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When a sailor comes on shore,
He has silver, gold in store,
There's no lad can get rid of it faster.
Oh, the first thing Jack will do,
Take a room both neat and true,
He will call for his liquor in galore.
And a lassie then likewise,
With two dark and a-rolling eyes,
The young sailor is pleased to his fancy.
Oh, then Jack will carry on,
Till his money is all gone,
The young lady she'll come in with a frown.
With a sulky, greasy look,
And her eye cast over Jack,
Saying, "Young sailor, it's time to be gone."
Oh, then Jack is standing by,
A quart bottle to let fly,
That puts the old woman in a maze.
Puts the girls in a fright,
Calls the watchman of the night,
"Take the sailor away to his cave."
Oh, then, Jack well understands,
There's a frigate to be manned,
To the East and West Indies are bound.
With a sweet and a pleasant gale;
He crowds on his lofty sail,
He bids adieu to the girls of the town.
Oh, now she's on a tack,
Like a cutter or a smack,
She do roll from the leeside to the weather.
Oh, keep her full-and-by,
Just as close as she can lie,
I'll be bound your good ship shall show you pleasure.
Oh, ye rambling b'ys of pleasure,
Takes delight in a sailor's life,
Take a warning by me, never roam.
Take a sober, sturdy wife on,
Will love you all her life,
I'll be bound that you'll always find her home.
Collected in 1951 from Thomas Williams of St. Vincent's, NL, and published in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada © 2004 Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA).
Two variants were also collected, one from Mr. Garvie Young of Petpeswick, and one from Captain William Crowell of Dartmouth, both in Halifax County, Nova Scotia, by Helen Creighton (1899-1989) and Doreen H. Senior and published as Jack Tar in Traditional Songs From Nova Scotia, pp.168-169 (Ryerson Press, Toronto, 1950).
