"Juranzo" is tantalizing, esp. in tandem with the chantey line "Pretty gall but can't get at her.
R. A. Fletcher, "In the Days of the Tall Ships" (London: Brentano’s, 1928):
“The chanty ‘Reuben Ranzo’ is unlike most chanties as it tells something of a definite story, besides consisting of several verses. [i.e., "standard verses"- JL]. For some unknown reason, chantymen seldom attempted to alter its words much. It was sung a great deal when the topsails had to be hoisted, and its length was justified in ships that carried the old-fashioned single topsails. It began indifferently with the lines, sung as a solo, ‘O pity old Reuben Ranzo,’ or ‘Poor old Reuben Ranzo,’ or ‘Do you know old Reuben Ranzo?’ Every line was repeated twice, and the chorus was sung after every line and repetition. As far as I remember the second verse was:
Solo – Poor Ranzo was a tailor. Chorus – Ranzo, boys, Ranzo. Solo – Oh, Ranzo was a tailor. Chorus – Ranzo, boys, Ranzo.
Sometimes the second time of the chorus was ‘Poor old Reuben Ranzo.’
“Subsequent solos were, each line being a verse: --
His father was a jailer. He shipped on board of a whaler. O Ranzo was no sailor. He could not do his duty. The mate, he being a hard man, Took him to the gangway, And gave him five and twenty. O Lord, how he did holler. The captain, being a kind man, Took him to his cabin, And gave him wine and brandy. And taught him navigation, To fit him to his station.
“About this time the mate’s gruff ‘Bela-ay!’ ended the story of Ranzo for the time being, and the topsail halliards were made fast. The story does not end there, however. One version is that he kissed the captain’s daughter, another is that he married the owner’s widow, and both agree that ‘Now he’s Captain Ranzo.’ Who or what Reuben Ranzo was I have never been able to learn.
“Every chantyman was privileged to alter the words to suit the needs of the moment. He had scope for doing so in ‘Ranzo.’ He might make out that the captain was a hard man and not the mate, or vice versa according to their popularity on board, or that they were both hard cases, or that being stung by remorse they vied with each other in offering hospitality to Ranzo, but the last was rare."