BOB MAHONEY AND HIS CREW
(Trad)

While outward bound far o’er the deep
Slung in me hammock I fell asleep
I had a dream which I thought was true
Concerning Mahoney and his boat’s crew

With a crew of seamen he sailed away
To hunt the black whale in Recherche Bay
Off yon green Island, not far from here
There we lost Mahoney and his boat’s gear

There’s Captain Kennedy of Hobart town
There’s Captain Reynolds of high renown
There’s Captain Robertson and many, many more
They’ve long been cruising Macquarie’s shore

They cruised east and they cruised west
Round the sou’west cape where they thought best
No tide nor tale could they see or hear
Concerning Mahoney or his boat’s gear

In Recherche Bay where the black whale blow
The tale of Mahoney they all do know
They say he’s gone like many, many more
He left his home to return no more

As we draw nearer to Hobart’s shore
I saw a fair maid in deep deplore
She was sobbing, sighing, saying ‘Pity me
I’ve lost my brother poor Bob Mahoney

She wrung her hands and she tore her hair
Like a maid distracted in deep despair
‘I’ve lost my brother no more to see
I’ve lost my brother poor Bob Mahoney

And now my burden it brings me pain
For long-lost Mahoney I’ve searched in vain
A thousand pounds I would give to you
To see Bob Mahoney and his boat’s crew

As recorded in Alan Musgrave ’Songs They Used To Sing’.

A Danny Spooner recording, ‘The Loss of Mahoney’, can be found in ’The Great Leviathan’ and ’Song Lines’:

Youtube clip

The song came from the singing of Jack Davies. You can hear him here:

Click

--Stewie.