Page 57
Roud Folk Song Index #809
in C, but usually acapella
Haul Away For Rosie
by trad
( Chorus
Way, haul away, we'll haul away for Rosie
Way, haul away, we'll haul away for Rosie, Oh. )
Were you ever down on the Eastern Shore,
It really is a treat, Oh!
Chorus
Where the Baltimore whores in their purple drawers
Come runnin' out to greet you.
Chorus (etc.)
Oh, when I was a little boy
my mother often told me;
That if I didn't kiss the girls
my lips would all get mouldy.
I sailed the seas for seven years
not knowin' what I was missin';
Then I trimmed my sails before the gales
and started in a-kissin'.
Well, first I had an Irish gal,
Her name was Kitty Brannigan;
She stole me boots, she stole me clothes
She pinched me plate and pannikin.
And then I got a German girl
And she was fat and lazy,
And then I got a New York girl
She damn near drove me crazy.
And then I got a Frenchie girl
She took things free and aisy;
But now I have an English girl
An' sure she is a daisy.
So harken while I sing to you
About my darlin' Nancy;
She's copper-bottomed, clipper-built
And just my cut and fancy.
Well, once in my life I married a wife
And Damn! but she was lazy;
She never worked a day in her life,
Which damn near drove me crazy.
She stayed out all night, a Hell of a sight!
And where do you think I found 'er?
Behind the pump, the story goes,
With forty men around 'er.
You call yerself a second mate,
An' cannot tie a bowline;
You cannot even stand up straight
When the packet she's a rollin'.
Way, haul away, we'll haul away for Rosie
Way, haul away, we'll haul away for Rosie, Oh. )
Were you ever down on the Eastern Shore,
It really is a treat, Oh!
Chorus
Where the Baltimore whores in their purple drawers
Come runnin' out to greet you.
Chorus (etc.)
Oh, when I was a little boy
my mother often told me;
That if I didn't kiss the girls
my lips would all get mouldy.
I sailed the seas for seven years
not knowin' what I was missin';
Then I trimmed my sails before the gales
and started in a-kissin'.
Well, first I had an Irish gal,
Her name was Kitty Brannigan;
She stole me boots, she stole me clothes
She pinched me plate and pannikin.
And then I got a German girl
And she was fat and lazy,
And then I got a New York girl
She damn near drove me crazy.
And then I got a Frenchie girl
She took things free and aisy;
But now I have an English girl
An' sure she is a daisy.
So harken while I sing to you
About my darlin' Nancy;
She's copper-bottomed, clipper-built
And just my cut and fancy.
Well, once in my life I married a wife
And Damn! but she was lazy;
She never worked a day in her life,
Which damn near drove me crazy.
She stayed out all night, a Hell of a sight!
And where do you think I found 'er?
Behind the pump, the story goes,
With forty men around 'er.
You call yerself a second mate,
An' cannot tie a bowline;
You cannot even stand up straight
When the packet she's a rollin'.