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Fifteen men on the Dead Man's chest, Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! Drink and the Devil had done for the rest, Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! The mate was fixed by the bo'sun's pike And the bo'sun brained with a marlin-spike, The cookie's throat was marked belike Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! It had been clutched by fingers ten. And there they lay, all good dead men, Like break o' day in a boozin' ken Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! Fifteen men of the whole ship's list, Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! Dead and bedamned and their souls gone west Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! The skipper lay with his nob in gore Where the scullion's axe his cheek had shore, And the scullion he was stabbed four times four Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! And there they lay, and the soggy skies Rained all night long in upstaring eyes By murk sunset and by foul sunrise— Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! Fifteen men of 'em stiff and stark, Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! Ten of the crew bore the murder mark, Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! 'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead, Or a gaping hole in a battered head, And the scuppers glut of a rotting red. Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! And there they lay, aye, damn my eyes, Their lookouts clapped on Paradise, And souls bound just contrariwise— Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! Fifteen men of 'em good and true, Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! Every man jack could 'a sailed with Tom Tew Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! There was chest on chest of Spanish gold, And a ton of plate in the middle hold, And the cabins riot with loot untold— Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! And there they lay that had took the plum, With sightless eyes and with lips struck dumb, While we shared all by rule o' thumb— Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! More was seen through the stern's light screen, Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! Chartings no doubt where the woman had been, Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! A flimsy shift on a bunker cot With a dirk slit sheer through the bosom spot And the lace stiff dry in a purplish rot— Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! Or was she wench or shuddering maid— She dared for gold but she took the blade— (Now it matters not for the price is paid!) Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! Fifteen men on the Dead Man's chest, Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! Drink and the Devil had done for the rest, Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! We wrapped 'em all in a mainsail tight, With twice ten turns of hawser's bight. And we heaved 'em over and out of sight, Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! With a yo-heave-ho and a fare-ye-well, And a sullen plunge in a sullen swell. Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell— Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum! by Ewing Allison |