Just a detail. In the mate and bosun stanzas, what I understand is "she had a wife", insted of I have, or had. Would somebody help me complete correctly this text? It's from Classic Ballads of Britain and Ireland, Storytelling Ballads as included in Francis James Child's English & Scottish Popular Ballads, Volume 2, Rounder 11661-1776-2 (ballad recorded 1953). Thank you. R

Up spake the captain of our gallant ship
A goodly speaking captain was he
I have a wife in Fishguard town
This night she'll he weeping for me, for me, for me
This night she'll he weeping for me

And the stormy wynds do blow, blow, blow
In the winter we'll have snow, snow, snow
And our gallont ship, lying down to the breeze
And the landlubbers lying down below, below, below
And the landlubbers lying down below

And up spake the mate of our gallant ship
A goodly speaking mate was he
She had a wife in Milford town
This night she'll he weeping for me, for me, for me
This night she'll he weeping for me

And the stormy wynds do blow, blow, blow
In the winter we'll have snow, snow, snow
And our gallont ship, lying down to the breeze
And the landlubbers lying down below, below, below
And the landlubbers lying down below

And up spake -who shall we have now?- the bosun of our gallant ship
A goodly speaking bosun was he
She had a wife in Pembroke town
This night she'll he weeping for me, for me, for me
This night she'll he weeping for me

And the stormy wynds do blow, blow, blow
In the winter we'll have snow, snow, snow
And our gallont ship, lying down to the breeze
And the landlubbers lying down below, below, below
And the landlubbers lying down below

Spoken:
And so it continues — through all the members of the
crew — until eventually they reach the cook. And the
cook was not a "goodly speaking" man, according to
the end of the story, because what the cook had to say
was this:

And up spake the cook of our gallant ship
A badly speaking cook was he
He didn't care a damn for the kettle or the pan
If she sank to the bottom of the sea, the sea, the sea
If she sank to the bottom of the sea

And the stormy wynds do blow, blow, blow
In the winter we'll have snow, snow, snow
And our gallont ship, lying down to the breeze
And the landlubbers lying down below, below, below
And the landlubbers lying down below