I’ve a pal called Billy Peg-leg, with one leg a wood leg,
And Billy’ he’s a ship’s cook and lives upon the sea;
And hanging by his griddle
Old Billy keeps a fiddle
For fiddling in the dog-watch
When the moon is on the sea.
We takes our luck wi’ tough ships, wi’ fast ships, wi’ free ships,
We takes our luck wi’ any ships to slip away to sea,
We takes our trick wi’ the best o’ them
An’ sings our song wi’ the rest of them
When the bell strikes for the dog-watch
An’ the moon is on the sea.
You’d ought to see the tops’ls, the stuns’ls, the stays’ls,
When the moon’s a-shinin’ on them along a liftin’ sea;
Hear the dandy bo’s’n say:
“Peg-leg make that fiddle play
An’ we’ll dance away the dog-watch
While the moon is on the sea.”
Then it’s fun to watch them dancin’, them bowlegged sailors dancin’,
To the tune o’ Peg-leg’s fiddle, a-fiddlin’ fast an’ free,
It’s fun to watch old Peg-leg
A-waltzin’ wi’ his wood leg
When bo’s’n takes the fiddle
So Peg can dance wi’ me.
The moon is on the water, the dark, moon-glimmered water,
The night wind pipin’ plaintively along a liftin’ sea,
There ain’t no female wimmen,
No big beer-glasses brimmin’,
There’s just the great sea’s glory
An’ Billy Peg an’ me.
We takes our luck wi’ the tough ship, the tall ship, the fast ship,
We takes our luck wi’ any ship to sign away for sea,
We takes our trick wi’ the best o’ them,
An’ sings our song wi’ the rest o’ them,
When the bell strikes for the dog-watch
An’ the moon is on the sea.
(Bill Adams)
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