Wooden ships often leaked and crews were forced to man the pumps to keep them afloat. To make matters worse, ship’s carpenters were also always on the lookout for evidence of dry rot. Sometimes ships were made unseaworthy by such rot very soon after they were launched. In 1809, the Rodney had scarcely put to sea on her first voyage when she was forced to return to port and was scrapped. The Pump Shanty by Tony Goodenough They say life has its ups and downs, I find that really quite profound, I’d like to turn the capstan round, But it’s pump me boys before we drown. Chorus Pump me boys, pump ’er dry, Down to hell and up to the sky, Bend your back and break your bones, We’re just a thousand miles from home. Sometimes I wish that I could die, The man who built this tub to find, I’d drag him back from where he fries, To pump until the beggar’s dry. If Noah’d used him for his ark, Now wouldn’t that have been a lark? From rising sun ’til setting dark, The animals all hard at work (singin’) There’s so much water down below, Just how it got there I don’t know, The old man says, “Let’s roll and go,” But I think we’re bound for Davy Jones.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 20:19:28 +0000