172 - Blow The Man Down ( E ) - Halyard Shanty

Here is one of the most favorite shanties are the tops'l halyard shanty "Blow The Man Down". This version is based on the old folk song "Where are ye going to, my pretty maid?", Stan Hugill calls it "The Milkmaid" version.
Stan Hugill left record on his album: "Chants des Marins Anglais (1992)" where singing with Stormalong John, and this is version with melody and tempo, I try replicate.
I would also like to thanks to Artur Pietrzykowski for the wonderful illustration that you can find at the beginning of the record.
"Shanties from the Seven Seas" by Stan Hugill (1st ed p 210, 211).


Blow The Man Down ( E )


Oh, where are ye goin' to, my pretty maid?
   - Timme WAY, hay, BLOW the man down!
I'm going a milkin', kind sir, she said.
   - Ooh! GIMME us some time to BLOW the man down!

*2*
Oh, have ye a sweatheart, my pretty maid?
'I'm lookin' for one, kind sir,' she said.

*3*
Then may I come wid ye, my pretty maid?
'Well, yes, since ye axed me, sir,' she said.

*4*
'But I guess yer a bad one, kind sir,' she said.
'Ye want for to love me, but yer dont't want ter wed,'

*5*
Jack took her in tow, an' away they did go,
The bulls did a grunt, an' the cows did a low.

*6*
They came to a haystack but the maid she wuz shy,
They backed and they filled an' heaved many a sigh.

*7*
The haystack capsized an' Jack got all bent,
With hay in his gaff-tops'l, his breeches all rent.

*8*
So he left her a-sittin' a-lookin' forlorn,
An' shipped ro the south'ard away round Cape Horn.

*9*
Now, all ye young sailors that round the Horn sail,
Don't take a young milkmaid away from her pail.

*10*
Or else ye'll regret it an' wish ye were dead,
So don't go a-courtin' in a haystack for a bed.