ADMIRAL BENBOW
Collected and arranged by Cecil J Sharp

Come all ye seamen bold, and draw near, and draw near.
Come all ye seamen bold, and draw near.
It's of an admiral's fame, O brave Benbow was his name
How he fought all on the main, you shall hear, you shall hear.
Brave Benbow he set sail, for to fight, for to fight
Brave Benbow he set sail, for to fight.
Brave Benbow he set sail, with a fine and pleasant gale
But his Captains they turned tail, In a fright, in a fright.

Says Kirby unto Wade, "we will run, we will run."
Says Kirby unto Wade, "we will run.
For I value no disgrace, nor the losing of my place,
But the enemy I won't face, nor his guns, nor his guns."
The Ruby and Benbow fought the French, fought the French,
The Ruby and Benbow fought the French.
They fought them up and down, till the blood came trickling down
'Til the blood came trickling down, where they lay, where they lay.

Brave Benbow lost his legs by chain shot, by chain shot,
Brave Benbow lost his legs by chain shot.
Brave Benbow lost his legs, and all on his stumps he begs
Fight on, my English lads, 'tis our lot, 'tis our lot.
The surgeon dressed his wounds, cries Benbow, Cries Benbow,
The surgeon dressed his wounds, cries Benbow.
"Let a cradle now in haste on the quarterdeck be placed,
That the enemy I may face till I die, till I die.


X: 1
T: Admiral Benbow (Sharp)
M: 2/2
L: 1/4
Z: NP 09/09/2017
K: G
z3 D| GGAF| G2Bc| d2cB| (AcB)A| GGAF| (GD)EE| E3c| BABc| d2cB| AGFE| D2DD| GGGE| C2B,C| D2EF| G2zD| GGAF| G2Bc|d2cB| (AcB)A|GGAF| (GD)EE| D3c|BABc|d2cB| AGFE| D2DD| GGGE| C2B,C|D2EF|G3z|
w: Come all ye sea-men bold, and draw near, and draw near__ Come all ye sea-men bold,_ and draw near. It's of an ad-miral's fame, O brave Ben-bow was his name, How he fought all on the main, you shall hear, you shall hear. Brave Ben-bow he set sail, for to fight, for to fight__ Brave Ben-bow he set sail,_ for to fight. Brave Ben-bow he set sail, with a fine and plea-sant gale But his Cap-tains they turned tail, in a fright, in a fright.

From: A Selection of Collected Folk Songs arranged by Cecil J Sharp and R Vaughan Williams
Published by Novello & Co (Undated)
Added despite there already being a couple of versions in the DT. Slight variations in the words ('till' instead on ''til' hardly seems worth correcting) but "The Ruby and Benbow fought the French" seems clearer than "Then Ruby and Benbow fought the French", making it clearer that 'The Ruby' is a ship, not another captain.
Also the tune appears to be different, particularly as it spans two verses.
Mine not to decide what's worthy of inclusion. Just spend the time typing & see!
NP

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Note from Joe Offer: the lyrics exactly match the first version we have in the Digital Tradition. I didn't check to see if the tunes match.