Recorded in California about 1923:

BLOW BOYS BLOW
(Topsail Halliards)

Oh blow my boys for I love to hear you,
Chorus: Blow, boys, blow,
Oh blow my boys for I long to hear you,
Chorus: Blow my bully boys blow.

[Similarly:]

Oh, a Yankee ship droppin' down the river.

Yes, a Yankee ship droppin' down the river.

Now how do you know she's a Yankee clipper?

Her spars and decks they shine like silver.

Who do you think was the chief mate of her?

Skysail Taylor the Frisco slugger.

And who do you think was the chief cook of her?

Big Black Sam the Baltimore nigger.

And what do you think we had for dinner?

Mosquit's legs and a monkey's liver.

And what do you think we had for supper?

The starboard side of an old sou'wester.



I've corrected the punctuation. I left "mosquit" alone because it may be what Gordon heard. "Love" alternates with "long" in stanza 1.

This seems to be one of the chanteys, like "Reuben Ranzo," that had at least one relatively standard form - much of the time anyway.