a damned sight worse than slavery when we got off the ground
And it was

Haul, boys haul. Haul, boys haul
Heave away the capstan, lads, and let’s get up the trawl
When the winds a’ blowin’, the ship’s a gently rollin’
Miami, Miami, won’t you be true to me

Now every night in winter, as regular as a clock
It’s on we all sail Wester, likewise your oilskin frock
An then up to the capstan lads and then we’ll heave away
Well that’s the cry in the middle of the night as well as in the day
And it was

Chorus

No when the fish are up on deck, a pilin’ to our knees
We slip and slide and wonder why we ever went to sea
But then ashore we sell the catch. That’s easier to bear
For it’s beer all night in the ladies arms when we get paid our share
And it was

Chorus

With winter passin’ over and springtime comin’ on
We go out in all weathers, no time for beer or song
For the fish don’t wait for lovers, as you might quickly find
Put on your oilskin jacket lad and leave the girls behind
And it was

Chorus

And when out trip is over, hard up the tiller goes
And straight way into Yardmouth with a big jib on her nose
And when we reach the pierhead, all the girls will loudly say
Here comes our jolly trawlin’ lads that have been so long away
And it was

Chorus:
Haul, boys haul. Haul, boys haul
Heave away the capstan, lads, and let’s get up the trawl
When the winds a’ blowin’, the ship’s a gently rollin’
Miami, Miami, won’t you be true to me
Miami, Miami, won’t you be true to me

Here's to the Morning Glory             top of page
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At the end of the day I like a little drink to raise up me voice and sing
And an hour or two of the fine brown brew and I'm ready for anything.
At the Cross Keys Inn there were sisters four, the landlord's daughters fair.
And every night when they'd turn out the light, I would tiptoe up the stairs

Chorus:
One for the Morning Glory, two for the early dew
Three for the man that can stand his ground.
And four for the love of you me girls,
Four for the love of you.

I got the call from a foreign shore to go and fight the foe
And I thought no more of the sisters four, though still I was sad to go
I sailed away on a ship, the Morning Glory was her name
And we'd all fall down when the rum went 'round, then we'd get up and start again, singin'

Chorus

I bore once more for my native shore, farewell to the ragin' sea
And the Cross Keys Inn, it was beconin' and my heart was filled with glee
For there on the shore were the sisters four with a bundle upon each knee
There were three young girls and a bouncing boy and the all looked just like me

Chorus X2

Holy Ground             top of page
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Fare thee well my lovely Dinah
A thousand times adieu
For we're going away from the Holy Ground
And the girls that we all knew
We will sail the salt seas over
And we'll return for sure
To see again the girls we love
And the Holy Ground once more
(Fine girl you are!)

Chorus
You're the girl I do adore
And still I live in hope to see
The Holy Ground once more
(Fine girl you are!)

And now the storm is ragin'
And we are far from shore
And this good old ship is tossing about
And the riggin is all tore
And the secret of my mind love,
To the girl I do adore
And still I live in hopes to see
the Holy Ground once more.
(Fine girl you are!)

Chorus

And now the storm is over
And we are safe and well
We will go into a public house
And we will sit and drink our fill
We will drink strong ales and porter
And make the rafters roar
And when our money is all spent
We'll go to sea once more
(Fine girl you are!)

Chorus

Isle of Tortuga     (Craig Lutke)         top of page
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We spent a long time in de islands
And we’ve run fresh out of limes
We need a place for the debased
To spend the booty from our crimes
We got a ship full of pirates
Been a long time away from shore
We burning holes in our pockets
We know we got a lot of fun in store

(Chorus)
And as we ‘round into de quay
We know where to stay
A place that’s never seen de law
Where the beer is never flat
And the girls are on their back
It’s the Isle of Tortuga

The Pilot dives overboard
Before we ever reach the docks
He saw the gals on the white sands
He’s got a key to fit their locks
You’ve never seen such an island
Where your pirate dreams come true
If you’ve got booty for de booty
There’s nothing that could be taboo

(Chorus)

There’s a mile full of barrels
Full of beer up to my eyes
Happily each one is greeted
And sad are our goodbyes
I drink myself into a slumber
With a smile from ear to ear
When I wake up it’s a summer
I think I’ve lost about a half a year

(Chorus)

The people, they a getting richer
From our extended stay
They charge a fee for debauchery
We keep it up day after day
And when we spend up all our money
We know we gotta go rob some more
We’ll make a short track to get back
To the island we adore

(Chorus)

Isn't it Grand?             top of page
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Look at the coffin, with golden handles
Isn't it grand, boys, to be bloody well dead?
Let's not have a sniffle, let's have a bloody good cry
And always remember, the longer you live
The sooner you'll bloody well die.

Look at the flowers, all bloody wilted...

Look at the mourners, bloody great hypocrites..

Look at the preacher, bloody sanctimonious

Look at the widows, bloody great females...

Itches In Me Britches             top of page
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Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Greatest Hits Vol. VIII" CD

I was born of Geordy parents one day when I was young
That's how the Geordy language became my native tongue
That I was a pretty baby, my mother she would vow
The girls all ran to kiss me, well I wish they'd do it now

Oh, I wish they'd do it now, oh, I wish they'd do it now
I've got itches in me britches and I wish they'd do it now

Well when I was only six months old, the girls would handle me
They'd clutch me to their bosoms and they'd bounce me on their knees
They would rock me in the cradle and if I made a row
They'd tickle me, they'd cuddle me, I wish they'd do it now

At sixteen months as fine a lad as ever could be seen
The girls all liked to follow me right down to the green
They'd make a chain of buttercups and drop it on my brow
Then they'd roll me in the clover, well I wish they'd do it now

Well the Eastern girls would go with me to swim when it was mild
Down to the river we would go and splash about a while
They'd throw the water over me, duck me like a cow
Then they'd rub me nice all over, oh, I wish they'd do it now

Well its awful lonely for a lad to live a single life
I think I'll go down to the dance tonight and find meself a wife
Oh I have got six brindled pigs, likewise one fat sow
There'll be plenty love and bacon for the girl who'll love me now

Johnny Jump Up             top of page
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Come and listen, I'll tell you what happened to me
One day as I went down to Cork by the sea
The day it was hot and the sun it was warm,
So says I a quiet pint wouldn't do me no harm

I went in and I called for a bottle of stout
Says the barman, I'm sorry, all the beer is sold out
Try whiskey or paddy, ten years in the wood
Says I, I'll try cider, I've heard it was good.

Chorus:
Oh never, Oh never, Oh never again
If I live to be a hundred or a hundred and ten
I fell to the ground and I couldn't get up
After drinking a quart of the Johnny Jump Up
Ahhh...

After downing the third I went out to the yard
Where I bumped into Brody, the big civic guard
Come here to me boy, don't you know I'm the law?
Well, I up with me fist and I shattered his jaw

He fell to the ground with his knees doubled up
But it wasn't I hit him, 'twas Johnny Jump Up
The next thing I remember down in Cork by the sea
Was a cripple on crutches and says he to me

I'm afraid of me life I'll be hit by a car
Won't you help me across to the Celtic Knot Bar?
After drinking a quart of that cider so sweet
He threw down his crutches and danced on his feet

Chorus...

I went down the lee road, a friend for to see
They call it the madhouse in Cork by the Sea
Well when I got there, sure the truth I will tell,
They had this poor bugger locked up in a cell

Said the guard, testing him, say these words if you can
Around the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran
Tell him I'm not crazy, tell him I'm not mad
It was only a sip of the bottle I had

Chorus...

A man died in the mines by the name of McNabb
They washed him and laid him outside on the slab
Well after the parlors measurements did take
His wife brought him home to a bloody fine wake

Twas about 12 o'clock and the beer was high
The corpse sits up and says with a sigh
I can't get to heaven, they won't let me up
Til I bring them a quart of the Johnny Jump Up

Chorus...

So if ever you go down to Cork by the sea
Stay out of the ale house and take it from me
If you want to stay sane don't you dare take a sup
Of that devil drink cider called Johnny Jump Up

Chorus... (x2)

Leave Her Johnny             top of page
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Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Greatest Hits Vol. VIII" CD

Oh, I thought I heard the old man say
Leave her Johnny, leave her
It's a long, hard pull to the next payday
And it's time for us to leave her

(Chorus)
Leave her Johnny, leave her
Oh, leave her Johnny, leave her
Oh the voyage is done and the winds don't blow
And it's time for us to leave her

The skipper was bad, but the mate was worse
He'd blow ya down with a spike and a curse

Oh, it's rotten meat and weevily bread
It's pump or drown, the old man said

Oh, what will us poor pirates do
When the money's gone, no work to do

Oh, it's one more pull boys, and that will do
Oh we're the boys to kick her through

So I thought I heard the old man say
It's one more pull and then belay

We'd be better off out of the gale
In an inn all night with plenty of ale

Leaving of Liverpool             top of page
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Farewell to you, my own true love,
I am going far, far away
I am bound for Californiay,
And I know that I'll return someday

Chorus:
So fare thee well, my own true love,
For when I return, united we will be
It's not the leaving of Liverpool that grieves me,
But my darling when I think of thee

I have shipped on a Yankee sailing ship,
Davy Crockett is her name,
And her Captain's name was Burgess,
And they say that she's a floating shame.

It's me second trip with Burgess on the Crocket
And I think I know him well
If a man's a seaman he'll get along
But if not then he's sure in hell.

Oh the sun is on the harbour, love,
And I wish that I could remain,
For I know that it will be a long, long time,
Before I see you again

Linstead Market     (altered lyrics by Craig Lutke)         top of page
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Carry me ackee go Linstead market
Not a quati would sell
Carry me ackee go Linstead market
Not a quati would sell

(Chorus)
Lord what a night what a night
What a Saturday night
Lord what a night what a night
What a Saturday night

Gonna buy me a real sharp cutlass
But nobody no sell
Gonna buy me a real sharp cutlass
Gonna raise me some hell

(Chorus)

Find a woman, gonna bring her, bring her
She her mother no tell
Find a woman, gonna bring her, bring her
And maybe her brother as well

(Chorus)

We gonna go on a all-night booze-up
Voodoo woman foretell
We gonna go on a all-night booze-up
And spend de night in a cell.

(Chorus)

Lowlands Low     (altered lyrics by Craig Lutke)         top of page
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Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Broadside Buddies" CD

We sail out for plunder, roger flying high
Robbing rich ships of their cargo
Forty twenty-pounders, lead set to fly
Sailing for the lowlands low

(Chorus)
The lowlands low, the lowlands low
Sailing for the lowlands low.

The call from the captain, all hands above the boards
A caravan of sail ‘cross the water
The crew set the stuns’ls, to catch our great reward.
Sailing for the lowlands low

These twenty fat merchants, try to give the slip
Our frigate she flies ‘cross the water
The trailer she hoves to, firmly in our grip
Plunder in the lowlands low

A prize crew aboard her, she sails out of sight
The cannon fire roars out like thunder
A king’s man-o-war, making for the fight
Sailing for the lowlands low

We dance to the music of our gallant guns
With harmony of small-arms and splinters
Holed below the water, ‘fore she tries to run
Sinking in the lowlands low

We come along side her, vaporing the air
With grapples and axes we board her
With steel, lead, and knuckles, we boldly will declare
Death! Or else, the lowlands low

With holds full of ivory, silk, and indigo
This day, we’ve become a crew of fortune
Pirates of legend, feared high and low
Sailing in the lowlands low

March of Cambreadth     (Heather Alexander)             top of page
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Axes flash and broadswords swing
Shining armor's piercing ring
Horses run with polished shield
Fight these bastards till they yield
Midnight mare and blood red roan
Fight to keep these lands your own
Sound the horn and call the cry
How many of them can we make die?

Follow orders as your told
Make their yellow blood run cold
Fight until you die and drop
A force like ours is hard to stop
Close your mind to stress and pain
Fight till you're no longer sane
Let not one damn cur pass by
How many of them can we make die?

Guard your women and children well
Send these bastards back to Hell
We'll teach them the ways of war
They won't come here anymore
Use your shield and use your head
Fight til every one is dead
Raise a flag up to the sky
How many of them can we make die?

Dawn is broke the time has come
Move your feet to the marching drum
We'll win the war and pay the toll
Fight as one in heart and soul
Midnight mare and blood red roan
Fight to keep these lands your own
Sound the horn and call the cry
How many of them can we make die?
How many of them can we make die?

The Mary Ellen Carter     (Stan Rogers)             top of page
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She went down last October in a pouring driving rain.
The skipper, he'd been drinking and the Mate, he felt no pain.
Too close to Three Mile Rock, and she was dealt her mortal blow,
And the Mary Ellen Carter settled low.
There were five of us aboard her when she finally was awash.
We'd worked like hell to save her, all heedless of the cost.
And the groan she gave as she went down, it caused us to proclaim
That the Mary Ellen Carter would rise again.

Chorus:
Rise again, rise again, that her name not be lost
To the knowledge of men.
Those who loved her best and were with her till the end
Will make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again.

Well, the owners wrote her off; not a nickel would they spend.
She gave twenty years of service, boys, then met her sorry end.
But insurance paid the loss to them, they let her rest below.
Then they laughed at us and said we had to go.
But we talked of her all winter, some days around the clock,
For she's worth a quarter million, afloat and at the dock.
And with every jar that hit the bar, we swore we would remain
And make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again.

Chorus

All spring, now, we've been with her on a barge lent by a friend.
Three dives a day in hard hat suit and twice I've had the bends.
Thank God it's only sixty feet and the currents here are slow
Or I'd never have the strength to go below.
But we've patched her rents, stopped her vents, dogged hatch and porthole down.
Put cables to her, 'fore and aft and girded her around.
Tomorrow, noon, we hit the air and then take up the strain.
And watch the Mary Ellen Carter Rise Again.

Chorus

For we couldn't leave her there, you see, to crumble into scale.
She'd saved our lives so many times, living through the gale
And the laughing, drunken rats who left her to a sorry grave
They won't be laughing in another day. . .
And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

Rise again, rise again - though your heart it be broken
And life about to end
No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend.
Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

Mingalay Boat Song     (Hugh S. Roberton)             top of page
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What care we how wild the minch is
What care we for windy weather
Hail ya ho boys, every inch is
Sailing closer to Mingalay

Chorus:
Hail ya ho boys, let her go boys
Bring her head 'round, and all together
Hail ya ho boys, let her go boys
Sailing homeward to Mingalay

Wives and sweethearts on the hillside
Looking seaward through the heather
Let her go boys, and we'll anchor
'Ere the sun sets on Mingalay

Set your eyes on the run a' rising
Gulls and doves fill the sky with feathers
Cut her loose, boys, for the horizon
We'll be home soon in Mingalay

When the wind is wild with shouting
And the waves mount ever higher
Anxious eyes turn ever seaward
To see us home, boys, to Mingalay

Mrs. McGrath             top of page
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Mrs. McGrath," the captain said,
"would you like to make a pirate out of your son, Ted?
With a scarlet cloak and a big cocked hat,
Mrs. McGrath wouldn't you like that?"

Chorus
With me too-rye-ay
Foddle-diddle-day
With me toorye oorye oorye-ay
With me toorye-ay
Foddle diddle day
Me toorye oorye oorye-ay

Now Mrs. McGrath lived by the seashore
For the space of seven long years or more
'Til she saw a big ship sailin' into the bay
"It's my son Teddy, won't you clear the way."

Oh, captain dear, where have ya been?
Have ya been out in the Mediterrean?
Will ye tell me the news of my son Ted?
Is the poor boy livin', or is he dead?

Ah, well up comes Ted without any legs
And in their place he had two wooden pegs
Well, she kissed him a dozen times or two
Sayin' "Glory to God, sure it wouldn't be you!"

"O were ye drunk or were ye blind
That you left your two fine legs behind?
Or was it while walkin' on the sea
A big fish ate your legs from the knees away?"

"Well, I wasn't drunk and I wasn't blind
When I left my two fine legs behind.
But a cannon ball on the fifth of May
Tore my two fine legs from the knees away."

"Oh, Teddy, me boy," the old widow cried
"Yer two fine legs were yer mammy's pride,
Them stumps of a tree wouldn't do at all,
Why didn't ye run from the big cannon ball?"

"All foreign wars, I do proclaim
Between Don John and the King of Spain
An bejasus I'll make them rue the time
That they swept the legs from a child of mine."

The Night Pat Murphy Died             top of page
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The night Pat Murphy died was a night I'll never forget!
Everyone got roarin' drunk and some not sober yet
As long as the bottle got passed around and everyone feelin' gay
Till a laddie came with bagpipes and music for to play

Chorus
And that's how they showed their respect for Patty Murphy
That's how they showed their honor and their pride
They said it was a sin and a shame and they winked at one another
And every glass in the house was raised, the night Pat Murphy died

Well, Mrs. Murphy sat in the corner, Pouring out her grief
While Kelly and his friends, the dirty robbin thieves
Well they crept into the anteroom and a bottle of whiskey stole
And they placed the bottle upon the corpse, to keep the liquor cold

Chorus

Well, the whole damn thing got merry, they didn't have a prayer
And Mrs. Murphy said she'd wait till all the gang were there
Of all the sights I'd ever seen that made me shiver with fear
Was when they took the ice off the corpse and placed it in the beer

Chorus

Well someone hollered for the cops, they busted down the door
They jumped upon ole Patty's back and laid him on the floor
They knocked him twice behind the ears and once behind the head
But when they jumped up from his back, they found out he was dead

Chorus

At 10:00 in the morning, the funeral left the house
Everyone but poor ole Mrs. Murphy was out soused
We stopped on the way to the graveyard, at the old Red Door Saloon
We went in there at 10:00 and we didn't come out till noon

Chorus

Well someone asked old Milligan if anyone had died
Well Lou says he "I'm not quite sure, I just came for the ride"
We started off for the churchyard all in a very straight line
But we got to the grave we'd found we'd left the corpse behind
Chorus

Old Dun Cow     (Harry Wincott)             top of page
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Some friends and I in a public house
Was playin' dominoes one night
When into the pub a fireman ran
His face all chalky white.
"What's up", says Brown, "Have you seen a ghost,
Or have you seen your Aunt Mariah?"
"Me Aunt Mariah be buggered!", says he,
"The bleedin' pub's on fire!"

Chorus:
And there was Brown upside down
Moppin' up the whiskey on the floor.
"Booze, booze!" The firemen cried
As they came knockin' on the door (clap clap)
Oh don't let 'em in till it's all drunk up
And somebody shouted MacIntyre! MACINTYRE!
And we all got blue-blind paralytic drunk
When the Old Dun Cow caught fire.

"Oh well," says Brown, "What a bit of luck.
Everybody follow me.
And it's down to the cellar
If the fire's not there
Then we'll have a drunken spree."
So we went on down with good old Brown
The booze we could not miss
And we hadn't been there ten minutes or more
Till we were quite like this...

Chorus

Then, Smith walked over to the port wine tub
And gave it just a few hard knocks (clap clap)
Started takin' off his pantaloons
Likewise his shoes and socks.
"Hold on, " says Brown, "that ain't allowed
Ya cannot do that down here.
Don't go washin' out your trotters in the finest wine tub
When we got Miller Lite beer."

Chorus

And then there came a great big crash
Half the bloody roof gave way.
We were almost drowned in the firemen's hose
Though still we were gonna stay
So we got some tacks and some old wet sacks
And we nailed ourselves inside
And we sat there getting bleary-eyed drunk
‘Til we was petrified.

Chorus

At last the firemen got inside
And found us all dead drunk
But like true heroes, as they could
They helped us in our funk
They saw the booze upon the floor
And gave a sudden yell
Then the took their helmets off
And dropped and drank like hell

Chorus

Later that night, as the fire burned down
We emerged from the cellar below.
Our booze was drunk, our pub was burned
And our spirits sank quite low.
“Oh, look!”, says Brown as he checked his watch
By the light of the dying fire.
“Now we gotta get down to Clancy’s Bar
It closes on the hour!”

Chorus

Pay Me             top of page
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Pay Me, you Owe me, Pay me my money down
You've got to pay me Mr. Stevadore, Pay me my money down

You owe me, you owe me, pay me my money down
You've got to pay me or you'll go to jail, Pay me my money down.

If I'd a known the boss was blind
Pay me my money down
I wouldn't'a gone to work 'til half past nine
Pay me my money down

I thought I heard the old man say; Go to shore spend all your pay.

I thought I heard the men below; You don't pay me and the ship don't go.

Pirating a Winter Wonderland         (Bernard & Smith - altered lyrics by The Bilge Pumps)     top of page
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Available on "Renaissance Christmas" CD

Ship bell rings, are ya listenin'?
On the deck, the snow is glistenin'.
A beautiful site, we're drunkards tonight.
Walking in a winter wonderland.

Blown away is the bluebird
Now sautéed in a bean curd
A big cask of rum, you just can't go wrong
Pirating a winter wonderland.

On the poopdeck we can build a snowman
Then pretend that he is Parson Brown
He'll say, "On your knees" and we'll say, "No man!"
That's why we keep the cab boy around.

And we'll sing like a choir
As the shire catches fire
To rape, unafraid, every widow and maid
Pirating a winter plunderland.

In the harbor, we'll avoid the hangman
And treat the Commandant like he's a clown
We'll have lots of fun with Mr. Hangman
Until the alligators choke him down

When it snows, we'll be killin'
Break your toes for a shillin'
We'll frolick and play and make the town pay
Walking in a winter wonderland.

We'll frolick and play and make the town pay
Pirating a winter wonderland.

Pirating the Seas     (Craig Lutke & Patrick McAlister)         top of page
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Me dad said I was evil when my youth had come to pass
I had the disposition of a shark with painful gas
Me mother told me piracy is what you'll need to pass
So I told me mother thanks and I kicked me father's… well…

(Chorus)
It's a short, hard life when you do what we do
Grabbing silver and gold and a little booty, too
And how do you survive when you sail the ocean blue.
Me mother said please, be sure and eat your peas
To avoid the scurvies when you're pirating the seas.

A pirate lives for killin', for blood and guts and gore
Though when the day is over, you still need somethin' more
But women were scarce when you signed to come aboard
So you grab the cabin boy and you treat him like a… well…

(Chorus)
A cabin boy on his knees does what we please
And he loves to appease when he's pirating the seas

It's tough when your captain is damned insane
He once steered our ship into a huge hurricane
He ran up aloft to survey his domain
We felt warm, yellow rain when he drained his main… well…

(Chorus)
The captain said, "freeze", pulled his pants to his knees
Cause he likes to feel the breeze when he's pirating the seas.

We ran across a merchantman and blew their mast apart
They wouldn't give up, our gunner took it to heart.
He gave a foul breeze not on the weather chart.
They surrendered like France when he cut a smelly… well…

(Chorus)
We ignored their pleas, and stole their currencies
And it stank like cheese, when you're pirating the seas.

We sailed 'round Cape Horn where it's windy and cold
To stay warm we gathered into a huddled mold
Someone must have left his pants down in the hold
'Cause I wasn't asked a question, but I certainly was polled…. Uh… well…

(Chorus)
The cold makes you sneeze, sometimes you just freeze
Frost bites your pee-pees, when you're pirating the seas.

(Chorus)
We're the worst enemies, we do what we please
And everybody flees, when we're pirating the seas.

Please Don't Take Me Down     (David Ruffin)             top of page

Oh, no, please don’t take me down
Oh, no, please don’t take me down
I can’t swim, I don’t wanna drown
And I got a little girl in Portsmouth town

I went out sailing on the rollin’ sea
A darker day ya never did see
Ole’ Davey Jones comes walking next to me
Said "Boy, I’m takin’ you down"

(Chorus)

He said, "You’ve been a pirate nearly all your life,
Broke your momma’s heart with sin and strife,
Killed a lotta men with your big long knife,
So, boy, I’m takin’ you down"

(Chorus)

I said, "I’m a different man, I’ve changed my ways,
I don’t give myself to the devil’s sway
I promised that girl I’d be back one day,
So please don’t ya take me down"

(Chorus)

Well, Ole’ Davey Jones looks high above
Circlin’ in the sky is one white dove
Says, "You’ve been saved by that woman’s love
So I’m not takin’ you down"

(Chorus X 2)

Pump Shanty     (Tony Goodenough - altered lyrics by The Bilge Pumps)             top of page
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The ocean we all do adore
So come on lads let's pump some more
Don't worry if you're stiff and sore
I'm sure we've pumped this bit before.

(Chorus)
Pump, me boys, pump her dry
Down to Hell, and up to the sky
Bend your backs and break your bones
We’re just a thousand miles from home.

They say life has its ups and downs
That really now is quite profound
I'd like to push the capstan round
But it's pump me boys before we drown.

The sailor swinging overhead
Must really think he’s one ahead
Wait ‘til I find him in his bed
There’s many ways to make him dead

The Bosun’s whistle is a pain
He drives the crew damn near insane
We’ll stuff him in the scupper drain
And beat him with his whips and chains

I really like the First Mate’s whore
She opens and closes like a door
She’ll roll you ‘til you’re stiff and sore
Then back on board to ask for more

I wish the Cabin Boy was here
I’ll give that boy a new career
I’ll tie him to this handle here
Then off to shore and find some beer

The captain is a drunken fool
His wits are limp just like his tool
I’d like to whack him with a rule
Just like we did in catholic school

This is the perfect job to think
I really now could use a drink
Maybe a daiquiri that’s pink
But if we stop the ship will sink.

Queen of All Argyle     (Andy M. Stewart)             top of page
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Gentlemen it is me duty
To inform you of one beauty
Though I'd ask of you a favour
Not to seek her for a while
Though I own she is a creature
Of character and feature
No words can paint the picture
Of the queen of all Argyle

Chorus
And if you could have seen her there
Boys, if you had just been there
The swan was in her movements
And the marvel in her smile
All the roses in the garden
They bow and ask her pardon
For not one could match the beauty
Of the Queen of all Argyle

On the evening that I mentioned
I passed with light intention
Through a part of our dear country
Known for beauty and for style
In the place of noble thinkers
Of scholars and great drinkers
But above them all for splendour
Shone the Queen of all Argyle

Chorus...

So my lads I needs must leave you
My intentions no' to grieve you
Nor indeed would I deceive you
Oh I'll see you in a while
I must find some way to gain her
To court her and attain her
I fear my heart's in danger
From the Queen of all Argyle

Chorus (twice)

Ramblin' Rover     (Andy M. Stewart)             top of page
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Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Broadside Buddies" CD

Oh, there're sober men and plenty,
And drunkards barely twenty,
There are men of over ninety
That have never yet kissed a girl.
But give me a ramblin' rover,
Frae Orkney down to Dover.
We will roam the country over
And together we'll face the world.

There's many that feign enjoyment
From merciless employment,
Their ambition was this deployment
From the minute they left the school.
And they save and scrape and ponder
While the rest go out and squander,
See the world and rove and wander
And are happier as a rule.

Chorus

I've roamed through all the nations
In delight of all creations,
And enjoyed a wee sensation
Where the company, it was kind.
And when barkin' was no pleasure,
I've drunk another measure
To the good friends that were treasure
For they always around were mine.

Chorus

If you're bent wi' arthiritis,
Your bowels have got Colitis,
You're gallopin' with balacitis
And you're thinkin' it's time you died,
If you been a man o' action,
Though you're lying there in traction,
You will get some satisfaction
Thinkin', "Jesus, at least I tried."

Roll the Old Chariot Along             top of page
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Oh, a drop of Nelson's blood wouldn't do us any harm (3x)
And we'll all hang on behind.

And we'll roll the old chariot along
We'll roll the old chariot along.
We'll roll the old chariot along
And we'll all hang on behind!

Oh, a little mug o' beer wouldn't do us any harm etc.

Oh, a plate of Irish stew wouldn't do us any harm etc.

Oh a little slug of gin wouldn't do us any harm etc.

Oh a night upon the shore wouldn't do us any harm etc.

Oh a little drop of wine wouldn't do us any harm etc.

Oh, a nice fat cook wouldn't do us any harm etc.

Oh, a long spell in gaol wouldn't do us any harm etc.

Oh, a nice watch below wouldn't do us any harm etc.

Oh, a night with the gals wouldn't do us any harm etc.

Roll the Woodpile Down             top of page
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Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Greatest Hits Vol. VIII" CD

Way down south where the cocks do crow
'Way down in Florida
The gals all dance to the old banjo
And we'll roll the woodpile down!

(Chorus)
Rollin'! Rollin'! Rollin' the whole world 'round
That brown girl o' mine's down the Georgia Line
And we'll roll the woodpile down!

When I was a young man in me prime
I'd take them pretty gals two at a time.

We'll roll him high and we'll roll him low
We'll heave him up and away we'll go.

Oh rouse and bust 'er is the cry
Oh, a sailor's wage is never high.

O Curly goes on the old ran-tan
O Curly's just a down-east man.

O one more heave and that will do
We're the bullies for to kick 'er through.

Rollin' Down to Old Maui             top of page
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It's a damn tough life full of toil and strife we whalermen undergo
And we don't give a damn when the gale is done how hard the winds do blow
We're homeward bound from the Arctic Sound with a good ship taut and free
And we don't give a damn when we drink our rum with the girls of Old Maui

Rolling down to Old Maui, me boys
Rolling down to Old Maui
We're homeward bound from the Arctic Ground

And now we sail with a Northerly gale through the ice, and wind, and rain
Them coconut fronds, them tropical lands we soon shall see again
Six hellish months we passed away on the cold Kamchaltka sea
But now we're bound from the Arctic ground rolling down to Old Maui

Once more we sail the Northerly gale towards our Island home
Our mainmast sprung, our whaling done and we ain't got far to roam
Our stans'l booms is carried away. What care we for that sound
A living gale after us. Thank God we're homeward bound

How soft the breeze through the island trees. Now the ice is far astern
Them native maids, them tropical glades is awaiting our return
Even now their big, brown eyes look out hoping some fine to see
Our baggy sails running 'fore the gales rolling down to Old Maui

We'll heave the lead where old Diamond Head looms up on old Wahu
Our masts and yards are sheathed with ice and our desks are hid from view
The horrid ice of the sea-caked isles that deck the Arctic sea
Are miles behind in the frozen wind since we steered for Old Maui

And now we're anchoured in the bay with the Kanakas all around
With chants and soft aloha-oos we're welcomed homeward bound
And now ashore we'll have good fun we'll paint them beaches red
Awakening in the arms of an island maid with a big fat aching head

'Round the Horn     (David Ruffin)         top of page

A frozen deck, you break your neck
Just one slip and we're a wreck

Yes, we'd be great in Magellan's strait
San Francisco needs our frieght

Now with eye forlorn, our skin is torn
Today we're sailin' 'round the horn

Ain't seen my rack, feel the willowaws smack
Hear the timber 'neath my feet go crack

My clothes are ice, just roll the dice
Doubt we'll survive the weather's vice

To our captain sworn, but the spirit's worn
Only fools go sailin' 'round the horn

Face a howling gail, even stout hearts fail
Unfurl those rags that once was sail

Now thirty days as each man prays
It don't matter how much she pays

No one will mourn, sure as you're born
No, the Devil's not sailin' 'round the horn
No, the Devil's not sailin' 'round the horn

Rowdy Soul             top of page
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Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Broadside Buddies" CD

I’m a rowdy Soul I’m a rowdy Soul
And I don’t’ care whether I work or not
I’m a rowdy Soul I’m a rowdy Soul
And I don’t’ care whether I work or not

I saw the Captains coat just a hangin’ up on the wall
I stole the captain’s coat and wore it to the fancey dress ball

Chorus

When I build my ship gunna build that mast up higher
When the battle rages on I don’t wanna be cannon fodder

Pass that jug around dear son and I’ll tell you a story
About thing out there that scratch and bite like women mean and whorey

A pirate's life is alot of fun, you can rape, kill, and go drinkin'
Watch out for them man-o-war's or you'll end up a sinkin'

Load them cannons now, me lads, and use some extra powder
We'll cut their masts, shred their sails, then we'll up and board her

My bologna has a first name it’s O-S-C-A-R
My bologna has a second name is M-A-Y-E-R

Chorus x2

Sailing     Keith Grimwood and Ezra Idlet (additional lyrics by David Ruffin)         top of page
Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Broadside Buddies" CD

Chorus
We’re sailing on a ship to the ocean
We’re sailing on the ocean to the sea
We’re sailing up the creek, all the way to Mozambique
Sailing is the only life for me

There was a pirate with a peg-leg and a parrot
Who bought his vegetables from farmers at the pier
He’d gladly trade a piece of eight for a carrot
But was dumbfounded that corn cost a buck-an-ear

There was a ship with a cargo of red paint
To a tragic fate, everyone was doomed
It rammed a ship with a cargo of brown paint
The ships sank and the sailors were marooned

A pelican was talking to his gull-friend
About the way the walrus made him feel
They stopped in for a drink down at the sandbar
And caught a tuna from B.B. Kingfish and Lou Seal

It’s often said that you can tune a guitar
A piano or a cello, if you wish
But no matter how accomplished you think you are
You’ll never have the scale to tune a fish

Our little galley never saw a rat while sailing
But why it was, we never really knew
‘Til we saw the cook a gaggin’ at the railin’
We watched as he heaved one and then heaved two

The captain called aloud for the ship’s Sturgeon
He was carpin’ ‘bout the trout he couldn’t cut
When we asked him why he tried to use a swordfish
He said he’d done it for the Halibut

Eight pirates climbed up high into the riggin’
To gather up the mighty mainsail’s weight
When a wave did strike us, and it was a big’un
Now all that we’ve got left is pieces of eight

We took a ship transporting three lovely maidens
There was Rose and Ivy and the last was called Holly
Our sentry Roger plied them with the ship’s gin
And now you know why Roger is so jolly

After boarding a Spanish galleon that was quite handsome
Our prisoners stood before us in a quiver
One senorita said, "I have something for a ransom"
So we all lined up and got our timbers shivered

The Sailor's Prayer     (Rod MacDonald)             top of page
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Available on The Bilge Pumps' "We Don't Know" cassette

Though my sails be torn and ragged and my mast be turned about
Though the night wind chill me to my very soul
Though the salt spray sting my eye and the stars no sight provide
Give me just enough morning light to hold

I will not lie me down, this rain a-raging
I will not lie me down in such a storm
And if this night be unblessed, I shall not take my rest
Until we reach another shore

If the only water left is just salt to quench my thirst
I will drink the rain that falls so steady down
If night's blindness be my gift, if there be thieves upon my drift
I will praise the dark that shelters me from them

Chorus

If my friends be drained and weary and it seems their hopes are lost
There's no need for their bones on this blackened bottom
And if death wait just off the bow, we need not answer to him now
We'll stand on and face the morning light without him

Chorus X2

Santiano             top of page
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Santiano gained a day!
Away, Santiano!
Santiano gained a day!
All on the plains of Mexico!

Chorus
Mexico, oh Mexico
Away, Santiano!
Mexico is a place I know
All on the plains of Mexico!

Them yellow-skin gals I do adore
With their sparklin' eyes, and their coal black hair

Why do them yellow gals love me so?
Because I don't tell 'em all I know

Nassau girls ain't got no combs
They comb their hair with a kipper's backbone

When I was young and in my prime
I'd knock those scouse girls two at a time

The skipper likes whiskey, the mate likes rum
The crew likes both but we can't get none

Times is hard, and the wages low
It's time for us to roll and go

Shiver My Timbers     (Muppet Treasure Island)             top of page

Shiver my timbers, shiver my soul
Yo oh heave ho
There are men whose hearts as as black as coal.
Yo oh heave ho

And they sailed their ship cross the ocean blue
A blood-thirsty captain and a cut-throat crew.
It's as dark a tale as was ever told
of the lust for treasure and the love of gold.

Shiver my timers, shiver my sides.
Yo oh heave ho
There are hungers as strong as the wind and tides.
Yo oh heave ho

And those buccaneers drowned their sins in rum.
The devil himself would have called them scum.
Every man aboard would have killed his mate
for a bag of guineas or a piece of eight
A piece of eight
A piece of eight
Five, six, seven, eight

Hulla wacka ulla wacka something not right
Many wicked icky things gonna happen tonight
Hulla wacka ulla wacka sailor man beware
When de money in de ground dere's murder in de air
Murder in de air.
One more time now.

Shiver my timers, shiver my bones.
Yo oh heave ho.
There are secrets that sleep with old Davey Jones.
Yo oh heave ho.

When the mainsail's set and the anchor's weighed.
There's no turning back from any course that's laid.
And when greed and villany sail the sea.
You can bet your boots there'll be treachery.

Shiver my timbers, shiver my sails.
Dead men tell no tales.

The Smuggler's Song     (Rudyard Kipling)         top of page
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Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Brigands with Big'uns" CD

If you wake at midnight and hear a horse's feet
Don't go drawin' back the blinds nor lookin' in the street
Them that asks no questions, isn't told a lie
Now watch the wall my darling while the gentlemen go by

Chorus:
Five and twenty ponies trotting through the dark
Brandy for the parson and bacchy for the clark
Laces for the ladies and letters for the spie
Now watch the wall my darling while the gentlemen go by

Runnin' through the woodlands if you chance to find
Little barrels roped and tied all full of brandywine
Well don't you shout to come and look nor use 'em for your play
Just push the brushwood back again and they'll be gone next day

If you see a stable door settin' open wide
And if you see a tired horse a lying down inside
And if your mother mends a coat that's cut about and torn
And if the linin's wet and warm well don't you ask no more

Chorus

Knocks and footsteps 'round the house. Whistles after dark
You've no call for runnin' out until the house dogs bark
For Trusty's here and Finch is here and see how dumb they lie
They don't fret to follow when the gentlemen go by

If you see the king's men dressed in blue and red
Well you be mindful what you say and mindful what is said
And if they call you pretty maid and chuck you 'neath your chin
Well don't you tell where no one is, nor yet where no one's been.

Chorus

If you do as you've been told likely there's a chance
That you'll be give a dainty doll that's all the way from France
With a cap of Alyintsin's and a velvet hood
A present from the gentlemen no longer being good

Five and twenty ponies trotting through the dark
Brandy for the parson and bacchy for the clark
Them that asks no questions isn't told a lie
And watch the wall my darling while the gentlemen go by

Son of a Gambolier     (altered lyrics by Craig Lutke)             top of page
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Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Greatest Hits Vol. VIII" CD

I'm a rambling rake of poverty
From the ragin' seas I came
'Twas poverty compelled me first
To go out in the rain
In all accounts of weather
Be it wet or be it dry
I'll sing to earn me livelihood
Or lay me down and die

(Chorus)
I'll combine me humble ditties
And from inn to inn I steer
I'm a right and honest fellow and
I drinks me lager beer
I'm a singin' pirate fellow and
I takes me whiskey clear
For I'm a rambling rake of poverty
And the son of a gambolier

I once was a rich and handsome
Pirate and so very neat
They thought I was too good to live
Most good enough to eat
But now I'm just a singin' man
And poverty holds me fast
And every girl turns up her nose
As I go wandering past

Chorus

I'm a rambling rake of poverty
From the ragin' seas I came
My coat I stole from a blind old man
Who was too slow with his cane
My hat I got as a captain past
Ten years now to this day
And my songs I picked from a pile of tunes
Which no man wanted to play

Chorus

South Australia             top of page
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Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Brigands with Big'uns" CD

Oh, South Australia’s my native land.
Heave away! Haul away!
With her rocks and thieves and fleas and sand.
And we’re bound for South Australia

Chorus:
Heave away, you rolling king,
Heave away! Haul away!
All the way you'll hear me sing
We're bound for South Australia!

South Australia is a bloody fine place.
To get flat drunk is no disgrace

Chorus

Them aussie gals don’t wear no clothes
So in South Australia, down under we’ll go

In South Australia I was born!
South Australia round Cape Horn!

As I walked out one morning fair,
It's there I met Miss Nancy Blair.

I shook her up, I shook her down,
I shook her round and round the town.

There ain't but one thing grieves my mind,
It's to leave Miss Nancy Blair behind.

Oh, rock and roll me over boys,
Let's get this damn job over boys.

Spanish Ladies (A Pirate's Tale)     (Altered lyrics by R.L. McDorman)             top of page
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Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Greatest Hits Vol. VIII" CD

Farewell and adieu to you Spanish ladies
Fare thee well and adieu to you ladies of Spain
For we've "received orders" to sail for old England
And we hope in a short while to see you again

Chorus
We'll rant and we'll roar like true seasoned pirates
We'll rant and we'll roar across the salt seas
Until we strike soundings in the waters of old England
From ocean to port town be thirty-five leagues

We heaved our ship to, with the winds at the sou'-west
We hoved our ship to, for to strike soundings clear
We then filled the main topsail and let down our bottles
We drank down our rum, the grog and our beer

Chorus

Well the first ship we took was called The Dreadnaught
Next The Rampant off Plymouth was a pirates delight
We last sank a frigate by the name of Old Dutchess
When a large British fleet came into the lookouts' sight

Chorus
We'll rant and we'll roar like true seasoned pirates
We'll rant and we'll roar across the salt seas
Until we strike soundings in the waters of old England
From sea floor to broadside be thirty-five leagues

Well the signal was made for the grand fleet to follow
We turned her about with those dogs at our feet
We stood by our gunners, we ran up our roger
And sailed out far ahead of the "noblest of fleets." (HA!)

Chorus

Now let everyone here take up a full bumper
Let everyone here take up a full cask
For we will have folly and drown melancholy
And drink a health to each beautiful lass

Chorus:
We'll rant and we'll sing like true drunken pirates
We'll rant and we'll roll right down to the sea
Until we take every damn ship from old England
From dockside to tavern be thirty-five feet!

Chorus:
We'll rant and we'll roar like true seasoned pirates
We'll rant and we'll roar across the salt seas
Until we strike soundings in the waters of old England
From ocean to port town be thirty-five leagues

Ten Thousand Miles Away             top of page
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Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Greatest Hits Vol. VIII" CD

Sing ho! for a brave and gallant ship
With a fair and favorin' breeze
With a bully crew and a captain to
To carry me over the seas
To carry me over the seas, me boys,
To me true love far away
I'm taking a trip on a government ship
Ten thousand miles away

(Chorus)
And sing blow, me bully boys, blow
A-rovin' I will go
I'll stay no more on England's shore
To hear the music play
I'm off on the mornin' train
And I won't be back again
I'm takin' a trip on a Government ship
Ten thousand miles away

Oh, me true love, she was beautiful
Me true love, she was young
Her eyes were like the diamonds bright
And silvery was her tongue
And silvery was her tongue, me boys
As the big ship sailed away
And she said will you remember me
Ten thousand miles away

Chorus

Oh, it was a summer morning
When last I saw me Meg
She'd a Government band around each hand
And another one 'round her leg
And another one 'round her leg, me boys
As the big ship sailed away
And "Adieu", she said, "Remember me"
Ten thousand miles away

Chorus

Oh, I wish I was a bosun bold
Or sailor without fear
I'd man a boat and away I'd float
An' straight for me true love steer
An' straight for me true love steer, me boys
Where the dancin' dolphins play
Where the whales and sharks are having their larks
Ten thousand miles away

Chorus

Oh, the sun may shine through a London fog
Or the river run quite clear
Or the ocean's brine might turn to wine
Or I'll forget me beer
Or I'll forget me beer, me boys
On the landlord's quarter-pay
But I'll never forget me own true love
Ten thousand miles away

Chorus

Three Song     (Craig Broers & Ty Billings)         top of page

Oh there once was a man, he was looking for a wife,
and he knew what he had in mind.
A pretty, little thing who would love him all his life.
He knew not what he would find.

So, he went to an inn, and they kindly let him in
at the sign of the Lion's Den.
A girl he would see, she was probably a three
on a scale from one to ten.

Well, he ordered him a beer, but his vision still was clear,
so he ordered up one pint more.
And when it past his lips, he was staring at her hips,
and decided she was probably a four.

Well, when that pint was through, he decided for to woo
and near to her he came.
And since she was alive, she was probably a five
so he asked her for her name,

She looked him in the eye, but she gave him no reply
and they brought him a glass of wine.
He was really in a fix, she was looking like a six
and he said,"Will you be mine?"

After drink eleven, she was looking like a seven
In fact she was really great.
After one more round, surprisingly he found
he was sitting with an eight.

When he asked her to dine, he was sure she was a nine
so he reached for his ring and then,
he drank another ale, thought his love would never fail,
And he praised her as a ten.

So, now he has a wife, who will love him all his life,
and a long life it would be.
When the ale had cleared his head, he wished he was dead
cause he married a minus three!

Weila, Weila         top of page
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Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Broadside Buddies" CD

There was an old woman, she lived in the wood
Weila, weila, wailla
There was an old woman she lived in the wood
Down by the river Seilla

She has a baby she did rock
Weila, weila, wailla
She has a baby she did rock
Down by the river Seilla

She had a pen-knife three foot long
Weila, weila, wailla
She had a pen-knife three foot long
Down by the river Seilla

She stuck that knife in the baby’s head
Weila, weila, wailla
The more she stabbed, the more it bled
Down by the river Seilla

Along came a bobby, knocked at her door
Weila, weila, wailla
Along came a bobby, knocked at her door
Down by the river Seilla

“Are you the woman what killed the child?”
Weila, weila, wailla
“Are you the woman what killed the child?”
Down by the river Seilla

“Yes, I’m the woman what killed the child”
Weila, weila, wailla
“Yes, I’m the woman what killed the child”
Down by the river Seilla

Well, the rope got chucked and she got hung
Weila, weila, wailla
Well, the rope got chucked and she got hung
Down by the river Seilla

The moral of this story is...
Weila, weila, wailla
Don’t stick knives in babies’ heads!
Down by the river Seilla

Weldon         top of page
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Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Brigands with Big'uns" CD

I'm going back to Weldon… Weldon… Weldon…
I'm going back to Weldon…
To get a job in the Weldon yard

Oh captain if you fire me… fire me… fire me…
Oh captain if you fire me…
You've got to fire my buddy, too

The captain's got a luger… luger… luger…
The captain's got a luger…
And the mate's got an owl's head

I don't want no woman… woman… woman…
I don't want no woman…
Whose got a hair like a horse's mane

The house is on fire… fire… fire…
The house is on fire…
And it's almost burning down

I'm going back to Weldon… Weldon… Weldon…
I'm going back to Weldon…
To get a job in the Weldon yard

Westering Home             top of page
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Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Broadside Buddies" CD and "We Don't Know" cassette

Chorus:
Westering home with a song in the air
Light of me eye and it's goodbye to care
Laughter and love are a welcoming there
Pride of me heart my own love

Tell me a tale of the orient gay
Tell me of riches that come from Cathay
Ah but it's grand to be waken at day
And find oneself nearer to Isla

Chorus

Where are the folks like the folks of the west
Canty and couthy and kindly, our best
There I would hie me and there I would rest
At hame wi' my ain folks in Isla

Chorus

Wop Jamboree             top of page
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Available on The Bilge Pumps' "Greatest Hits Vol. VIII" CD

The pilot he looked out ahead
The hands on the chain and the heavin' of the lead
And the old man roared to wake the dead
Come and get your ropes me son

Chorus:
Wop Jamboree, wop jamboree
Oh a long-tailed sailor man comin' up behind
Wop Jamboree, wop jamboree
Come an' get your ropes me son

Soon we'll reach the lizzard light
Soon, me boys, we'll heave into sight
Soon we'll be abreast of the Isle of Wight
Come and get your ropes me son

Chorus

Now when we get to the black wall docks
Those pretty young girls come out in flocks
With short-legged drawers and long-tailed frocks
Come and get your ropes me son

Chorus

Well, when we walk down Limelight Way
On all the girls will spend our pay
We'll not see more 'til another day
Come and get your ropes me son