John Sampson, "The Seven Seas Shanty Book" (1928). Sampson was a British chanteyman in the 1880s:

                  MAINSAIL HAUL

One morning in the month of cold December,
And most of my money being spent,
What day it was I scarcely can remember,
But down to the Shipping Office went.
Now that day there'd been a great demand for sailors,
For India, for China and for France,
And I shipped on board of the 'Oxford,'
And went upon the spree with my advance.

Chorus:
Stand back, take in the slack,
Bear away your capstan, heave a pawl, heave a pawl,
'Bout ship, stations boys, be handy.
Rise tacks, sheets and mainsa'l haul.

Now most of our sailors had been drinking,
And some had been heavy on the boose,
So I set upon my chest a-quietly thinking,
Whether to turn in and have a snooze,
When I heard a voice above me loudly calling.
I listened and I heard the voice again,
'Twas the chief mate at the fo'c'sle door a-bawling,
'All hands lay aft and answer to your name.

Chorus.

Now when I arrived upon the quarter-deck
Such a sight I'd never seen before,
There were scallywags from every tribe and nation,
It made my poor heart both sick and sore.
Then I wished that I was back at the 'Jolly Sailors,'
Along with Irish Kate a-drinking beer,
Oh Kitty, my poor heart is breaking,
I went for'ard for to shed a pitiful tear.

Chorus.

Now in my chest I knew I had a bottle.
For I saw the boarding master put it there,
So I thought that I would go and wet my throttle,
Just to drive away my sorrow and my care.
Then I fell down on my knees like thunder,
A-groping like a pig around a trough,
When to my astonishment and wonder,
It was a bottle of medicine for a cough.

Sampson observes, "This is a fairly modern sea song well known to all old sailing ship men, although the words will vary considerably....It is not of the music-hall type of sea song, but bears the marks of its nautical origin on every line."