<BGSOUND src="http://www.biostat.wustl.edu/%7Eerich/music/songs/derelict.mid">

Friday, September 23, 2005

Derelict


Derelict
aka Cap'n Billy Bones his song
by Young Ewing Allison
1st 4 lines by Robert Louis Stevenson
if tune doesn't auto play click here
http://www.mediafire.com/?puvyrwl7sdiaj7x




"Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!"
The mate was fixed by the bos'n's pike,
The bos'n brained with a marlinspike,
And Cookey's throat was marked belike
It had been gripped
By fingers ten;
And there they lay,
All good dead men
Like break-o'-day in a boozing-ken--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

Fifteen men of the whole ship's list--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Dead and be damned and the rest gone whist!--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
The skipper lay with his nob in gore
Where the scullion's axe his cheek had shore--
And the scullion he was stabbed times four.
And there they lay,
And the soggy skies
Dripped all day long
In upstaring eyes--
In murk sunset and at foul sunrise--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

Fifteen men of 'em stiff and stark--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Ten of the crew had the Murder mark--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead,
Or a yawing hole in a battered head--
And the scuppers glut with a rotting red
And there they lay--
Aye, damn my eyes--
All lookouts clapped
On paradise--
All souls bound just contrariwise--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum.

Fifteen men of 'em good and true--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Every man jack could ha' sailed with Old Pew--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
There was chest on chest full of Spanish gold,
With a ton of plate in the middle hold,
And the cabins riot of stuff untold,
And they lay there,
That had took the plum,
With sightless glare
And their lips struck dumb,
While we shared all by the rule of thumb--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

More was seen through the sternlight screen--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Chartings ondoubt where a woman had been!--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
A flimsy shift on a bunker cot,
With a thin dirk slot through the bosom spot
And the lace stiff dry in a purplish blot.
Or was she wench...
Or some shuddering maid...?
That dared the knife--
And took the blade!
By God! she was stuff for a plucky jade--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
We wrapped 'em all in a mains'l tight
With twice ten turns of a hawser's bight
And we heaved 'em over and out of sight--
With a Yo-Heave-Ho!
And a fare-you-well!
And a sullen plunge
In the sullen swell,
Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell!
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!







Robert Louis Stevenson wrote four lines of “Cap'n Billy Bones his song” for Treasure Island, published in 1881. Louisville writer and poet Young E. Allison took those four lines and expanded them into a three-verse poem (published in 1891) to which he later added the other verses. The poem was used in a 1901 Broadway musical play based on Treasure Island, with music credited to someone named Walter or Waller.

The tune I use is based on the one Ed McCurdy used for his version of the song on his 1956 recording Blood, Booze and Bones. McCurdy's tune has some similarities with, but is still fairly different from, the one at the Mudcat Cafe Digital Tradition site. The implication is that that one is the tune from the musical. With the lack of any better information, I've just listed the composer of the music as “anonymous”.

http://www.biostat.wustl.edu/~erich/music/songs/derelict.html

http://www.biostat.wustl.edu/~erich/music/songs/derelict.mid



Definitions Below, Also see link
http://everything2.com/title/Fifteen+Men+on+a+Dead+Man%2527s+Chest

Derelict
by Young E. Allison


"Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest-
(what the salvage crew named the ship
and pirate slang for coffin)Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
(work song line called by crew to unite effort)Drink and the devil had done for the rest-
(booze and evil had doomed rest of crew)Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!"
("Yo-ho" a shout accompanying effort)The mate was fixed by the bos'n's pike,
(first officer stabbed by the boatswain)The bos'n brained with a marlinspike,
(marlinspike is a large needle used to untie knots)
And Cookey's throat was marked belike
(Cook)It had been gripped
By fingers ten;
(strangled)And there they lay,
All good dead men,
(soundly)Like break-o'-day in a boozing-ken-
(morning at a tavern with sleeping drunkards)Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!


Fifteen men of a whole ship's list-
(remained of crew compliment)Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Dead and bedamned and the rest gone whist!-
(without a sign)Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
The skipper lay with his nob in gore
(head in blood)Where the scullion's ax his cheek has shore-
(dishwasher's ax cut Skipper's cheek)And the scullion he was stabbed times four.
And there they lay,
And the soggy skies
Dripped all day long
In upstaring eyes-
(dead unblinking eyes looking up from the deck)
At murk sunset and at foul sunrise-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!


Fifteen men of 'em stiff and stark-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Ten of the crew had the Murder mark-
(murder mark is a brand given to people convicted of murder)
(were they killed there on the ship for their deeds or were they murders before?)
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
'Twas a cutlass swipe, or an ounce of lead,
(sword swipe, or a musket ball)Or a yawing hole in a battered head-
And the scuppers glut with a rotting red.
(deck gutters overflow with blood)And there they lay-
Aye, damn my eyes!-
All lookouts clapped
(eyes locked)On Paradise-
All souls bound just contrariwise-
(bound for hell)
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!


Fifteen men of 'em good and true-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Every man jack could ha' sailed with Old Pew-
(Every single one. "Old Pew" Treasure Island)Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
There was chest on chest full of Spanish gold,
With a ton of plate in the middle hold,
(coin or silver and gold service sets)And the cabins riot of stuff untold.
And they lay there,
That had took the plum,
(dead crew's prize)With sightless glare
And their eyes struck dumb,
While we shared all by the rule of thumb-
(normal practice)Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!


More was seen through the sternlight screen-
(Skipper's window at ship's rear)Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Chartings ondoubt where a woman had been!-
(signs a woman onboard which is bad luck)Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
A flimsy shift on a bunker cot,
(female shirt undergarment)With a thin dirk slot through the bosom spot
(a dagger hole)And the lace stiff-dry in a purplish blot.
Or was she wench...
(prostitute)Or some shuddering maid...?
That dared the knife-
(brought on herself)And that took the blade!
(stabbed herself?)By God! she was stuff for a plucky jade-
(woman; Ironic usage: for pain relief)Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!


Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest-
(booze and greed/death (marooned?))

Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
We wrapped 'em all in a mains'l tight,
(mainsail)With twice ten turns of hawser's bight,
(20 times with a mooring rope wrapped)And we heaved 'em over and out of sight-
With a yo-heave-ho!
And a fare-you-well!
And a sullen plunge
In a sullen swell,
Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell!
(60 feet)Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!








2 Comments:

Blogger Alec said...

a few additions for the explanation: a marlinspike is a large needle used to untie knots, unstaring eyes are dead eyes, a murder mark is a brand given to people convicted of murder, thus ten of the crew were convicted murderers, all souls bound just contrariwise: all of the dead are going to hell.

11:43 AM  
Blogger Michael Baribeau said...

Thanks Julia!

12:04 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home