The Lass of Ballybay
In the town of Ballybay there was a lassie dwelling
I knew her very well and the tale's worth the telling
Her father kept a still, he was a good distiller
And when she took to drinking, well the Devil couldn't fill her
Chorus
With a ring-a-ling-a-lum, a ring-a-ling-a-laddie-o
A ring-a-ling-a-lum, to me whack fol da daddy-o
Now, she said she couldn't dance, unless she had her wellies on
But when she had them on, she could dance as well as anyone
She wouldn't go to bed, unless she had her shimmy on
But when she had it on, she'd go to bed with anyone
She had a wooden leg, 'twas hollow up the middle
She used to put a string in and play it like a fiddle
She played it day and night, and she played it night and day
And when the neighbors told her "stop" she played her fiddle anyway
She'd children up the stairs, and children in the byre
Another ten or twelve sitting roaring by the fire
She fed them on potatoes, and soup she made from nettles
and lumps of hairy bacon that she boiled up in a kettle
She had lovers by the score, every Tom and Dick and Harry
She courted day and night and still she wouldn't marry
And then she fell in love with a fellow with a stammer
And when he tried to run away she hit him with a hammer
Now she led a simple life, eating porridge and black pudding
She terrorized her husband 'til he died all of a sudden
And when her husband died, she felt so awful sorry
She stuffed him in a canvas bag and tossed him in the quarry
Last Leviathan
Last night I heard the song of my last companion
The blast from a harpoon gun and I swam alone
I reflect on the days gone by when we were thousands
Now I know I soon must die, the last leviathan
​
Chorus
My soul has been torn from me and am bleeding
My heart it has begin rent and i am crying
All the beauty around me fades and am screaming
I am the last of the great whales, I’m the last leviathan
This morning the sun did rise in a crimson North sky
The ice was the color of blood and I heard the wind sigh
I rose for to take a breath, it was my last one
From a gun came the roar of death, and now I'm undone
​
And now we are all gone, there will be no more hunting
The big fellow is no more and it's no use lamenting
What race will be next in line, all for the slaughter
The elephants or the seals, or your sons and daughters
Last Shanty
(Tom Lewis)
Well my father often told me when I was Just a lad
A sailors life was very hard, The food was always bad
But now I've joined the navy am aboard a Man o' war,
And now I've found a sailor ain't a sailor anymore.
CHORUS.
Don't haul on the ropes, Don't climb up the mast,
If you see a sailing ship it might be your last
Get your Civvis ready for another run ashore,
A sailor ain't a sailor ain't a sailor anymore.
​
Well the killock of the mess says we've got it soft,
it wasn't like this in his day, when he was up aloft
We like our bunks and sleeping bags, but what's a hammock for?
Swinging from the deckhead or lying on the floor.
Well they gave us an engine that first went up and down,
Then with more technology the engine went around.
We know steam and diesel but what's a mainyard for?
A stoker ain't a stoker with a shovel anymore.
Well they gave us an Aldiss lamp so we could do it right
they gave us a radio, we signaled day and night
We know our codes and cyphers but what's a semaphore?
A bunting tosser doesn't toss the bunting anymore.
Two cans of beer a day and that's your bleeding lot.
But now we have an extra one because thefve stopped the tot
So, we'll put on our civvie clothes for another run ashore,
a sailors just a sailor, just like he was before.
(The) Liner She's a Lady
Rudyard Kipling 1894
The Liner she's a lady, an' she never looks nor leads --
The Man-or-War's 'er 'usband, an' 'e gives 'er all she needs;
But, oh, the little cargo-boats, that sail the wet seas rount,
They're just the same as you an' me a-plyin' up an' down!
Chorus (Note: we sing it faster than the recording!)
Plyin' up anl down, Jenny, 'angin' round the Yard,
All the way by Fratton tram down to Portsmouth IArd;
Anything for business, anl we're growin' old --
Plyin' up and down, Jenny, waiting in the cold!
The Liner she's a lady by the paint upon 'er face,
And if she meets an accident they count it sore disgrace:
The Man-o-Wars 'er husband, and he’s always sanding by,
But, oh, the little cargo-boats! they've got to load or die.
The Liner she's a lady, and her route is cut and dried;
The Man-o'-WarIs 'er husband, an' 'e always keeps beside;
But, oh, the little cargo-boats that 'avenlt any man,
They've got to do their business first, and make the most they
can!
The Liner she's a lady, and if a war should come,
The Man-ol-WarIs 'er 'usband, and letd bid ler stay at home;
But, oh, the little cargo-boats that fill with every tide!
'Eld have to up and fight for them, for they are England’s pride.
The Liner she's a lady, but if she wasn't made,
There still would be the cargo-boats for 'ome an' foreign trade.
The Man-o'-War's er 'usband, but if we wasn't 'ere,
He wouldn't have to fight at all for home an' friends so dear.
Little Sally Racket
​
Little Sally Racket
Resp: haul ‘im away
She shipped aboard a packet
Resp: haul ‘im away
And she never did regret it
Resp: haul ‘im away
To me haul ee hi oh haul 'im away
Little Fannie Skinner
She says she's a beginner
Refers to it as dinner
Little Nancy Riddle
She broke her brand new fiddle
It's got a hole right in the middle
Little Kitty Carson
She slept with the parson
Now she's got a little bosun
Little Lottie Taylor
Said she'd never touch a sailor
She got harpooned by a whaler
Little Sarah Tuckett
She washes in a bucket
She's a whore but don't look it
Little Sally Rackett
She pawned my brand new jacket
And then she sold the ticket