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Our captain calls all hands away tomorrow,
Leaves many a fair pretty girl in grief and sorrow;
What makes you go abroad, fighting for strangers,
When you could stop at home, free from all dangers.
When I had gold in store you did invite me,
Now that I'm low and poor, you seem to slight me;
Dry off your brandy tears and leave off weeping,
For happy shall we be at our next meeting.
You courted me a while just to deceive me,
Now my heart you have gained, you mean to leave me;
Saying there's belief in man, not my own brother,
So girls, if you can love, love one another.
This variant from Folk Songs, Words & Tunes by Ron Clarke who noted it was collected in Somerset, England. A variant was also collected in 1958 from Mrs. Freeman Bennett (1908-2006) of St. Paul's, NL, by Ken Peacock and published as All Hands Away Tomorrow in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 2, pp.416-417, by The National Museum of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
