The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #139517 Message #3200676
Posted By: saulgoldie
02-Aug-11 - 11:39 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: The Ballad of Mad Jack (Schooner Fare)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The ballad of mad jack/Schooner Fare
Partial...
In a tumble down graveyard in Barnstable Mass., Hangs a humble reminder to those who might pass And notice the shingle high over the grave, That honors the bones of Mad Jack.
He was born Johnny Percival, on Scorton Hill, A contrary lad from the goin' He ran off to sea just to prove he was free, And was sixty long years in returnin'. With just nine months of school he departed this land, He moved up from cabin boy hand-over-hand, Impressed by the English to service their king, As he jumped overboard they could all hear him sing:
CHORUS: Come a sailor, come a soldier, come a captain a king, If you dare me to do it I'll do anything, I'll take up the fight, I'll even the odds, I'll do what is right or I'm not from Cape Cod I'm Jack the cantankerous cuss from Cape Cod.