The dogs were all barking ashore
We'd just come from Europe and Highrope and Jalop
And oh our poor rudder was sore
The Captain cried, 'Messmates, come pull up your socks
We've punctured our tyre on the Peppermint Rocks
We're doomed to destruction. The life buoys, they say
Have gone to Gravesend with their girls for the day.'
'Yo ho,' he cried, 'Yo ho,' for the crab had got hold of his toe.
Chorus: And the Captain said, 'I'll stick to my ship'
So we stuck him on the deck with glue
The mate was weighing the anchor, for
Someone was buying old iron ashore
All of the crew were gasping
It was a dreadful scene
When the cabin boy came back without any beer
And said he was not fourteen.
The captain cried out to the deaf and dumb doctor
'Don't speak to the man at the wheel'
The chickens refused to lay eggs in the hatchway
And all of us wanted a meal
The cook cried, 'For eggs now, oh what shall we do?'
The captain commanded the ship to 'Lay to'
The engineer cried, 'It's all up with the boat
The engine wants oiling and so does my throat.'
'Yo ho' he cried, 'Yo ho' as he sat on the fire down below.
Chorus: And the Captain said, 'I'll stick to my ship'
So we stuck him on the deck with glue
The mate was weighing the anchor, for
Someone was buying old iron ashore
All of the crew were gasping
It was a dreadful scene
When the cabin boy came back without any beer
And said he was not fourteen.
Recitative:
'All hands on deck, your feet as well'
The captain loudly roared
'Run up the rigging quick and throw
The main deck overboard.
Go, get the lifeboats out of pawn
And save your lives,' said he
As I've no one to love me, you
Can leave your wives with me'
Then up spake Peter, one old salt
Salt Peter, bold and true
'Unless I get that bob you owe me
I'll go down with you.'
'A sail, a sail,' the skipper cried
I see it through the fog'
Well, what's the good of a sale,' said one
'Without a catalogue'
'The ship is sinking fast,' said he
The mate said, 'Why the fuss?
What if the vessel does go down
It don't belong to us.'
'Tis true,' cried he, 'She's sinking and
The water tank's on fire.'
The savage Captain struck him down
And said, 'You are a falsehood (Liar)'
Just then the cabin boy came back
The potman by his side
'We dare not serve this youth with drink
He's under age,' he cried
The Captain shouted, 'Age or not
We'll have our stout and mild'
He pulled the potman's whiskers off
And stuck them on the child
And that was how he saved the crew
The boy looked like a man
He wears a medal now. it is
The penny on the can
Let years roll on and years roll off
All British tongues will speak
Of how the potman's whiskers
Saved our lives off Barking Creek.
Chorus: And the Captain said, 'I'll stick to my ship'
So we stuck him on the deck with glue
The mate was weighing the anchor, for
Someone was buying old iron ashore
All of the crew were gasping
It was a dreadful scene
When the cabin boy came back without any beer
And said he was not fourteen.
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