Here's the version from the Digital Tradition. I listened to the Cyril Tawney studio recording. All the verses from the recording are in the DT lyrics, but I have questions about some words. From the discussion above, it seems clear that it's "CALL away the..." In one of the last verses, the DT has "Paula Square." That doesn't sound like what I hear. Can we use this thread to collaborate on a definitive transcription of the song?

Here's the DT Version:

SAMMY'S BAR or THE LAST BOAT'S A'LEAVIN
(Cyril Tawney)

I went down to Sammy's Bar
Hey, the last boat's a'leavin
By the shore at Pieta
Haul Call away the daighsoe

And my real love, she was there
There was sand all in her hair

How did sand get in your hair
Darling Johnny put it there

Been with Johnny all the day
Down at Ghajn Tuffheija Bay

He's a better man by far
Because he's got a Yankee car

I went out from Sammy's Bar
Had to hire a Yankee car

Fourteen days I drank no wine
Saving for that love of mine

Then one day in Paula square
At a paper I did stare

Johnny tried a hairpin bend
For my love, it was the end

Going back to Sammy's Bar
I don't need no Yankee car

Copyright Dick James Music Ltd.
@courtship @death @chorus
recorded by Golden Ring on Five Days Singing
filename[ SAMMYBAR
TUNE FILE: SAMMYBAR
CLICK TO PLAY
SO

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Note this message from Malcolm Douglas from another thread:

Thread #32237   Message #422851
Posted By: Malcolm Douglas
21-Mar-01 - 09:33 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Sammy's Bar
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sammy's Bar


Cyril himself says that he wrote the tune for Sammy's Bar (1958).  There are resemblances to phrases from, for example, Banks of Green Willow (the tune popularised by George Butterworth) and Shenandoah, but that doesn't necessarily imply any conscious (or even unconscious) borrowing; often, such resemblances are just the mark of a successful composition in the traditional idiom, which is what I've always taken this to be.  He also remarked (1990) "Those of my spies who've been lucky enough to revisit lovely old Malta tell me that Sammy's Bar, at the head of Pieta Creek, has been demolished.  In the '50s the Submarine Depot Ship HMS Forth was just around the corner, and the bar sold very cheap, but very strong, white wine.  It was cramped, but the acoustics were marvellous, and it became a favourite venue for me and my guitar.  The tale, though, is totally fictitious."