175 - Blow The Man Down ( V - Doerflinger ) - Halyard Shanty

Here is one of the most favorite shanties is the tops'l halyard shanty "Blow The Man Down".
This version comes from William Doerflinger's "Shantymen And Shantyboys" (1951). In Doerflinger's book, we can read, is that Les Nickerson also used "The Sailor's Grace", that old forecastle rhyme inspired by "salt horse" rations.
"Shanties from the Seven Seas" by Stan Hugill (1st ed p 212).


Blow The Man Down ( V - Doerflinger )


Old horse, old horse, what brought you here,
   - WAY, hay, BLOW the man down!
After ploughing the turf for many a year,
   - GIMME some time to BLOW the man down!

                *2*
With kicks and cuffs and sad abuse,
We're salted down for sailors' use

               *3*
Between the mainmast and the pump,
We're salted down in great big chunks.

               *4*
And when the mate comes from the rudder
He takes a piece of this old blubber.