First published in the Universal Songster, 1826 and set to the tune ‘Miss Tickle Toby’s School’ (also used for ‘Jog Along ‘til Shearing’). The song is also called ‘Jack Tar’s Yarn’ in the whaling Journal of R.E. Buffett, a Norfolk Islander sailing on the whaler Canton II in 1884. It is often attributed to Charles Dibden, who did publish this with other songs, and who also wrote a different song with the same title.
lyrics
The night came on a hurricane, the seas were mountains rolling,
When Barney Buntline turned his quid, and says to Billy Bowline:
“A strong Nor’ Wester’s blowing Bill, hark can’t you hear it roar now?
Oh Lordy, how I pities them unhappy folks ashore now.”
Chorus:
And it’s bow wow wow
Rum toddy, rum toddy, bow wow wow
“Foolhardy chaps as lives in towns, what dangers they are all in,
Now lie a-quaking in their beds, for fear their roofs might fall in,
Poor creatures, how they envies us and wishes, I’ve a notion,
For our good luck, in such a storm, to be out on the ocean.”
“And as for them who’re out all day on business from their houses,
And late at night returning home to cheer their babes and spouses,
While you and I, Bill, on the deck are comfortably lying,
My eyes – what tiles and chimney pots about their heads are flying.”
“And very often have we heard how men are killed – and undone,
By overturns of carriages, by thieves and fires in London,
We knows what risks all landsmen run, from noblemen to tailors,
So Bill, let us thank Providence – that you and I are sailors!”
credits
from Crossing the Line,
released July 9, 2021
William Pitt 1826 Tune trad.
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