Prevailing fashions/Ned Haulyard or Every inch a sailor

Prevailing fashions
Ned Haulyard, or Every inch a sailor
3165322Prevailing fashions — Ned Haulyard, or Every inch a sailor

Every Inch a Sailor

The wind blew hard, the sea ran high,
The dingy scud drove cross the sky,
All was safe stow’d the bowl was slung,
When careless thus Ned Haulyard sung,
A sailor’s life's the life for me!
Me takes his duty merrilie
If winds can whistle, he can sing,
Still faithful to his friends and king,
He gets beloved by all his ship
And toasts his girl, and drinks his slip.

Down topsails, boys, the gale comes on
To strike top-gallant yards they run;
And now to hand the sail prepar’d,
Ned cheerful sings upon the yard.
A sailor's life &c.

A leak!—a leak!— come lads, be bold!
There’s five feet water in the hold!
Eager on deck see Haulyard jump!
And, hark! he’s singing at the pump,
A sailors life, &c.

And see the vessel nought can save !
She strikes and finds a wat’ry grave !
Yet Ned preserv’d, with a few more,
Sings, as he treads a for ign shore,
A sailor’s life, &c.

But now, unnunmber'd perils past,
On land as well’s at sea, at last,
In tatters to his Poll at home
See honest Haulyard singing come,
A sailor’s life, &c

Yet for poor Haulyard what disgrace,
Poll swears she never saw his face !
He calls her a most faithless she,
And singing goes again to sea,

A sailor's life’s the life for me!
He takes his duty merrilie
If winds can whistle, he can sing,
Still faithful to his friends and King,
He gets beloved by all his ship
And toasts his girl, and drinks his slip.


This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

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