LEAVE HER, JOHNNIE
(Capstan Shanty)

Oh the times are hard and the wages low-
Leave her, Johnnie, leave her?
And now ashore again we'll go-
It's time for us to leave her?
The grub was bad, the voyage long-
Leave her, Johnnie, leave her?
The seas were high, the gales were strong-
It's time for us to leave her?

She would not wear, she would not stay-
Leave her, Johnnie, leave her?
She shipped it green, both night and day-
It's time for us to leave her?
She would not stay, she would not wear-
Leave her, Johnnie, leave her?
She shipped it green and she made us swear-
It's time for us to leave her?

The sails are furled, our work is done-
Leave her, Johnnie, leave her?
And now ashore we'll take a run-
It's time or us to leave her?

CFS: "When the packet rat references became out of date, the tune, being too good to be lost, survived with a new set of words as the familiar "Leave her, Johnnie, leave her!" which was generally sung at the capstan, and only at the end of a voyage.
"Some writers take the disparaging references to the ship, the Old Man, the mates, the cook, the weather and the rate of pay very seriously. As a matter of fact, this shanty always strikes me as an excellent example of a thorough-going shellback "grouse." A sailorman of the old school was never happier than when he was enjoying a growl with a shipmate at "this sorry scheme of things." But it didn't follow in the least that he wouldn't extol the very ship he was abusing as a sort of floating Eden when she had become his "last ship.""

Two versions in the DT. See thread 2407: Leave Her