121 - Roll The Woodpile Down - Capstan Shanty


"Roll The Woodpile Down" is another shanty partially related to "Roll The Cotton Down". This particular version mentioned by Stan Hugill belonging to S. Taylor Harris, and as a chorus instead of "Rollin', Rollin" is used "Trav'ling, Treav'ling", and this is all we can get about Harris version. The whole version we can find in S. Taylor Harris's "Six Sea Shanties"(1925), fortunately for me I owned this super unique book, so I will be really pleased to reconstruct this beautiful version. This song I will sing as a capstan shanty.
"Shanties from the Seven Seas" by Stan Hugill (1st ed p 160).


Roll The Woodpile Down


The white folk larfed as the coon pass'd by,
   - 'Way down in Florida.
The white folk larfed as the coon pass'd by,
   - An' we'll roll the woodpile down!
   - Trav'ling, Trav'ling! as long as the worl' goes roun'
   - That brown gal of mine on the Georgia Line,
   - An' we'll roll the woodpile down.

*2*
The roof do leak and the rain come froo,
The roof do leak and the rain come froo,

*3*
Old Runkelkeit was a dam good cook,
Old Runkelkeit was a dam good cook,

*4*
Oh! the work is hard and the biscuits too,
Oh! the work is hard and the biscuits too,