All the hyphens in the above text might make the text difficult to find with a search. Searching for "gallant mast" won't find "gal-lant mast." Therefore I think it's worth posting again, without the hyphens. Besides, a few words are different in the following text, which is from The Songs of Scotland, Ancient and Modern, Volume 3 edited by Allan Cunningham (London: John Taylor, 1825), page 208. The poem had previously been published in several magazines and anthologies, with the words as shown above.


A WET SHEET AND A FLOWING SEA.
Allan Cunningham.

A wet sheet and a flowing sea,
A wind that follows fast
And fills the white and rustling sail,
And bends the gallant mast!
And bends the gallant mast, my boys,
While, like the eagle free,
Away the good ship flies, and leaves
Old England on the lee.

O for a soft and gentle wind!
I heard a fair one cry;
But give to me the swelling breeze,
And white waves heaving high:
The white waves heaving high, my lads,
The good ship tight and free;
The world of waters is our home,
And merry men are we.

There's tempest in yon horned moon,
And lightning in yon cloud;
And hark the music, mariners!
The wind is wakening loud.
The wind is wakening loud, my boys,
The lightning flashes free—
The hollow oak our palace is,
Our heritage the sea.