Port of Many Ships
(John Masefield)

It's a sunny pleasant anchorage is Kingdom Come
Where the crew is always layin' aft with double-tots o' rum
And there's dancin' 'n' there's fiddlin' of ev'ry kind o' sort;
It's a fine place for sailormen is that there port.
'N' I wish --
I wish as I was there.

The winds is never nothin' more than jest light airs,
'N' no one gets belayin' pinned, 'n' no-one never swears;
Yer free to loaf an' laze around, yer pipe atween yer lips
Lollin' on the fo'c's'le, sonny, lookin' at the ships.
'N' I wish --
I wish as I was there.

For ridin' in the anchorage the ships of all the world
Have got one anchor down 'n' all sails furled;
All the sunken hookers 'n' the crews as took 'n' died,
They lays there merry, sonny, swingin' with the tide.
'N' I wish --
I wish as I was there.

Drowned old wooden hookers green wi' drippin' wrack
Ships as never fetched to port, as never came back;
Swingin' to the blushin' tide, dippin' to the swell,
'N' the crews all singin', sonny, beatin' on the bell.
'N' I wish --
I wish as I was there.


Notes:

First published in Speaker, August 1902 and then published in Masefield's Salt Water Ballads the same year. In 1919 it was first set to music by Frederick Keel (1871-1954).

This poem seems likely to have been the inspiration for "Port of Dreams" by Cicely Fox Smith, which mirrors many lines.

As sung by Andy Kenna (copy and paste into WORD/TIMES/12 to line up chords):

PORT OF MANY SHIPS-2
(John Masefield)

C--G-C-----------------------------G-C-----G---C
It's a sunny pleasant anchorage is King-dom Come
---------G--C------------------------------G----C---------------G
Where the crews is always laying up with double tots of rum
---------------F-------------------------------C-Dm-C
And there's fiddling, there's dancing of ev'-ry sort
----G-C--------------------------G-C---G----C
It's a fine place for sailormen is that there port --
-----G-C-----------G--------------F/C
And I wish (and I wish), I was there.

The winds is never nothin' more than jest light airs
And no one gets belayin' pinned, and no one never swears
Yer free to loaf to laze around, yer pipe atween yer lips
Lollin' on the fo'c'sle, sonny, lookin' at the ships --
And I wish (and I wish), I was there.

A-ridin' in the anchorage the ships of all the world
Have got one anchor down and now their sails furled
All the sunken hookers and the crews 'as took and died
They lays there merry, sonny, swingin' on the tide --
And I wish (and I wish), I was there.

Drowned old wooden hookers, green wi' drippin' wrack
Ships as never fetched to port, and never came back
Swingin' to the blushin' tide, dippin' to the swell,
And the crews all singin', sonny, beatin' on the bell --
And I wish (and I wish), I was there.
And I wish (and I wish), I was there.

Notes:

As sung by Andy Kenna of the liverpool shanty duo Forebitter as recorded on Salt Water Ballads, © 2002.

Charley Noble