OK, twist my arm.

Stan sang these verses during the infamous Uncensored Sea Songs workshop at the Mystic Seaport Sea Music Festival in '88 or '89. I had the luck to share the stage with him, along with a couple of other unwitting folks who, like me, thought that "uncensored" meant ribald, double-entendre material.

Stan talked a bit to introduce things, but then Tom Lewis, who was in the audience, asked to share a song from his Royal Navy days. He stepped forward and proceeded to sing two of the most graphic and obscene songs I've ever had the pleasure of hearing. That set the tone, and must have induced Stan to open up his treasure box of "the real versions" of chanteys.

Here's his take on MAID OF AMSTERDAM:

In Amsterdam there lived a maid
Mark well what I do say!
In Amsterdam there lived a maid
And she was mistress of her trade.
I'll go no more a rovin'...

I took this fair maid to the park
Mark well...
And we set down where it was dark.

I put my hand upon her breast...
And the wind from her ass blew south southwest.

The flesh of her breast was as white as milk...
And the hair of her cunt was soft as silk.

The cheeks of her ass were tight as a drum...
And the lips of her cunt were red as a plum.

Her belly it was soft and wide...
And it gave me such a lovely ride.


I have always hoped his wife or sons would publish the collection of unbowdlerized chanteys he hinted he had in his files. No sign of it yet, unfortunately.

Jerry