The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #162780 Message #3876621
Posted By: GUEST,henryp
11-Sep-17 - 07:57 PM
Thread Name: Folksongs about journeys/travel
Subject: RE: Folksongs about journeys/travel
My own story of the Unknown Sailor who set out on the Portsmouth Road
The sailor's leave was over
So from his home he strode
Back to his ship he made his trip
Upon the Portsmouth Road
At the village inn in Thursley
He stopped to buy a round
And there three men he did befriend
They too were Portsmouth bound
On the lonely climb up Hind Head
Those men made their attack
There with a knife they took his life
And ran off with his pack
A stone stands at the roadside
To mark where he was killed
As travellers know no grass will grow
Where that red blood was spilled
Those cut-throats hang in irons
On the top of Gibbet Hill
To tell us all what fate befalls
Men who treat others ill
At peace in Thursley churchyard
That unknown sailor sleeps
His kin still yearn for his return
From sailing on the deep
As you venture on life's journey
You'll meet your fellow man
But take great care for while you share
Others take what they can