The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #172056   Message #4163809
Posted By: Lighter
28-Jan-23 - 08:19 PM
Thread Name: Reuben Ranzo
Subject: RE: Reuben Ranzo
Hugill, 1961 (and 1969):He also gives some miscellaneous extra verses, plus a Sicilian fisherman's song to clearly the same tune. Which song came first is uncertain.

Oooh! poor ol’ Reuben Ranzo
– RANZO, boys, RANZO!
Ooh! poor ol’ Reuben Ranzo
– RANZO, boys, RANZO!

Oh, Ranzo wuz no sailor,
He wuz a New York tailor,

Though Ranzo wuz no sailor,
He shipped aboard of a whaler.

The ‘Pierre Loti’ wuz a whaler,
But Ranzo wuz no sailor.

Ranzo joined ‘Pierre Loti’,
Did no’ know his dooty.

Shanghaied aboard of a whaler,
They tried to make him a sailor.

Ranzo couldn’t steer ‘er—
Did ye ever know anything queerer?

The mate he wuz a dandy,
Far too fond o’ brandy.

Put him holystonin’,
An’ cared not for his groanin’.

They said he wuz a lubber,
And made him eat whale-blubber.

He washed once in a fortnight,
He said it wuz his birthright.

They took him to the gangway,
An’ gave him lashes twenty.

They gave him lashes twenty,
Nineteen more than plenty.

They gave him lashes thirty,
Because he wuz so dirty.

Reuben Ranzo fainted,
His back with oil wuz painted.

The Capen gave him thirty,
His daughter begged for mercy.

She took him to the cabin,
An’ tried to ease his achin’

She gave him cake an’ water,
An’ a bit more than she oughter.

She gave him rum an’ whisky,
Which made him feel damn frisky.

She taught him navigation,
An’ gave him eddication.

They gave him an extra ratin’
An’ made him fit for his station.

They made him the best sailor,
Sailin’ on that whaler.

Ranzo now the skipper
Of a Yankee whaler

An’ when he gets a sailor,
Who’s iggerant on a whaler,

He takes him to his cabin,
An’ larns him navigatin’.

He married the Old Man’s daughter,
An’ still sails on blue water.

He’s known wherever them whalefish blow
As the toughest bastard on the go.

Hurrah for Reuben Ranzo,
Hurrah for Captain Ranzo!

The "Pierre Loti" is presumably the steel French whaling barque of that name, sunk by a German cruiser in January 1915.

The "dandy/brandy" couplet which we've seen before, also appears in the foc's'le song "The Campanero."