The Derelict

Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

The mate was fixed by the bos'n's pike
The bos'n brained with a marlin spike
And Cookey's throat was marked belike
It had been gripped
By fingers ten
And there they lay
All good dead men
Like break-o'-day in a boozing-ken-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

Fifteen men of the whole ship's list-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Dead and be ded and the rest gone whist!-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

The skipper lay with his nob in gore
Where the scullion's axe his cheek had shore-
And the scullion he was stabbed times four
And there they lay
And the soggy skies
Dripped all day long
In upstaring eyes-
In murk sunset and at foul sunrise-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

Fifteen men of 'em stiff and stark-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Ten of the crew had the Murder mark-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
Or a yawing hole in a battered head-
And the scuppers glut with a rotting red
And there they lay-
Aye, d'my eyes-
All lookouts clapped
On paradise-
All souls bound just contrariwise-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

Fifteen men of 'em good and true-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Every man jack could ha' sailed with Old Pew-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

There was chest on chest full of Spanish gold
With a ton of plate in the middle hold
And the cabins riot of loot untold
And they lay there
That had took the plum
With sightless glare
And their lips struck dumb
While we shared all by the rule of thumb-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

More was seen through the stern light screen-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Chartings no doubt where a woman had been!-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

A flimsy shift on a bunker cot
With a thin dirk slot through the bosom spot
And the lace stiff dry in a purplish blot
Oh was she wench
Or some shuddering maid
That dared the knife-
And took the blade!
By God! she was stuff for a plucky jade-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

We wrapped 'em all in a mains'l tight
With twice ten turns of a hawser's bight
And we heaved 'em over and out of sight-
With a Yo-Heave-Ho!
And a fare-you-well!
And a sullen plunge
In the sullen swell
Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell!
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!