WILLIAM TAYLOR

William Taylor was a brisk young sailor,
Full of fancy in his head,
To me his mind he did uncover,
Said that he and I should wed.

Four and twenty British sailors,
Met him on the King’s highway,
As he journeyed to our wedding
Pressed he was and sent away
(That was his story anyway!)

Fol a didllum, a diddlem dido
What a load of load of twadlleum a dido day

Sailor’s clothing I put on
And climbed on board a man o’war,
My pretty little fingers long and slender,
That sailor’s tackle would explore

I thought I would escape detection,
Though the jargon I disdained,
Just the sharp end and the blunt end,
Never mind those fancy names

Fo a didllum, diddlem dido
What a load of twadlle-um a dido day

Of my disguise I did feel proud,
Suspicion none did I awake
Until that day that fateful day,
That I made MY FIRST MISTAKE!

I’d kept my secret undiscovered,
All my actions so discreet,
Until that day that I forgot
About that wretched toilet seat

Fola a didllum, diddlem dido
What a load of twadle-um a dido day

The bosun followed in after me,
And soon my secret did betray
Turned out he was a woman also,
Similarly dressed in man’s array..

Now a sailor’s work is hard and heavy
And very soon there came to pass,
That multiple wardrobe malfunctions,
Uncovered many another lass

Fol a didllum, a diddlem dido
What a load of twadlle-um a dido day

And now to prune the number of verses,
Not cut a short story long,
It turned out that this man of war,
Was crewed by women to a man.

All of us girls had thus embarked,
Putting on a man’s attire,
Were all engaged to William Taylor,
That fifty timing bloody liar

Fo a didllum, diddlem dido
What a load of twadlleum a dido day

So think about those men of war,
That sailed upon the ocean blue,
Crossing of the T with Nelson,
Made up of women in their crew,

Now men of war don’t often need,
Into a parking space reverse,
So this fact went undetected,
(Perhaps I should have left out this verse?)

Fol a didllum, a diddlem dido
What a load of twadlleum a dido day

And so us girls we all demoted,
Napoleon way down our list,
First we’ll settle the score with William Taylor
After which he won’t be quite as brisk!!

When we get hold of William Taylor,
He’ll rue he saw the light of day,
Is that him over there dressed as a woman,
To try to escape what’s coming his way?

Fo a didllum, a diddlem dido
What a load of twadlle-um a dido day

And so to end this long long story,
You’re probably completely bored,
I think one thing we know for certain
It won’t be winning a folk award!


Fol a didllum, a diddlem dido
What a load of twadlleum a dido day
(twice to finish)