Tell Me Skipper
(Collected Mike Waterson, tune "Bye Bye Blackbird")

Tell me, Skipper - is it true?
You can't get a crew to sail with you?
Bye-Bye, Skipper!
And tell me Skipper, is it right,
You can't get a crew to sail tonight?
Bye-Bye, Skipper!

Or is it 'cause, when we're on deck a'workin',
You're in between your blankets, bloody shirkin'?
Well, I'll pack my bag, pack my grip;
You won't see me back here next trip;
Skipper, Bye-Bye!

Sung by Mike Huntington

During the 1950s conditions at sea as well as on shore continued to improve, but despite this, there was still friction between skippers and crewmen. Some skippers had such a reputation that they couldn't muster a crew, or if they did, the men signed off the log after just one trip.

Ross