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A DROP OF THE CREATURE.

ask would you come for to go

How a true-hearted tar you'd discern, He's as honest a fellow, I'd have you to know,

As e'er stept between stem and stern:
Let furious winds the vessels waft,

In his station amidships, or fore, or aft,
He can pull away,

Cast off, belay,

Aloft, alow,

Avast, yo ho!

And hand, reef, and steer,

Know each halliard and gear,

And of duty every rig;

But his joy and delight

Is on Saturday night

A drop of the creature to swig.

The first voyage I made to sea,

One day as I hove the lead,

The main-top-gallant-mast went by the lee,
For it blew off the devil's head;

Tumble up there, bear a hand, turn to,
While I, the foremost of the crew,
Soon could pull away,

Cast off, belay,

Aloft, yo ho!

And hand, reef, and steer,

Know each halliard and gear,

And of duty every rig;
But my joy and delight
Was on Saturday night

A drop of the creature to swig.

There was Kit with a cast in his eye,
And Tom with a timber toe,

And shambling Will, for he hobbled awry,
All wounded a-fighting the foe:

Three lads, though crazy grown and crank,
As true as ever bumbo drank,

For they'd pull away,

Cast off, belay,

Aloft, alow,

Avast, yo ho!

And hand, reef, and steer,

Know each halliard and gear,

And of duty every rig;

But their joy and delight

Was on Saturday night

A drop of the creature to swig.

Then over life's ocean I'll jog,

Let the storm or the Spaniards come on, So but sea-room I get and a skinful of grog, I fear neither devil nor Don;

For I am the man that's spract and daft,
In my station amidships, or fore, or aft,
I can pull away,

Cast off, belay,

Aloft, alow,

Avast, yo ho!

And hand, reef, and steer,

Know each halliard and gear,

And of duty every rig;
But my joy and delight

Is on Saturday night

A drop of the creature to swig.

THE ANCHOR A-PEAK.

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BE one of they sailors who think 'tis no lie,

That for every wherefore of life there's

a why;

That be Fortune's strange weather a calm or a squall,
Our berths, good or bad, are chalk'd out for us all;
That the stays and the braces of life will be found
To be some of 'em rotten, and some of 'em sound;
That the good we should cherish, the bad never seek,
For death will too soon bring each anchor a-peak.

When astride on the yard the toplifts they let go,
And I com'd like a shot plump among 'em below,
Why I cotch'd at a halliard, and jump'd upon deck,
And so broke my fall, to save breaking my neck:
Just like your philosophers, for all their jaw,
Who, less than a rope, gladly catch at a straw;
Thus the good we should cherish, the bad never seek,
For death will too soon bring each anchor a-peak.

Why now that there cruise that we made off the Banks, Where I pepper'd the foe, and got shot for my thanks, What then? she soon struck, and though crippled on

shore,

And laid up to refit, I had shiners galore.

At length, live and looking, I tried the false main, And to get more prize money got shot at again; Thus the good we should cherish, &c.

Then, just as it comes, take the bad with the good, One man's spoon's made of silver, another's of wood; What's poison for one man's another man's balm, Some are safe in a storm, and some lost in a calm; Some are rolling in riches, and some not worth a

souse,

To-day we eat beef, and to-morrow lobscouse;
Thus the good we should cherish, &c.

LITTLE BEN.

ESPLENDENT gleam'd the ample

[graphic]

Reflected on the glittering lee,

The bell proclaim'd night's awful noon,

And scarce a ripple shook the sea; When thus, for sailors, Nature's care,

What education has denied,

Are of strong sense, a bounteous share,
By observation well supplied.
While thus in bold and honest guise,
For wisdom moved his tongue,
Drawing from reason comfort's drop,
In truth and fair reflection wise,
Right cheerfully sung

Little Ben that kept his watch in the main-top.

Why should the hardy tar complain?
"Tis certain true he weathers more,
From dangers on the roaring main,
Than lazy lubbers do ashore.
Ne'er let the noble mind despair,

Though roaring seas run mountains high,
All things are built with equal care,
First-rate or wherry, man or fly.

If there's a Power that never errs,
And certainly 'tis so-

For honest hearts what comforts drop,
As well as kings and emperors!

Why not take in tow

Little Ben that keeps his watch in the main-top?

What though to distant climes I roam,
Far from my darling Nancy's charms?
The sweeter is my welcome home,
To blissful moorings in her arms.
Perhaps she on that sober moon
A lover's observation takes,

And longs that little Ben may soon
Relieve that heart which sorely aches.
Ne'er fear, that Power which never errs,
That guards all things below-

For honest hearts what comforts drop,
As well as kings and emperors!—

Will surely take in tow

Little Ben that keeps his watch in the main-top.

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