Not sure how many of ye lads have heard them Ontario pirates sing this successful pirate's ditty:


By Al Parrish
Tanglefoot © 1994
From Saturday Night at Hardwood Lake
Adapted slightly by Charlie Ipcar

Traighli Bay

F-----Dm------------------------F---------------Dm
It was June and it was hot, when on board the ship we got,
-----------------------Gm-------Bb-------------F
Shot and powder for the guns, and a hogshead full of rum,
---Am----------------------Dm
Salt cod to last until the winter squalls;
------------------------------------F----------------Dm
We made for the southwest, where the hunting would be best,
---------------------------Gm---------Bb-------------F
Where them Spanish ships of old, ladened down with Aztec gold,
-----------Am------------------------Dm
Were the fairest game for gentlemen of fortune.

Chorus:
Dm------F--------------------Dm
And with tar on our pigtails, and blood on our rapiers
------Bb------------F---------------C
We'll fly the skull and crossbones. By God, we'll take no prisoners.
------F-----Dm-------------F---------------Dm
('Tis) hi ho a-way, boys; we'll sail for Traigh-li Bay, boys,
Bb------------------------C7-----F
Hoist the Jolly Roger, at the break of day.

From up the crow's nest, then, called our third mate Mister Flynn,
"Set the course and hold her steady, and for action make her ready –
There's a Spanish galleon off our starboard bow;"
We raised the black flag high, as that Spaniard turned to fly;
We followed in her wake, 'til we could overtake,
And dismasted her with chain shot and cannon ball.        Chorus

We pulled up along side with our grappling hooks and lines,
Guns and cutlasses in hand, on the gunnels we did stand;
Every sailor from the captain to the cabin boy;
Saw three dead the chain had flayed; as we raised and crossed our blades,
To their mates we gave our best, as the sun sank in the west,
With pikes and swords, pistols, fists and feet.        Chorus

From the darkness till the dawn, that battle rag-ed on,
We fought with manly fitness, for we meant to leave no witness;
We lost Mister Flynn and one leg from the cabin boy;
But with their treasure we retired, and their canvas we set fire,
Left them sinking in the deep, where their silent bones can sleep,
And we forged a leg of gold for the cabin boy.        Chorus

'Twas August and still warm, when to Traighli we returned.
Fifty-eight days on the Main; we've no need to sail again;
We've gold and silver more than we can spend;
Now half a century has passed, and of that crew I am the last;
Fifty years I've walked these docks, and when I get a chance to talk
I tell of how I got this golden leg!        Chorus x2

Cheerily,
Charley Noble