Damn, I just spotted this thread. And, yes, damn, it's a fine CD. Nothing from this man is ever less than fine! Well, maybe "Volare," but that's not on this CD.

Seamus, congratulations! We'll listen to this one a lot. Now, here is a bit of an aside coincidence for you:

A song on your CD is Tom Lewis' song "The Sailor's Prayer" with the good chorus as follows...

Oh, Lord above send sown a dove
With beak as sharp as razors,
To cut the throats of them there blokes
That sells bad beer to sailors.

During the 22 years between about 1975 and 1997 I used a variation of that same verse in my version of bluegrass stars, Jim and Jesse's, good song called "There's Better Times A-Coming". I originally found the verse in Phil Foner's book AMERICAN LABOR SONGS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY (University Of Illinois Press)   

Here it is:

May the Lord above send down a dove,
With WINGS as sharp as razors,
To cut the throats of the lousy bloats
That cuts the poor man's wages!

Granted, it was not a sea song---but it was a working man's yell for better wages and revenge against the bosses. I used the verse as thr first verse of the song. The song's chorus went:

Pick away on the old banjo,
Keep the guitar strumming,
Put more wather in the soup,
There's better times a-comin!.

The cow went dry the hens won't lay,
There's no place I can borrow,
I give the landlord all the news,
And there's better times a-comin'.

So pick away on the old banjo...

A fellow came by my house today,
He was hunting manual labor,
I told him I didn't know the guy,
He better go ask my neighbor.


There were more verses, but that's all that comes to me right now.

Seamus, I suspect this is the good old oral tradition rearing it's head once more!!!

Again, it's a fine new CD you have there. Sell a million.

Art Thieme