THE RAMBLING SAILOR


I am a sailor stout and bold,
And oft have ploughed the ocean,
I serve my King and country too
For honour and promotion:
My shipmates all, I bid you adieu,
I'll go no more to sea along o' you,
I'll travel the country through and through,
And I'll still be a rambling sailor!

And if you want to know my name,
My name it is young Johnson,
I've got a commission from our King
To court all gals is handsome:
With my false heart and flattering tongue,
I courts 'em all both old and young:
I courts 'em all but I marries, marries none,
And I'll still be a rambling sailor!

Oh first I came to Plymouth town,
And there were lassies many,
I boldly stepped unto a one,
To court her for her money.
Says I, "My dear, be of good cheer,
I will not leave you, do not fear,
We'll travel the country far and near,
And I'll still be a rambling sailor!"

Oh next I came to Portsmouth town,
And there were lassies plentry,
I boldly stepped unto a one,
To court her for her beauty.
Says I, "My dear, what do you choose?
Here's ale and wine and rum punch too,
Besides a pair of silk satin shoes,
If you'll travel with a rambling sailor."

Oh then I rose up with the dawn,
Just as the day was peeping,
On tiptoe down the stair I went,
And left my love a-sleeping.
And if she waits until I come,
She may lie there till the day of her doom;
I'll court some other girl in her room,
And I'll still be a rambling sailor!

Notes by CFS, p. 91:

I am not really quite sure whether this song ought to be included in this collection, because I have no direct evidence of its having been sung at sea. I remember it from childhood as part of my father's repertoire on festive occasions; where he got it from I don't know, since it is at any rate unquestionably an old sea song, if not actually a sailor's song, but I am tempted to give it a place here.

Mr. Cecil Sharp has a version in his "Folk Songs from Somerset."