“Mainsail Haul”

Description

The sailor, broke, goes to a boarding-master and signs up to serve on the "Oxford." He comes aboard to find "sailors... from every nation"; "There wasn't one man that could understand another." At last he jumps ship or is paid off (with the entire crew!)

Supplemental text

Mainsail Haul
  Partial text(s)

          *** A ***

From William Main Doerflinger, Songs of the Sailor and Lumberman,
revised edition (1972), pp. 117-120. From the singing of Captain Patrick
Tayluer, New York, NY.

Now, it's one cold and dreary morning in December
When all my money I 'ad spent,
Where it 'ad all gone to I don't remember,
So I down to a shipping office went.
Oh, now, that day there being a great demand for sailors,
From London out to California 'n' back to France,
Well, I shipped aboard of a Yankee ship, the Oxford,
And I went upon the booze with my advance.

  Chorus
  Walk back, heave in the slack,
  Well-a heave away the capstan, heave a pawl, oh, heave a pawl!
  Oh, it's a-bout ship, stations, boys, be 'andy.
  All raise tacks, sheets, and mains'l haul.

(4 additional stanzas, with varying forms and tunes)

Notes

According to Doerflinger, the Black Ball Line ran the _Oxford_ on the transatlantic packet run from her launching in 1836 until 1850. - RBW

References

1. Doerflinger, pp. 117-122, "Mainsail Haul" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
2. ST Doe117 (Partial)
3. Roud #653
4. BI, Doe117