I finally got around to recording this one on my website. Give it a listen and tell me what you think: Click here for lyrics and MP3 Sample!

Here's the current set of lyrics (copy and paste into WORD/TIMES/12 to line up chords):

By Angus Cameron Robertson (Master Mariner), © 1927
Adapted by Charles Ipcar 3/5/10
Tune: after traditional Johnny Todd

The Old Tea-Clipper Days

C-----------------F-------C
I have sailed in old tea-clippers,
----------------F---C------G
Robin Hood an' Hal-lo-ween;
C--------------------F-------C
Sailed in ships so taut an' trim,
--------------------G--------C
With the wind a-baft the beam;
F--G7--------F------------C
As the risin' gale grows stronger,
--------------F----C------------G
Filling out each snow-white sail,
C--------------------------F-------C
"Look sharp, lads, she rolls to leeward,
----------------------G--------C
Now she dips her weather rail!"

Chorus:

F-------G7-------F-------C
I have sailed in old tea-clippers,
----------------F---C-----G
Robin Hood an' Hallo-ween;
C--------------------F--------C
Sailed in ships so taut an' trim,
---------------------G-------C
With the wind a-baft the beam.

I can see her decks a-heelin',
Green with slime amidships too;
I can hear ol' Bill the bos'un
Cursin' out our bully crew;
I can see them hairy faces,
Laughing in the briny spray,
Hauling on the tacks an' braces,
Roarin' chanties, wild an' gay. (CHO)

I recall the roarin' rumble,
As we shipped a big beam sea,
Splashin' spray into our faces,
Fillin' seaboots to the knee;
With our soul an' body lashings,
Tied full taut about the waist,
While the bos'un shouts like thunder,
"Damn your eyes! Belay! Make Haste!" (CHO)

I have stabbed the mouldy hardtack
With my sheath-knife thro' an' thro';
Flickin' out the crawlin' weevils,
Lest they end up in the stew;
We have felt the pangs of hunger,
How we loved that cracker hash --
"Dandy-funk" an' "Dog's body,"
"Some brown sugar? Why just a dash!" (CHO)

I have tacked an' run before it,
Where the Roarin' Forties dwell;
I have wallowed in the Doldrums
Where the sun's as hot as Hell!
Mind that dark an' freezin' blizzard,
As we weathered old Cape Horn,
And when we passed the "Flyin' Dutchman"
With her tops'ls rent an' torn. (CHO)

Cheerily,
Charley Noble