Matthew B's post is so simple and clear, yet Murray, you stir up the muck. :o) I really wasn't thinking there would be anything erotic about the word hogeye.

I had a muddled picture in my mind of a guy with a popeye sort of deformity, with one normal eye and one kind of bigger, bulging eye. But to think that the skipper and the mate and whole crew had the same problem didn't make sense.

My apologies for not checking every book I have. I just looked in Hugill's shanty's from the seven seas and he does have the exact same discussion in there that we have here. Cited are the explanation of hogeye simply as the barge without any "obscene entanglements". Then there is mention that both "hogeye" and "dead-eye" have obscene significance.

It is imperitive for me to understand the meaning of any song I sing. But I suppose with the possibility of the two meanings, you could let your audience think what they want............