There was a ship - she sailed to Spain,
Oh, roll and go!
There was a ship came home again,
Oh, Tommy's on the topsail yard!

What d'ye think was in her hold?
Oh, roll and go!
There was diamonds, there was gold.
Oh, Tommy's on the topsail yard!

And what was in her lazareet?
Oh, roll and go!
Good split peas and bad bull meat.
Oh, Tommy's on the topsail yard!

Many a sailorman gets drowned,
Oh, roll and go!
Many a sailorman gets drowned.
Oh, Tommy's on the topsail yard!



IF you have ever sailed on a course with a quartering sea, where the swells come up from astern, you'll know the feeling. As she lifts on the swell from the quarter she dips and rolls, and then as she is swept up, she goes in a burst of speed. STeering into a swell from off the bow has a similar effect but with a different rhythm, and less of a roll. If memory serves! :D


A