Yankee Man - o - War  

British 1700's 

Lyrics courtesy of www.sailorsongs.com


'Tis of a gallant Yankee ship
That flew the stripes and stars
And the whistling wind from the west nor'west
Blew through the pitch pine spars
With her starboard tacks aboard my boys
She hung upon the gale on an autumn night
We raised the light on the old head of Kinsale

It was a clear and cloudless night
And the wind blew steady and strong
As fairly over the sparkling deep
Our good ship bowled along
With the foaming seas beneath her bow
The fiery waves she spread
And bending low her bosom of snow
She buried her lee cat-head

There was no talk of shortening sail
by him who walked the poop
And under the press of her pondering jib
The boom bent like a hoop
And the groaning waterways told the strain
That held her stout main tack
But he only laughed as he glanced aloft
At a white and silvery track

The nightly robes our good ship wore
Were her own topsails three
Her spanker and her standing jib
The courses being free
Now lay aloft my heroes bold
Let not a moment pass
And royals and topgallant sails
Were quickly on each mast

What looms upon our starboard bow
What hangs upon the breeze
'Tis time our good ship hauled her wind
Abreast of the old saltee's
For by her ponderous press of sail
And by her escorts four
We saw our morning visitor
Was a British man-of-war

Up spoke our noble captain then
And a short ahead of us passed
Haul snug your flowing courses!
Lay your topsail to the mast
Those Englishmen gave three loud hurrahs
From the deck of their covered ark
And we answered by a solid broadside
From the deck of our patriot bark

Out booms! Out booms! our skipper cried
Out booms! and give her sheet
And the swiftest keel that ever was launched
Shot ahead of the British fleet
And amidst a thundering shower of shot
With the stun-sails hoisting away
Down the north channel Paul Jones did steer
Just at the break of day                                           

Lyrics courtesy of www.sailorsongs.com