One of the best known halliard chanteys. One version is in DT

Heard by Capt. David A McLeod (1857-1940) in the 1870s ("Cape Breton Captain," [1992, but apparently written ca1930]):


Oh Whiskey is the life of man,
Whiskey Johnny
I thought I heard the old man say
Whiskey for my Johnny

For we are bound away this very day
Whiskey Johnny
A dollar a day is a white man's pay
Whiskey for my Johnny

Oh stretch her belt and show her clew
Whiskey Johnny
For we are the boys to put her through
Whiskey for my Johnny

The whiskey is gone what shall I do
Whiskey Johnny
Oh whiskey's gone and I'll go too
Whiskey for my Johnny


(Half made up of floating verses.)