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1. |
Mingulay Boat Song
03:26
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Mingulay Boat Song
Maritime-themed Song
Sir Hugh S. Roberton (1874–1952)
What care we how light the spray is?
What care we for wind or weather?
Let her go, boys, every inch is
Sailin’ homeward to Mingulay.
Chorus:
Heel ya ho, boys, let her go boys!
Heave her head ’round into the weather!
Heel ya ho, boys, let her go boys!
Sailin’ homeward to Mingulay!
Clap your eyes on the sun arisin’,
Gulls and doves fill the sky with feather.
Cut her loose, boys, for the horizon.
We’ll be home soon in Mingulay. (Chorus)
Wives are waitin’ on the bank or
Lookin’ seaward, from the heather.
Pull her round boys, and you’ll anchor
‘Ere the sun sets on Mingulay. (Chorus)
[Ladies] Wives are waiting by the harbor;
We’ve been waiting since break of day.
[Men] We’re pumped dry and walking larboard,
To our wives on Mingulay. (Chorus, Round, Chorus)
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2. |
Pump Shanty
02:35
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Pump Shanty
This is a pump shanty (modern recreation)
© Tony Goodenough
[Gina]
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.
Chorus:
Pump me boys, pump ‘er dry
Down to hell and up to the sky
Bend your back and break your bones
We’re just a thousand miles from home.
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)
[David]
The captain’s daughter, I suppose
Could be called an English Rose
What would you think when I propose
The pox she gave to me a dose. (Chorus)
[Dean]
This Rose well she did prick me sore,
I’ve never felt so bad before
Thanks to the girl I did adore
I thought I’d never pump no more. (Chorus)
[Jon]
I called the doctor right away
To find out what he had to say
“That’s two pounds ten – get on your way”
I’m sure the girl is in his pay. (Chorus)
Sometimes when I am in me bed
And thinking of me day ahead
I wish that I could wake up dead
But pumping’s all I get instead. (Chorus)
Yes, how I wish that I could die
The swine who built this tub to find
I’d drag him back from where he fries
To pump until the beggar’s dry. (Chorus)
If Noah used him for his ark
Oh wouldn’t that have been a lark?
From rising sun ’til getting dark
The animals all hard at work (singin’) (Chorus)
[Christie]
There’s so much water down below
Just how it got there I don’t know
The old man says, “Let’s roll and go”
But I think we’re bound for Davy Jones. (Chorus x2)
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3. |
Fiddlers' Green
02:48
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Fiddlers’ Green
Maritime-themed song
© 1968 John Connolly
These are the lyrics for the song as sung at some American renaissance faires. Some words changed in the folk process, but others (jumpers) changed to remove anachronisms for an Elizabethan-era event:
As I walked by the dockside one evening so rare,
To view the still waters and take the salt air
I spied an old sailor man singing this song:
“Oh take me away boys my time is not long.”
Chorus:
Wrap me up in my oilskins and blankets
No more on the docks I’ll be seen
Just tell my old shipmates I’m taking a trip mates
I’ll see you someday on Fiddlers’ Green
Now Fiddlers’ Green is a place I’ve heard tell
Where fishermen go if they don’t go to hell
Where the weather is fair and the dolphins do play
And the cold coast of England is far far away (Chorus)
And when you’re in dock and the long trip is through
There’s pubs and there’s grub and there’s lassies there too
The girls are all pretty and the beer is all free
And there’s bottles o’ rum growing on every tree (Chorus)
Oh I don’t want a harp, nor a halo, not me,
Just give me a breeze and the good rollin’ sea,
I’ll play me old squeeze-box as we sail along
With the wind in the riggin’, I’ll sing me this song (Chorus)
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4. |
Pay Me, You Owe Me
02:16
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Pay Me, You Owe Me
Pump Shanty or Halyard Shanty
Traditional
Chorus:
Pay Me, you Owe me, Pay me my money down
You got to pay me Mr. Stevedore, pay me my money down
You owe me, you owe me, pay me my money down
You got to pay me or ya go to jail, pay me my money down.
If I’d a known the boss was blind,
Resp: Pay me my money down
I wouldn’t’a gone to work ’til half past nine.
Resp: Pay me my money down
I thought I heard the old man say;
Resp: Pay me my money down
Dean: Go to shore spend all your pay.
Resp: Pay me my money down (Chorus)
I thought I heard the men below,
Resp: Pay me my money down
Men: You don’t pay us and the ship don’t go.
Resp: Pay me my money down
I need my pay to go to shore,
Resp: Pay me my money down
I’ll drink my whiskey and get some more!
Resp: Pay me my money down (Chorus)
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5. |
A Sailor's Prayer
03:01
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A Sailor’s Prayer
Maritime-themed Song
Words and Music © 1978 Rod MacDonald
Arranged for five voices by Jon Krivitzky
Though my sails be torn and tattered, and the mast be turned about,
let the night wind chill me to my very soul.
though the spray might sting my eyes, and the stars no light provide,
give me just another morning light to hold.
(chorus):
[For] I will not lie me down, this rain a-ragin’.
[No] I will not lie me down, in such a storm.
and if this night be unblessed, I shall not take my rest,
[Until] I reach another shore.
Though the only water left, is but salt to wound my thirst,
I will drink the rain that falls so steady down.
. . . though night’s blindness be my gift, and there be thieves upon my drift,
I will [thank the] fog that shelters me along.
(chorus)
Though my mates by drained and weary, and [it seems] their hopes are lost,
there’s no need for their bones on that blackened bottom.
and though death waits just off the bow, we will not answer to him now,
he shall stand to face the morning without us.
(chorus)
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6. |
Rolling Down to Old Maui
02:51
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Rolling Down to Old Maui
Fo’c’sle Song
Traditional
It’s a damned tough life, full of toil and strife we whale-men undergo.
And we don’t give a damn when the gale has stopped how hard the wind did blow.
We’re homeward bound! ‘Tis a grand old sound on a good ship taut and free,
And we don’t give a damn when we drink our rum with the girls on old Maui.
Chorus:
Rolling down to old Maui, my boys, rolling down to old Maui.
We’re homeward bound from the arctic ground, rolling down to old Maui.
Once more we sail with a northerly gale through the ice and sleet and rain.
And them coconut fronds in them tropic lands we soon shall see again.
Six hellish months we’ve passed away in the cold Kamchatka sea,
And now we’re bound from the arctic ground, rolling down to old Maui. (Chorus)
We’ll heave the lead where old Diamondhead looms up on old Oahu.
Our mast and yards are sheathed with ice and our decks are hid from view.
The horrid tiles of the sea-cut ice that deck the Arctic Sea
Are miles behind in the frozen wind since we steered for old Maui. (Chorus)
How soft the breeze of the tropic seas, now the ice is far astern,
And them native maids in them island glades are awaiting our return.
Even now their big black eyes look out hoping some fine day to see
Our baggy sails running ‘fore the gales, rolling down to old Maui. (Chorus)
And now we sail with a favoring gale towards our island home.
Our mainmast sprung, our whaling done, and we ain’t got far to roam.
Our stuns’l booms are carried away, what care we for that sound?
A living gale is after us, thank God we’re homeward bound! (Chorus)
And now we’re anchored in the bay with the Kanakas all around
With chants and soft aloha oes they greet us homeward bound.
And now ashore we’ll have good fun we’ll paint them beaches red
Awaking in the arms of a wahine with a big fat aching head. (Chorus)
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7. |
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A Rovin’ (Amsterdam Maid)
Capstan or Pump Shanty
Traditional
In Amsterdam there lived a maid,
Mark well what I do say!
In Amsterdam there lived a maid,
An’ she wuz mistress of her trade,
I’ll go no more a-ro-o-vin’ with you fair maid.
Chorus:
A-rovin’, a-rovin’,
Since rovin’s bin my ru-i-in,
We’ll go no more a-rovin’,
With you fair maid.
One night I crept from my abode,
Mark well what I do say!
One night I crept from my abode,
To meet this fair maid down the road.
I’ll go no more a-ro-o-vin’ with you fair maid. (Chorus)
I met this fair maid after dark,
Mark well what I do say!
I met this fair maid after dark,
An’ took her to her favorite park.
I’ll go no more a-ro-o-vin’ with you fair maid. (Chorus)
I took this fair maid for a walk,
Mark well what I do say!
I took this fair maid for a walk,
An’ we had such a lovely talk.
I’ll go no more a-ro-o-vin’ with you fair maid. (Chorus)
I put me arm around her waist,
Mark well what I do say!
I put me arm around her waist,
She says, “Young man, yer in great haste!”
I’ll go no more a-ro-o-vin’ with you fair maid. (Chorus)
I put me hand upon her knee,
Mark well what I do say!
I put me hand upon her knee,
She says, “Young man, get back to sea!”
I’ll go no more a-ro-o-vin’ with you fair maid. (Chorus)
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8. |
Blow the Wind Southerly
01:55
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Blow the Wind Southerly
Maritime-themed Song
John Stobbs (1817-18??)
Chorus
Blow the wind Southerly, Southerly, Southerly,
Blow the wind South o−er the bonnie blue sea;
Blow the wind Southerly, Southerly, Southerly,
Blow bonnie breeze, my lover to me.
They told me last night there were ships in the offing,
And I hurried down to the deep rolling sea;
But my eye could not see it
Wherever might be it,
The bark that is bearing my lover to me.
(Chorus)
The ships there were many a blowing and bowin−
And bending right o−er in the salty sea foam;
‘Til my eye did behold it,
As many had told it,
The great bonnie ship of my lover come home.
(Chorus)
My sweetheart had fared through the winter unfriendly:
His ship came along in the early spring tide.
Now my heartache is ended;
All rifts now are mended;
My lover will soon be right here by my side.
(Chorus)
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9. |
The Mermaid
04:27
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Blow the Wind Southerly
Maritime-themed Song
John Stobbs (1817-18??)
Chorus
Blow the wind Southerly, Southerly, Southerly,
Blow the wind South o−er the bonnie blue sea;
Blow the wind Southerly, Southerly, Southerly,
Blow bonnie breeze, my lover to me.
They told me last night there were ships in the offing,
And I hurried down to the deep rolling sea;
But my eye could not see it
Wherever might be it,
The bark that is bearing my lover to me.
(Chorus)
The ships there were many a blowing and bowin−
And bending right o−er in the salty sea foam;
‘Til my eye did behold it,
As many had told it,
The great bonnie ship of my lover come home.
(Chorus)
My sweetheart had fared through the winter unfriendly:
His ship came along in the early spring tide.
Now my heartache is ended;
All rifts now are mended;
My lover will soon be right here by my side.
(Chorus)
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10. |
Derelict
03:31
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Derelict (“Capt. Billy Bones, his song”)
1901 Broadway Show Tune
Lyrics by Young E. Allison, music by Mark Stahl of The Jolly Rogers
“Fifteen men on the 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 bos’n’s pike,
The bos’n 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 long in up-staring eyes –
In murk sunset and at 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 clapped on paradise –
All souls bound just contrariwise –
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum.
Fifteen men of ’em good and true –
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Every man jack could ha’ sailed with Old Pew –
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
There was chest on chest full of Spanish gold,
With a ton of plate in the middle hold,
And the cabins riot of [loot] 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 the 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!
A flimsy shift on a bunker cot,
With a thin dirk slot through the bosom spot
And the lace stiff dry in a purplish blot.
Was she a wench… or some shuddering maid,
That dared the knife – and took the blade!
By God! she was stuff for a plucky jade –
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Fifteen men on the Dead Man’s Chest –
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 sullen plunge in the sullen swell,
Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell!
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
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11. |
Leave Her Johnnie
04:12
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Leave Her, Johnny
Homeward-bound Capstan or Pump Shanty
Traditional
Oh, th’ times was hard an’ th’ wages low,
Leave ‘er, Johnny, leave ‘er!
An’ th’ grub was bad an’ th’ gales did blow,
An’ it’s time for us t’ leave ‘er!
Chorus:
Leave ‘er, Johnny, leave ‘er!
O-oh, leave ‘er, Johnny, leave ‘er!
For th’ voy’ge is done, an’ th’ gales do blow,
An’ it’s time for us t’ leave ‘er!
I thought I heard th’ Old Man say,
Leave ‘er, Johnny, leave ‘er!
Ye can go a-shore an’ take yer pay,
An’ it’s time for us t’ leave ‘er! (Chorus)
Oh, her stern was foul an’ th’ v’yage was long.
Leave ‘er, Johnny, leave ‘er!
An’ th’ winds was bad, an’ th’ gales was strong.
An’ it’s time for us t’ leave ‘er! (Chorus)
An’ we’ll leave ‘er tight an’ we’ll leave ‘er trim.
Leave ‘er, Johnny, leave ‘er!
A-an’ heave th’ hungry packet in.
For it’s time for us t’ leave ‘er! (Chorus)
Oh, leave ‘er, Johnny, leave ‘er with a grin.
Leave ‘er, Johnnie, leave ‘er!
For there’s many a worser we’ve sailed in.
An’ it’s time for us t’ leave ‘er! (Chorus)
An’ now it’s time t’ say good-bye.
Leave ‘er, Johnny, leave ‘er!
For th’ old pierhead’s a-drawin’ nigh.
An’ it’s time for us t’ leave ‘er! (Chorus)
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12. |
Health to the Company
03:00
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Health to the Company
Irish Traditional Song
Traditional
Kind friends and companions, come join me in rhyme
Come lift up your voices in chorus with mine
Let us drink and be merry, all grief to refrain
For we may and might never all meet here again
Chorus:
Here’s a health to the company and one to my lass
Let us drink and be merry all out of one glass
Let us drink and be merry, all grief to refrain
For we may and might never all meet here again
Here’s a health to the dear lass that I love so well
Her style and her beauty, sure none can excel
There’s a smile upon her countenance as she sits on my knee
Sure there’s no one in in this wide world as happy as we (chorus)
Our ship lies at harbor, she’s ready to dock
I hope she’s safe landed without any shock
If e’er we should meet again by land or by sea
I will always remember your kindness to me (chorus)
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Bounding Main Chicago, Illinois
Bounding Main is a group of vocalists that sing richly harmonic versions of traditional maritime songs. “Beautiful Harmonies with a Maritime Flair!” Their shows are filled with spirit, humor and harmony; their arrangements of traditional nautical music bring the listener into the world of fellowship, adventure and romance. ... more
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