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Moontide: Chanteys

From Songs of American Sailormen, Joanna C. Colcord, Oak Publications, New York, 1964.

The Codfish Shanty

A windlass or capstan chantey

Joanna Colcord says, "A 'down-east' variant of this song ["Rolling King"] goes to a simplified and livelier version of the same tune. The words are a rough jest at the expense of sailors who might hail from the fishing towns, and any such towns, from Cape Cod to St. John, were substituted in the words given below."

Glos'ter girls they have no combs,
Heave away, heave away!
They comb their hair with cofish bones.
We're bound for South Australia.

Heave away, my bully bully boys,
Heave away, heave away!
Heave away, why don't you make a noise?
We're bound for South Australia.

Glos'ter boys they have no sleds,
Heave away, heave away!
They slide downhill on codfish heads.
We're bound for South Australia.

Heave away, my bully bully boys,
Heave away, heave away!
Heave away, why don't you make a noise?
We're bound for South Australia.

Lowlands

A windlass or capstan chantey

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

I dreamed I saw my own true love,
Lowlands, Lowlands, away, my John,
I dreamed I saw my own true love,
My Lowlands, away!

She came to me all in my sleep,
Lowlands, Lowlands, away, my John,
She came to me all in my sleep,
My Lowlands, away!

And then I knew my love was dead,
Lowlands, Lowlands, away, my John,
And then I knew my love was dead,
My Lowlands, away!

Diego's Bold Shores

Forecastle song

Joanna Colcord says, "Sperm-whalers of the south latitudes sang the following song, which was doubtless of shore composition. 'Diego' meant the Diego Ramirez rocks off Cape Horn--in sailor's lingo 'Dago Rammerees,' or simply 'The Rammerees.' (Cf. Masefield's 'Song of Shipwreck.') The air was furnished by Joseph McGinnis, and the words are a combination of his version and that of R. M. Davids.

Did the love of adventure, the promise of gold,
    And an ardent desire for to roam,
Ever tempt you away o'er the watery world,
    Far away from your kindred and home?
With a stormbeaten captain freehearted and bold,
    And a score of brave fellows or two,
Enured to the hardships of hunger and cold,
    A fearless and jovial crew.

Have you ever cruised off Diego's bold shores
    That are washed by the Antarctic wave,
Where the snowy-plumed albatross merrily soars
    Over many a poor whaler's grave?
Have you ever roamed in the evergreen glades
    That are teeming with dainties so rare?
Did you ever make love 'neath the cocoanut shade
    To the dark island maids that dwell there?

Did you hear from the mast-head the shout "There she blows,"
    See the boats gaily leave the ship's side,
See the might fish quiver 'neath the harpooner's blows
    As the water with crimson is dyed?
Have you seen the foam fly from the mighty sperm whale
    That when boldly attacked in his lair,
With one sweep of his mighty and ponderous tail
    Sends the whaleboat so high in the air?

Did you ever join in with a boisterous cheer
    Ringing high over Heaven's blue dome
When rich with the spoils you have purchased so dear
    You hoisted your topsails, bound home?
And after the voyage, when Columbia's coast
    Loomed proudly from out the blue main,
Have you felt that joy that you longed for the most
    Of meeting your loved ones again?

Her Bright Smile

Forecastle song

Composed by J. C. Carpenter

'Tis years since last we met,
And we may not meet again;
I have struggled to forget,
But the struggle was in vain,
For her voice lives on the breeze,
And her spirit comes at will;
In the midnight on the sea,
Her bright smile haunts me still.

For her voice lives on the breeze,
And her spirit comes at will;
In the midnight on the seas,
Her bright smile haunts me still.

At the first sweet dawn of light,
When I gaze upon the deep,
Her form still greets my sight,
While the stars their vigils keep.
When I close mine aching eyes,
Sweet dreams my senses fill,
And from sleep when I arise
Her bright smile haunts me still!

For her voice lives on the breeze,
And her spirit comes at will;
In the midnight on the seas,
Her bright smile haunts me still.

I've sailed 'neath alien skies,
I have trod the desert path,
I have seen the storm arise
Like a giant in his wrath.
Ev'ry danger I have known
That a reckless life can fill,
Yet her presence is not flown;
Her bright smile haunts me still!

For her voice lives on the breeze,
And her spirit comes at will;
In the midnight on the seas,
Her bright smile haunts me still.

Andrew Rose

Ballad

Andrew Rose, the British sailor
Now to you his woes I'll name.
'Twas on the passage from Barbadoes
Whilst on board of the Martha Jane.

Chorus
Wasn't that most cruel usage,
Without a friend to interpose?
How they whipped and mangled, gagged and strangled
The British sailor, Andrew Rose.

'Twas on the quarter-deck they laid him,
Gagged him with an iron bar;
Wasn't that most cruel usage
To put upon a British tar?

'Twas up aloft the Captain sent him,
Naked beneath the burning sun,
Whilst the mate did follow after,
Lashing him till the blood did run.

The captain gave him stuff to swallow;
Stuff to you I will not name,
Whilst the crew got sick with horror,
While on board the Martha Jane.

'Twas in a water-cask they put him;
Seven long days they kept him there.
When loud for mercy Rose did venture,
The Captain swore no man should go there.

For twenty days they did ill-use him,
When into Liverpool they arrived.
The Judge he heard young Andrew's story;
"Captain Rodgers, you must die."

Come all ye friends and near relations,
And all ye friends to interpose;
Never treat a British sailor
Like they did young Andrew Rose.

Untitled

Windlass or capstan chantey

The first verse of a chantey that, according to Colcord, Sir Richard Runciman Terry says is a precursor to the song "Paddy Works on the Railway":

When I was a little tiny boy,
I went to sea in Stormy's employ,
I sailed away across the sea
When I was just a shaver.
It's I was weary of the sea
When I was just a shaver.

Lyrics to other songs sung in Moontide, and other versions of the chanteys, can be found on the links page.