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The New York Trader

from A Life Spent Staring At Chairs by Paul Carbuncle

/

lyrics

To a New York trader I did belong,
She was built for speed, both stout and strong,
Well rigged, well manned, well fit for the sea,
She was bound for New York in Ameriky.

Our cruel captain, as we did find,
Left half of our provisions behind.
Our cruel captain, as we understand,
Meant to starve us all before we made the land.

At length our hunger grew very great,
We had but little on board to eat,
And we were in necessity
All by our captain’s cruelty.

Our captain in his cabin lay.
A voice came to him and thus did say
“Prepare yourself and ship’s company
For tomorrow night you shall lay with me.”

Our captain woke in a terrible fright,
It being the first watch of the night
Aloud for his bosun he did call
And to him related the secret all.

“Bosun,” says he, “it grieves my heart
To think I've acted a villain’s part,
To take what was not my lawful due
To starve the passengers and the ship’s crew.

And there's one more thing I have to tell -
When I in Waterford town did dwell
I killed my master, a merchant there,
All for the sake of his lady fair.

And I killed my wife and children three
All through that cursed jealousy
And on my servant I laid the blame
And hanged he was all for the same.”

“Captain,” says he, “if that be so,
Pray let none of your ship’s crew know,
But keep your secret within your breast
And pray to God to give you rest.”

Early next morning a storm did rise
Which our seamen did much surprise.
The sea was over us, both fore and aft,
Till scarce a man on deck was left.

Then our bosun he did declare
Our captain was a murderer.
It so enraged the whole ship’s crew
They overboard their captain threw.

When this was done a calm was there.
Our good little ship homeward did steer.
The wind abated and calmed the sea
And we sailed safe to Ameriky.

And when we came to anchor there,
Our good little ship for to repair,
The people wondered much to see
What a poor distressed ship’s crew were we.

credits

from A Life Spent Staring At Chairs, released April 9, 2018
Traditional song, arranged by Paul Carbuncle.

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Paul Carbuncle Nottingham, UK

You can take the lad out of Pluckley but he'll still sing about hops.

Profile photo by Hugh Miller.

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