Lyr Req: Sailor's Hornpipe

Subject: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From:
Date: 26 Feb 97 - 09:48 PM

I'm helping a friend with a school project. I'm looking for the lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe. I think the following words are in the song somewhere: Oh bring back, oh bring back, oh bring back my bonnie to me. Forgive me if I'm way of course, it's happenned before(too often)! Thanks!

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: Anne Cormack
Date: 26 Feb 97 - 10:49 PM

From the words you mention, it sounds like you might be looking for "My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean" which is on the database. I found it by looking in the index under M.

Anne

Subject: Lyr Add: SAILOR'S HORNPIPE
From: Barry Finn
Date: 09 Mar 97 - 08:54 PM

If it's not My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean and it is the Sailor's Hornpipe you’re looking for, I've only heard 1 verse I've added a couple of my own but here's the verse I have:

We'll have another drink before the boat shoves.
We’ll have another drink before the boat shoves off.
We’ll go to Mother Ratchet’s
And we'll pawn our monkey jackets,
And we'll have another drink before the boat shoves.

The Sailor's Hornpipe is also the only shipboard tune with it's own accompanying dance.

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 10 Mar 97 - 12:27 PM

Hi- The tune is usually listed in tune books as thge College Hornpipe.

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: MMario
Date: 27 Jul 01 - 02:23 PM

refresh

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: pavane
Date: 27 Jul 01 - 02:49 PM


Do your balls hang low, can you swing 'em to & fro
Can you tie them in a knot, can you tie them in a bow
Do you get a funny feeling when you bash them on the ceiling
{forgotten the next line)
Do your balls hang low

Sorry it's incomplete - someone will fill the gap tho!

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: MMario
Date: 27 Jul 01 - 03:02 PM

hmmmm- never realized that tune was the sailor's hornpipe! - I usually hear it with a more "hillbilly" sound - but it is remarkably similar if it isn't the same...isn't it?

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 27 Jul 01 - 03:21 PM

As I recall it:

Do your balls hang low, can you swing 'em to & fro
Can you tie them in a knot, can you tie them in a bow
Do you get a funny feeling
when you catch them on the ceiling
Oh you'll never be a bugger
If your balls hang low.

I wouldn't think that'd go down too well in a school project though...

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: MMario
Date: 27 Jul 01 - 03:30 PM

original request was from 97 - I refreshed it because someone was asking recently about words to the sailors hornpipe...it was in relation to the Popeye thread

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 27 Jul 01 - 04:03 PM

Another indication of how the Mudcat doesn't really change that much. Without looking at the dates I never notice the join when these old threads get refreshed.

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: The Walrus
Date: 27 Jul 01 - 04:31 PM

"Do your Balls Hang Low" 2nd Verse

Do they itch when it's hot? Can you stick 'em in a pot?
Do they clink when you walk? Do they jingle when you talk?
Can you sling 'en on your shoulder, like a rotten bloody soldier?
Oh you'll never be a sailor/soldier/bugger (delete as appropriate)
If your balls hang low.

Walrus

Subject: RE: music to Sailors Hornpipe
From: GUEST,Nick
Date: 27 Jul 01 - 04:36 PM

I was looking for sheet music on the web for this w/o finding, any one know where to find Sailors Hornpipe Sheet Music in Cyberland?

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: pavane
Date: 27 Jul 01 - 06:08 PM

If you find a MIDI or ABC, it can easily be converted

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: Charley Noble
Date: 28 Jul 01 - 02:50 PM

I'm sure that someone has more verses in line with what Barry posted above, which I've only run across from Oscar Brand. I'd be curious if Mother Rackett was one of them Liverpool folk characters.

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: GUEST,Murray on Saltspring
Date: 30 Jul 01 - 10:39 PM

I have the feeling I imparted this version to MC lang syne, but anyway--
Do your balls hang low?
Can you swing them to and fro?
Can you tie them oin a knot,
Can you tie them in a bow?
Can you swing them to the ceiling
With that free and easy feeling?
Did you ever catch your ballocks
In a rat-trap, oh?
- Learned in the Royal Navy, 1952, from a public school boy.

Subject: ADD: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: Jacob B
Date: 31 Jul 01 - 09:23 AM

Do they hang below your knees?
Do they tear your BVDs?
Do they irritate
When you catch them on the gate?
Do they feel so nice
When they glide along the ice?
Do they hang too low in the morning?

Any old storm
Any old port
Life is long
Love is short
Better get a woman, get a woman if you can
If you can't get a woman, get a clean old man

or, alternatively

Any old port
Any old storm
Life is short
Love is warm
Better get a woman, get a woman if you can
If you can't get a woman, get a clean old man

From the singing of Oscar Brand. Actually, one of the choruses above is the way Oscar Brand sang it, and the other is the way I found myself singing it, but I've forgotten now which is which.

And it seems to me that the melody is Turkey in the Straw rather than the Sailor's Hornpipe - but the two tunes are similar.

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: MMario
Date: 31 Jul 01 - 09:28 AM

nick - JC's tunefinder

- select the "g" option for a gif of the music - the other options include abc, midi, postscript, etc....

Subject: That's Super Mario
From: GUEST,Nick
Date: 31 Jul 01 - 09:36 AM

Thanks for linking me up there

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: MMario
Date: 31 Jul 01 - 09:48 AM

JC's Tunefinder is an incredible resource. A VERY good place to bookmark...

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: Uncle Jaque
Date: 31 Jul 01 - 10:41 AM

I'm waiting (& hoping) for Dave the Ancient Mariner to check in on this one; would not be surprised if he knows a thing or two about it.

Being from and representing Maine, of course the 3rd ME Regimental Field Music includes a version of this in our repitoire. The Drummers - especially our Bass (USN Ret'd.by the way) - do a real bang-up (or should we say "boom-up) job of it! We performed it during our recent Independance Day Parade in famous old Shipbuilding port of Bath, ME, where it was a big hit. Our public "premiere" of the piece was during "Opsail 2000" in Portland, next to the USCG "Eagle".

We do it in the key of "G" (1 #) on Bb Military Fife, starting on high-register "G" (for those familiar with the fife/whistle family).

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: GUEST,Celtic Soul
Date: 31 Jul 01 - 01:53 PM

From my understanding, "Do your Balls Hang Low" is a different piece of music from "Sailors Hornpipe". The words may fit, however. If so, what the hey! :D

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: GUEST,Frogmore
Date: 31 Jul 01 - 02:12 PM

On a Savannah Ga. TV station in the 50s there was a weather man named "Capt. Sandy." His theme song was to the tune of the first part of Sailor's Hornpipe. It went, "Yo Ho Ho, what's the weather gonna be? Here's the man who knows, just take a look and see. Here is Capt. Sandy with the weather he has found - for Savannah and for Chatham and the counties all around." A clam on the ocean floor would open his mouth and announce the tide schedule and a pelican would be lowered by a wire and tell the wind direction and velocity. I've been known to surprise my fellow pickers with a rendition of this at the end of the tune.

Subject: Lyr Add: SAILOR'S HORNPIPE
From: GUEST,PCW
Date: 31 Jul 01 - 02:21 PM

The words that I know to Jacky Tar/Jack's the Lad/Sailor's hornpipe are

He's a naval man. You can tell it when he walks.
He's a naval man. You can tell it when he talks.
And the drunken things he'll utter
When he's lying in the gutter,
You can bet your bread and butter
He’s a naval man.

He's a naval man of the ocean-going sort.
He’s a naval man with a girl in every port.
If you see him squeeze and hug her
When he gets aboard the lugger,
He’s a dirty rotten bosun
Of a naval man.

If he gets you in a row boat on the Serpentine,
And he tries to get he hands upon your Plimsol Line,
If he grabs you without warning,
You’ll be scuppered in the morning.
You can bet the skin you're born in
He’s a naval man.

Surprised you didn't know this version McGrath. I learned it from a guy at the old Hoddesdon Folk Club.

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 20-Feb-02.

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: pavane
Date: 01 Aug 01 - 02:49 AM

Celtic Soul, Maybe there is a different tune also used for the song? Do you have details? An abc or MIDI file? It would be interesing to find out.

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: The Walrus
Date: 01 Aug 01 - 08:27 AM

Another of the (publically)less repeatable versions of the Sailors Hornpipe

Tiddleywinks, Old Man

Toddleywinks, old man
Find a woman if you can,
If you can't find a woman,
Do without, old man.
When the Rock of Gibraltar
Takes a flying leap at Malta
You'll never get your bollocks in a corned beef can.

"The text is slightly bowdlerised. This nonsense song is a pretty nasty scrap of folklore, and was sung chiefly by those who wished to show off their own toughness. Generall, the words stopped after the first line and the rest of the tune was whistled."
(From "The Long Trail- What the British Soldier sang and said in 1914-1918", John Brophy & Eric Partridge - 1965)

Regards

Walrus

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: Charley Noble
Date: 01 Aug 01 - 09:29 AM

Seems we're getting closer to the real thing. Keep digging and anyone who's queasy about where this thread might lead can shear off now!

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: Charley Noble
Date: 01 Aug 01 - 09:39 AM

By the way, any clue what the original reference for "Plimsol Line" is?

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: IanC
Date: 01 Aug 01 - 09:48 AM

Charley

Explained here ... Load Lines.

"The Merchant Shipping Act of 1876 made load lines compulsory. However, the position of the line was not fixed by law until 1894. In 1906, foreign ships were also required to carry a load line if they visited British ports. Since then, the line has been known in Britain as the Plimsoll Line. To this day, it still carries the name of the MP who fought such a long struggle in parliament to win better safety conditions for ships' crews. Together with other important changes made to ships in the Victorian period, load lines helped to preserve the lives of ships' crews and passengers."

Cheers!
Ian

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: Charley Noble
Date: 02 Aug 01 - 04:53 PM

Thanks, Ian. I needed to be reminded what those markings were called.

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: Celtic Soul
Date: 02 Aug 01 - 10:32 PM

Pavane, I could sing both of them for you. I am, however, technologically challenged.

My group performs the Hornpipe occasionally, and I know the "Hang Low" song from (believe it or not) Barney the Dinosaur (sang as "Do your ears hang low?").

I will try to get the music written out for me, but I think this will be some time coming.

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: NH Dave
Date: 02 Aug 01 - 11:04 PM

n.b. Ships that ply both fresh and salt water have two sets of Plimsol/load lines, the ones for salt water and another set, a bit lower down the side of the vessel for fresh water, which is less buoyant, so the ship must be more lightly loaded.

Dave

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: pavane
Date: 03 Aug 01 - 11:36 AM

Lots of verses are to be found here and it also confirms the tune as Sailors Hornpipe

Subject: Lyr Add: JACK'S THE LAD and JACK ROBINSON
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 03 Aug 01 - 12:30 PM

According to William Chappell (Ballad Literature and Popular Music of the Olden Time, 1859), The College Hornpipe was the tune to which Jack's the Lad was sung.  He adds, "A copy of the words, printed in Seven Dials, was once in my possession."

Nowadays such things are often easily found; there are a number of copies at  Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads.  The following is transcribed from a sheet printed between 1802 and 1819 by J. Pitts, Wholesale Toy and Marble Warehouse, Great St. Andrew street, 7 Dials, London.

JACK'S THE LAD

(Bodleian Library, Harding B 25[944] )

Our ship's a port so here I be,
With a heart as light as a cork d'ye see
'Pon larboard quarter Poll is jigging,
Dressed all in a Sunday rigging,
Wench and fiddle always makes a sailor glad
Old Nipperkin the landlord keeps the grog afloat
And kindly is the liquor handed down each throat
For if ever sailor took delight in kissing swigging jigging, dancing fighting
Damme I'll be bold to say that Jacks the lad.
With my tol de rol; &c

Cheerly my hearts ye know Jack Spry;
So full of ropes and rigs that I-
D'ye hear the mer[ ]ry fiddle going,
Blood it sets me off a toeing
That'd be Catgut College Hornpipe brisk old dad,
Now for a reel Sir David Hunter Blair that's Scotch,
Or Langolee or anything but French or Duch
For if ever fellow took delight in swigging kissing dancing fighting
Damme I'll be bold to say that Jacks the lad.

My locker's rich -the devil a mite
Why here is a pretty rig Yes I'm right,
An old friend like a blubbering ninny
Lookd distressed like got my guinea
Can't help snivelling somehow when I see folks sad
But howsoever should I have luck to fall once more
Long side monnsier homeward bound he'll pay the score,
For if ever fellow took delight in swigging kissing dancing fighting
Damme I'll be bold to say that Jacks the lad.

Huzza! a gun- the signal's made
All hands on board the anchor's weigh'd
Lord how the girls by scores are flying,
Fore and aft all sobbing crying,
Thoughts of parting makes them all run roaring mad
But honour bids her gallant sons to glory go
So off again we send to lick the saucy foe
For if ever fellow took delight in swigging kissing dancing fighting
Damme I'll be bold to say that Jacks the lad.

Spelling and punctuation as given; other examples differ in detail.  A little ingenuity is needed to sing it to the tune under discussion, particulary in the first verse where additional syllables are required.


The following was also sung to the same tune, and is taken from a broadside printed between 1819 and 1844, again by Pitts.

JACK ROBINSON

(Bodleian Library, Harding B 17[143b].  Tune: The College Hornpipe)

The perils and dangers of the voyage pass'd,
And the ship to Portsmouth arrived at last,
The sails all furl'd and the anchor cast,
The happiest of the crew was Jack Robinson;
For his Poll he had trinkets and gold galore,
Besides of prize money quite a store,
And along with the crew he went ashore,
As cockswain to the boat, Jack Robinson.
Tol de rol, &c.

He met with a man, and said, I say
Mayhap you may know one Polly Gray,
She lives somewhere hereabouts. The man said nay
I do not indeed to Jack Robinson;
Says he to him I've left my ship,
And all my messmates gave the slip,
Maybe you'll partake of a good cann of flip,
For you're a civil fellow says Jack Robinson.
Tol de rol, &c.

In a public house then they both set down,
And talked of Admirals of high renown,
And drank as much grog as came to half a crown,
This here strange man and Jack Robinson,
Then Jack called out the reck'ning to pay;
The landlady came in, in fine array,
My eyes and limbs why here's Polly Gray,
Who'd thought of meeting here, says Jack Robinson.
Tol de rol, &c.

The landlady stagger'd her back against the wall,
And said at first she did not know him at all,
Shiver me, says Jack, why here's a pretty squall,
Dam'me don't you know me, I'm Jack Robinson,
Don't you know this handkerchief you giv'd to me,
'Twas three years ago, before I went to sea,
Every day I look'd at it and thought of thee,
Upon my soul I have, says Jack Robinson.
Tol de rol, &c.

Says the lady says she, I've changed my state,
Why you don't mean says Jack, that you've got a mate;
You know you promis'd me, says she, I couldn't wait,
For no tidings could I gain of you, Jack Robinson
And somebody one day, came to me, and said,
That somebody else had somewhere read,
In some newspaper as how you was dead,
I've not been dead at all, says Jack Robinson.
Tol de rol, &c.

Then he turn'd his quid finished his glass,
Hitch'd up his trowsers, -alas! alas!
That ever I should live to be made such an ass
To be bilk'd by a woman, says Jack Robinson,
But to fret and stew about it much is all in vain,
I'll get a ship and go to Holland France and Spain,
No matter where, to Portsmouth I'll ne'er come back again,
And he was off before they could say, Jack Robinson.
Tol de rol, &c.


Whether the common expression Before you could say Jack Robinson derives from this song or pre-dates it, I have no idea.

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: Snuffy
Date: 03 Aug 01 - 06:18 PM

I have a tape from Suffolk where the box player plays "The Yarmouth Hornpipe, or Jack's the Lad". I'll see if I can fit the words to that tune any better that the College Hornpipe.

Wassail! V

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Aug 01 - 06:23 PM

There's a song on DT called something like "He played his Ukelele when the Ship went Down." Since I'm not techie enough to get the melody, I content myself with singing it to Sailor's Hornpipe, which it fits very well.

PS. I also have this masochistic setting for it on mando which requires use of left pinky. The sadistic b----- who tabbed it wrote that it's good for your soul to master this. Get back to me by about 2004 and ask me if I have it yet. Aaargh.

CC

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: Gareth
Date: 03 Aug 01 - 06:36 PM

N H Dave, "Plimsoul Line "

The markings are also marked for areas and seasons.

Deepest mark = shallowest draught is "WNA" = Winter North Atlantic. Top Mark ie deepest draft+ "TF" = Tropical Fresh.

Take a trip to your nearest port and look at the bows of any ship. The initials by the marks represent the classification society wot calculated the limits. Thus L R = Lloyds Register.

BTW The original act allowed the owners to set thier own load lines. Result ? "Glug, Glug, Glug !!!"

Your pedantic Adjustor of Claims,

Gareth

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: GUEST,libby
Date: 12 Sep 01 - 02:22 AM

hi- i really need to find sailors hornpipe sheet music urgently... that is printable. do you know where you can find it?

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: masato sakurai
Date: 13 Sep 01 - 12:37 AM

Libby. Click here.

Masato

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: SeanM
Date: 13 Sep 01 - 12:46 AM

I've always been fond of the version from Disney's Alice in Wonderland:

Oh, a sailor's life is the life for me
Tiddle yum tum tum, tiddle tiddle tiddle dee
And I never never never do a thing about the weather
Because the weather never ever does a thing for me.

M

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: Steve in Idaho
Date: 13 Sep 01 - 03:13 PM

Deacon Dan Crary had the sheet music in one of his old song books. I don't have it at work with me so can't recall the date or name. But it had to have been sometime in the 70s. Maybe at his website - if he has one?

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: English Jon
Date: 14 Sep 01 - 11:54 AM

"tiddlywinks old man, suck a lemon if you can, if you can't suck a lemon suck an old tin can"

EJ

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: weepiper
Date: 14 Sep 01 - 01:54 PM

Re the Haang Low song; I had a friend at school who used to sing something similar that began 'Does yer Ma drink gin, does she drink it from a tin...' but I can't remember the rest. Anyone know it?

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: GUEST,Ben
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 09:38 AM

More inquiries,

I have been trying to find the words to a song heard at the last night of the proms called sailors hornpipe. It was composed by henry wood, and after a little research i have discovered this thread. It is possible that the song itself is henry wood's composition of jack's the lad sailors hornpipe.

Can anyone point me in the right direction for said correct lyrics?

Ben

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: GUEST,Chris
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 02:12 PM

My Grannie (born 1898) taught me the following words to the sailors hornpipe:-

"Holy heck" said Jack
"Did you ever see the Queen
Did you ever see a sailor smack a tambourine".
He's the coxwain of the whaler
And he hit another sailor
Then they had another tot before the boat shoved off.

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: greg stephens
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 02:21 PM

GUUST Ben
Re Henry Wood: he didnt actually compose any of the tunes of the sea song bit at the Last night of the Proms; they are all old. He arranged a suite of tunes, and the Sailors Hornpipe is the tune that gets played faster and faster while everybody claps along to try and speed the orchestra. This thread lists a lot of vulgar ditties that has been written to the tune over the years.

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: KateG
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 06:53 PM

Thank you for confirming my suspicions. I learned "Do your ears hang low" as a Brownie scout with appropriate cutesy actions. Many years later the song popped into my head while driving, and as a sang it I had a feeling that the original dangly bits were NOT ears. Glad to see that my gut(ter) feelings were correct. Good old Mudcat!!

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: Charley Noble
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 11:16 PM

With regard to the verse from Barry:

"We'll go down to Mother Rackett's.
An' we'll pawn our monkey-jackets..."

According to Stan Hugill's notes in SAILORTOWN, p. 299, Mother Rackett or Hackett was the owner of a sailors drinking dive and baording house in Hong Kong in the 1870's.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: fiddler
Date: 26 Feb 04 - 03:47 AM

Best thread in ages BUT has anyone sourced some tadpoles for the man.

I've know heaps of words to this some many far form Politically correct ans some would get the whip witdrawn if I were a sitting Conservative MP!

for some reason I tend not to play it - Don't know why may have to change that.

A

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 26 Feb 04 - 03:16 PM

fiddler -

The link provided by Masato back in Sept 01, pub-session-tunes still works. It displays a .gif, and if you right click on it you can "save image as" to put it on your machine. If you don't have an image mangler, you can "Insert Picture, from file" in Word, and it prints quite nicely.

It's also in a number of "standard" books, including Fiddler's Fakebook, and Stacy Phillips' vol 2 Fiddle Tunes.

John

Subject: RE: lyrics to Sailors Hornpipe
From: GUEST,Barry at the Library
Date: 02 Mar 04 - 12:54 PM

Here are a couple more verses that I wrote, song was just to good not to have more.


We'll go see Iron Peg & get our mainsheets hauled (repeat)
Before we go to sea we'll take a girl upon our knee
And we'll go see Iron Peg & get our mainsheets hauled

We've been on the beach just a day to long (repeat)
From everyone we get a curse cus' there's no money in our purse
Reap 1st ling again)

Barry