G'day Charley, Joe & Bruce,

Here are the words to A Nautical Yarn. I usually sing a slightly folk-processed set of the words and I have always used the Villikins and his Dinah tune (but given it a slow, mock-sad, rather minor treatment).

These are the the words as they appear in Keighley Goodchild's 1883 poetry book Who Are You ... but critics maintain it is too far removed from his style to be his own compositions ... more likely to have been heard in a pub in the Echuca area.). I have used the original Goodchild form and spellings ... and the chorus, which is sung with the (probably more authentic) Dreadnought tune

I will post this in a separate Lyric thread, complete with the MIDItxt of the <>Dreadnought tune.

A Nautical Yarn

I sing of a capting not unknown to fame,
A naval commander, Bill Jinks was his name,
Who sailed where the Murray's clear waters do flow,
Did this freshwater shellback with his Yeo heave a yeo.
(Derry down, down, down derry down.)

To the port of Wagunyah his vessel was bound
When night comes upon him and darkness around,
Not a star on the waters its clear light did throw,
But the vessel sped onward with a Yeo heave a yeo.

"Oh capting, oh capting, let's make for the shore,
For the winds they do rage and the winds they do roar."
"Nay, nay,' said the capting, "Though the fierce winds may blow,
I'll stick to my vessel with a Yeo heave a yeo."

"Oh capting, oh capting, the waves sweep the deck,
Oh capting, oh capting, we'll soon be a wreck,
To the river's deep bosom each seaman will go"
But the capting laughed lightly with his Yeo heave a yeo."

"Farewell to the maiding, the girl I adore,
Farewell to my friends, I shall see them no more."
The crew shrieked with terror, the capting he swore -
They had stuck on a sandbank, so the men walked ashore.

Charley: I will dig out some pictures of Murray River paddleboats ... and e-mail them to you. The usual design was a fairly small side-wheeler, with a standard traction engine supplying power.

I recently heard that, up north on the Darling River, the other arm of the Murray-Darling system where flow depends on distant monsoon rains up in Queensland, the boats could be stranded without water for months - and some captains would pull out the steam engine and set up a steam sawmill to make money while they waited for it to rain ... a thousand miles away!

Regards,

Bob Bolton

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No need for a new thread, Bob - just change the name of the message. I made the change for you.
-Joe Offer-