Here's the original poem "A Ballad of John Silver" by John Masefield:

A Ballad of John Silver
(John Masefield)

We were schooner-rigged and rakish, with a long and lissome hull,
And we flew the pretty colours of the cross-bones and the skull;
We'd a big black Jolly Roger flapping grimly at the fore,
And we sailed the Spanish Water in the happy days of yore.

We'd a long brass gun amidships, like a well-conducted ship,
We had each a brace of pistols and a cutlass at the hip;
It's a point which tells against us, and a fact to be deplored,
But we chased the goodly merchant-men and laid their ships aboard.

Then the dead men fouled the scuppers and the wounded filled the chains,
And the paint-work all was spatter-dashed with other people's brains,
She was boarded, she was looted, she was scuttled till she sank,
And the pale survivors left us by the medium of the plank.

O! then it was (while standing by the taffrail on the poop)
We could hear the drowning folk lament the absent chicken-coop;
Then, having washed the blood away, we'd little else to do
Than to dance a quiet hornpipe as the old salts taught us to.

O! the fiddle on the fo'c's'le, and the slapping naked soles,
And the genial "Down the middle, Jake, and curtsey when she rolls!"
With the silver seas around us and the pale moon overhead,
And the look-out not a-looking and his pipe-bowl glowing red.

Ah! the pig-tailed, quidding pirates and the pretty pranks we played,
All have since been put a stop-to by the naughty Board of Trade;
The schooners and the merry crews are laid away to rest,
A little south the sunset in the Islands of the Blest.

Notes:

From SALT-WATER POEMS AND BALLADS, edited by John Masefield, published by The Macmillan Company, New York, US, © 1921, pp. 64-65.

Here's my current version as adapted for singing (copy and paste into WORD/TIMES/12 to line up chords):

Adapted by Charles Ipcar, 10/3/07
After "On the Range of the Buffalo"

A BALLAD OF JOHN SILVER
(John Masefield)

Dm-------------------------------Gm------------Dm-------------Am-Dm
We were schooner-rigged and rakish, with a long and slend-or hull,
---------------------------------------------Am--------------------Dm
And we flew the pretty colours of the cross-bones and the skull;
----------------------------------------------Am------------Dm
We'd a big black Jolly Roger, flapping boldly at the fore,
-------------------------------Gm-------------------Dm---------Am-Dm
And we sailed the Spanish Wa-a-ters in those happy days of yore.

We'd a long brass gun amidships, like a well-conducted ship,
We had each a brace of pistols and a cutlass at the hip;
It's a point which weighs against us, and a fact to be deplored –
That we chased the goodly merchant-men and laid ourselves aboard.

Then the dead men fouled the scuppers and the wounded filled the chains,
And the paint-work all was spatter-dashed with other people's brains,
They were boarded, they were looted, they were scuttled till they sank,
And the pale survivors left us by the medium of the plank.

Then, having washed the blood away, we'd little else to do
Than to dance a lively hornpipe, as the old salts taught us to;
Oh the fiddling on the fo'c's'le, and the slapping barefoot soles,
And the genial "Down the middle, Jake, and curtsy when she rolls!"

Ah! the pig-tailed, feisty pirates and the pretty pranks we played,
All have since been put a stop-to by the naughty Board of Trade;
The schooners and their merry crews are laid away to rest,
A little south the sunset – in the Islands of the Blest –
A little south the sunset – in the Islands of the Blest.

Here's a link to Jeff Logan of Roll & Go leading this song on Look Out!, © 2010: click here for website

Jeff does a more fast-paced full-throated version of this song than I was able to manage on my own CD, and we also had great fun with concertina, penny whistle and guitar.

Arrgggh,
Charley Noble