Actually, Richard, the "X" in espresso is optional - but we Californians prefer not to use it. Do the Watersons leave out the last word of the first line of most stanzas, or is that a San Francisco omission, like the missing "X"? Hmmmm???

But back to the topic at hand - Helen Creighton has quite a different version of the song in Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia. Here 'tis:

WESTERN OCEAN

1. Oh, I only got one cap, and the crown of it's all gone
And the peak is all tore to a slunder,
And if I don't get no more, I'll put this cap in store
And across the western ocean I shall wander.

Chorus
Then hurrah for your grog,
Your jolly, jolly grog,
Hurrah for the rum and tobacco,
For I've spent all my tin
On a lassie drinking gin,
And across the western ocean I shall wander.

2. Oh, I only got one shirt, and the neck of it's all gone
And the back is all tore to a slunder,
And if I don't get no more, I'll put that shirt in store
And across the western ocean I shall wander. Cho.

3. Oh, I only got one coat and the back of it's all gone
And the sleeves is all tore to a slunder, etc. Cho.

4. Oh, I only got one pair of pants, and the buttons they are gone
And the legs is all tore to a slunder, etc. Cho.

5. Oh, I only got one pair of shoes, and the heels they are gone
And the toes is all tore to a slunder, etc. Cho.^^


Notes from Creighton:

It is quite possible that this song was composed for music-hall entertainment by one who had knowledge of the sea. The chorus has probably been borrowed from a genuine sea song. Both in words and music this is faintly suggestive of The Little Old Shanty, and is sung to the same air as the verse. Lomax (Cowboy Songs), pp. 187, 189, which in its turn is a parody of The Little old Log Cabin In the Lane.

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^^