^^KING LINE CAPTAIN
(Coll. Ron Baxter, 1966)

The King Line Captain sings this song;
"Balls up! Balls up!
The bloody engine has gone wrong,
So get those black balls up!"

Broken down again!
Broken down once more!
If the pig-iron polishers can't get it right -
Soon we'll be ashore!

Tune: Camptown Races

King Line Captain: Notes (RB)

King Line were B.& C.'s "tramp" outfit - in both meanings of the word!

The international signal for "I am not under command", i.e. "I have broken down" was two black balls, one over the other - this is the derivation of the term "balls up" - not many people know that!

RJC