The Glendy Burk
Stephen Foster, circa 1860
The Glendy Burk is a mighty fast boat,
With a mighty fast captain too;
He sits up there on the hurricane roof
And he keeps his eye on the crew.
I can’t stay here, for the work’s too hard;
I'm bound to leave this town;
I'll take my duds and tote 'em on my back
When the Glendy Burk comes down.
CHORUS
Ho! for Louisiana!
I'm bound to leave this town;
I'll take my duds and tote 'em on my back
When the Glendy Burk comes down.
The Glendy Burk has a funny old crew
And they sing de boatman's song,
they burn the pitch and the pine knot too,
For to shove the boat along.
The smoke goes up and the engine roars
And the wheel goes round and round,
So fair ye well for I'll take a little ride
When de Glendy Burk comes down.
I'll work all night in de wind and storm,
I'll work all day in de rain,
Till I find myself on de levy dock
In New Orleans again.
Dey make me mow in de hay field here
And knock my head wid de flail,
I'll go wha dey work wid de sugar
And de cane And roll on de cotton bale.
My lady love is as pretty as a pink,
I'll meet her on de way
I'll take her back to de sunny old south
And dah I'll make her stay.
So don’t you fret my honey dear,
Oh! Don’t you fret Miss Brown
I'll take you back 'fore de middle of de week
When de Glendy Burk comes down
The Golden Vanity
Chad Mitchel Trio Version
Oh there was a lofty ship and she sailed on the sea
And the name of that ship it was the Golden Vanity
But she feared she would be taken by a Turkish enemy
As she sailed on the lowland lowland low
She sailed upon the lowland sea
Then up stepped a cabin boy, just the age of twelve and three
And he said to the Captain what will you give to me
If I swim alongside of that Turkish enemy
And I sink her in the lowland lowland low
Sink her in the lowland sea
Oh I will give you silver and I will give you gold
And the hand of my daughter if you will be so bold
As to swim alongside of the Turkish enemy
And to sink her in the lowland lowland low
Sink her in the lowland sea
Then the boy he made ready and overboard jumped he
And he swam alongside of that Turkish enemy
And with his little drilling tool he boar-ed holes three
And he sank her in the lowland lowland lowland
Sank her in the lowland sea
Then he turned around and back again swam he
And he hollered for the captain to haul him from the sea
But the Captain would not heed, for his daughter he did need
And he left him in the lowland lowland low
Left him in the lowland sea
Well his shipmates hauled him out, but upon the deck he died
And they wrapped him in his blanket so very soft and wide
They cast him overboard, for to drift upon the tide
And he sank beneath the lowland lowland low
Sank beneath the lowland sea
Now there is a lofty ship, and she sails upon the sea
But she sails without a cabinboy the age of twelve and three
and she fears she will be taken by a Turkish enemy
As she sails on the lowland lowland low
She sails on the lowland sea
The Good Reuben James
Woody Guthrie
Have you heard of a ship called the good Reuben James
Manned by hard fighting men both of honor and fame?
She flew the Stars and Stripes of the land of the free
But tonight she's in her grave at the bottom of the sea.
Chorus
Tell me what were their names, tell me what were their names,
Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?
What were their names, tell me, what were their names?
Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James
It was there in the dark of that uncertain night
That we watched for the U-boats and waited for a fight.
Then a whine and a rock and a great explosion roared
And they laid the Reuben James on that cold ocean floor.
Well, a hundred men went down in that dark watery grave
When that good ship went down only forty-four were saved.
'Twas the last day of October we saved the forty-four
From the cold ocean waters and the cold icy shore.
Now tonight there are lights in our country so bright
In the farms and in the cities they're telling of the fight.
And now our mighty battleships will steam the bounding main
And remember the name of that good Reuben James.
Good Ship Kangaroo
Mrs Elizabeth Cronin, Macroom, Co. Cork
Once I was a waiting man who lived at home at ease
Now I am a mariner that ploughs the stormy seas
I always loved seafaring life I bid my love adieu
I shipped as steward and cook me boys on board the kangaroo
Chorus
I never thought she would prove false or either prove untrue
As we sailed away from Milford Bay on board the Kangaroo
Think of me oh think of me she mournfully did say
When you are in a foreign land and I am far away
And take this lucky two penny bit it will make you bear in mind
This loving trusting faithful heart you left in tears behind
Cheer up, cheer up my own true love don’t weep so bitterly
She sobbed she sighed she choked she cried & could not say goodbye
I won’t be gone for very long but for a month or two
When I will return again, of course I’ll visit you
Our ship it was homeward bound from many’s the foreign shore
And many’s the foreign present unto my love I bore
I brought tortoises from Tenerife and ties from Timbuktu
A China rat, a Bengal cat and a Bombay cockatoo
Paid off, I sought her dwellin’ on a street above the town
Where an ancient dame upon the line was hanging out her gown
Where is my love? She’s vanished sir about six months ago
With a smart young man who drives the van for Chaplin Son & Co.
Here’s a health to dreams of married life to soap suds and blue
Heart’s true love and patent starch and washing soda too
Ill go into some foreign shore no longer can I stay
With some China Hottentot I’ll throw my life away
My love she is no foolish girl her age it was two score
My love she is no spinster she’d been married twice before
I cannot say it is her wealth that stole my heart away
She’s a washer in the laundry for one and nine a day
The Good Ship Lady Washington
Burt & Di Meyer & Dusty Rhodes
Sung to the tune of Sailboat Malarkey
Tell me what is this sailing boat’s name?
Resp: It’s the good ship Lady Washington
Tell me, oh tell me now, what is her name?
Resp: It’s the good ship Lady Washington
Tell me who was it that built this fine boat?
The people of Aberdeen built this fine boat
On the eighth day of May she put out to sea
With her sails fore the wind she was running quite free
She rounds Boston Harbor with the wind in her main
And if you didn’t catch it she’ll do it again
She’s lovely aloft, boys, she’s lovely below
She’ll do eleven knots as you bloody well know
We’’ bid her a welcome to Percival Docks
The lads and the lassies will come down in flocks
Away away in Aberdeen town
They’re toasting the likes of her round after round
So let’s drink a health to a ship taut and fine
The centennial flagship of eighty-nine
Sailboat Malarkey - provided for reference
The Gooey Duck Song
Ron Konzak and Jerry & Judy Elfendahl
You can hear the diggers say, as they're headed for the bay,
Oh I gotta dig a duck, gotta dig a duck a day,
'Cause I get a buck a duck, if I dig a duck a day,
So I gotta dig a duck, gotta dig a duck a day.
CHORUS
Dig a duck, dig a duck, dig a gooey duck
Dig a duck, dig a gooey duck, dig a duck a day.
Dig a duck, dig a duck, dig a gooey duck
Dig a duck, dig a gooey duck, dig a duck a day.
Oh it takes a lotta of luck, and a certain kinda pluck
For to dig around the muck, for to get a gooey duck.
For he doesn't have a front and he doesn't have a back,
And he doesn't know Donald, and he doesn't go quack!
Well I went downtown to my favorite café,
Told the waitress that I had to dig a duck a day.
So she tried to give me turkey and she tried to give me ham,
But, NO – I demanded Washington King Clam.
Go to Sea No More
Traditional forebitter (off-duty song)
When first I landed in Liverpool, I went upon the spree
My hard-earned cash, I spent it fast, got drunk as drunk could be,
And it’s when me money was all gone, It was then I wanted more,
But a man must be blind for to make up his mind to go to sea once more.
CHORUS
Once more, bullies, once more, to go to sea once more
But a man must be blind for to make up his mind, to go to sea once more.
That night I slept with Angeline, I was too drunk to roll in bed.
And me watch was new, me money, too, in the b morning with them she'd fled,
And as I roamed the streets around, them whores they all did roar,
"There goes Jack Strapp, poor sailor lad, he must go to sea once more.
Well I went a walking down London Road and I met with Rapper Brown.
I asked him to stake me in, but he looked at me with a frown.
Says he, "Last time you was paid off, with me you got no score,
But I'll give you a chance & I'll take your advance, & I'll send you to sea once more.
He shipped me aboards of a whalin' ship bound for them Arctic seas
Where there's ice & snow & the cold winds blow, why, Jamaica rum would freeze;
And worse to bear I'd no hard-weather gear, an' I'd spent all my money ashore,
Ah, 'twas then that I wished that I was dead, and could go to sea no more.
Sometimes we're catchin' whales, me boys, some days we're catchin' none.
With a twenty-foot oar stuck in your hand you row the whole day long.
And when the shades of night come on, and you rest on your weary oar,
Oh, your back's so weak you could never seek a berth at sea once more.
Come all you bold sea-faring men, and listen to my song
When you come off of them damn long trips, I'd have you not go wrong;
Take my advice, drink no strong drink and don't sleep with no whore,
But get married, lads, and spend all night in, and go to sea no more!
The Great Lakes Song
Pat Dailey/Shel Silverstein
CHORUS
Sweet Mother Michigan, Father Superior
Coming down from Mackinaw and Sault Ste. Marie
Blue water Huron Rolls down to Lake Erie-o,
Falls into Ontario and runs out to sea
The great lakes are a diamond on the hand of North America
A bright shining jewel on the friendship border ring
It’s a fresh water highway coming down from Canada
And all along the coastline you can hear the people sing
Hardy are the seamen on the ships that load the iron ore
Hauling out of Thunder Bay, bound for Buffalo
And hardy are the fisherman like their fathers were before
They say Bury me at sea when it's my time to go
Down below the quarterdeck old men mend the fishing nets
While up upon the windy bridge young men curse into the wind
Up and down the Windsor straits the wives and mothers lie awake
They pray our lady of the lake will bring them home again
Greenland Fisheries
Traditional
'Twas in eighteen hundred and fifty-three
And of June the thirteenth day,
That our gallant ship her anchor weighed,
And for Greenland bore away, brave boys,
And for Greenland bore away.
The lookout in the crosstrees stood
With spyglass in his hand;
There's a whale, there's a whale,
there's whalefish he cried
And she blows at every span, brave boys,
She blows at every span.
The captain stood on the quarter deck,
And a fine little man was he;
Overhaul, overhaul! Let your davit tackles fall,
And launch your boats for sea, brave boys,
And launch your boats for sea.
Now the boats were launched and the men aboard,
And the whale was full in view.
Resolved was each seaman bold
To steer where the whalefish blew, brave boys,
To steer where the whalefish blew.
We stuck the whale the line paid out,
But she gave a flourish with her tail,
The boat capsized and four men were drowned,
And we never caught that whale, brave boys,
And we never caught that whale.
To lose the whale, our captain said,
It grieves my heart full sore,
But oh! to lose (those) four gallant men
It grieves me ten times more, brave boys,
It grieves me ten times more.
The winter star doth now appear,
So, boys we'll anchor weight;
It's time to leave this cold country
And homeward bear away, brave boys,
And homeward bear away.
Oh Greenland is a dreadful place
A land that's never green
Where there's ice and snow, and the whalefishes blow
and the daylight's seldom seen brave boys,
But the daylight's seldom seen.
Grey Funnel Line
Cyril Tawney
Don't mind the rain or the rolling sea
The weary night never worries me
But the hardest time in a sailor's day
Is to watch the sun as it dies away
​
CHORUS
Here's one more day on the Grey Funnel Line
The finest ship that sails the sea
Is still a prison for the likes of me
But give me wings like Noah's dove
I'll fly up harbour to the girl I love
Oh once my heart was wild and free
Like a flashing spar on the open sea
But now that spar has washed ashore
And come to rest at my true love's door
Each time I gaze behind the screws
Makes me long for Saint Peter's shoes
I'd dance on down that Walker Shore
And rest in my true love's arms once more
Oh Lord if dreams were only real
I'd feel my hands on that wooden wheel
And with all my heart I'd turn her round
And tell the boys that we're homeward bound
I'll pass the time like some machine
Until the waters turn to green
Then I'll dance on down that walk ashore
And sail the Grey Funnel Line no more