The Ship In Distress

<br>The Ship in Distress<br>You seamen bold that plough the ocean,<br>What dangers landsmen do never know.<br>The sun gangs over old England`s nation;<br>No tongue can tell what you go through.<br> Through bitter storms in the height of battle,<br> Now mark you well what I do say,<br> Where thund`ring cannons loudly rattle<br> There`s no back door to run away.<br>Of a merchant ship there was a captain;<br>A long time they bad been drove on sea.<br>The weather proved to them so uncertain,<br>Which brought them to extremity.<br> Nothing on board poor souls to nourish,<br> Nor to strengthen their feeble arms;<br> The whole ship`s crew were nearly starving,<br> The men were nothing but skin and bone.<br>The cats and dogs how they did eat them,<br>Hunger proving to them severe;<br>Captain and men of one direction<br>They all of them went equal shares.<br> At length, at length the hour came on them,<br> The hour came on them most bitterly.<br> Poor fellows all stood titter totter,<br> Casting lots which of them should die.<br>The lot was cast on one poor fellow<br>Which had a wife at home on shore,<br>But to think of eating our fellow creatures<br>It was that which grieved us ten times more.<br> `l am willing to die,`this young man answered,<br> But to the topmast haste away,<br> For perhaps some help you may discover<br> While I unto the Lord do pray.`<br>The captain said he spied a vessel<br>About a league from us or more,<br>Some signals of distress were fired<br>And soon for us away she bore.<br> And soon we got provisions plenty,<br> And far from all such deadly fear,<br> To see such pity they took upon us<br> You could not help but shed a tear.<br>But now we`re happy in old England<br>And far from all such deadly fear,<br>We`ll drink unto our wives and sweethearts<br>And unto all we love so dear.<br> May God protect all jolly sailors<br> And all that plough the raging main;<br> May they never see no more such trials<br> And never know the like again.<br>From Oxford Book of Sea Songs, Palmer<br>Somewhat different version recorded by Killen, 40 North to 40<br> North and by Lloyd (Haul on the Bowline)?<br>filename[ SHPDSTRS<br>play.exe SHPDSTRS<br>RG<br>===DOCUMENT BOUNDARY===