1 It's of a pretty fair maid, to let youse understand,
She had a mind for rovin' to some foreign land;
She dressed herself in sailor's clothes and boldly did appear,
Engagin' with a captain givin' service for a year.
2 For the wind it bein' in favor and they soon set off to
sea,
For the lady to the captain said, "My love, I wish you joy,
That we have engaged such a handsome cabin boy."
3 For his cheeks appeared like roses and his side-locks they
did curl,
And oftentimes the sailors smiled and said he lookit like a girl;
But by eatin' cabin biscuits his colors did destroy,
And the wyme did swell o' pretty Bill our handsome cabin boy.
4 "O doctor, dear doctor," for the cabin boy did
cry,
The sailors swore with all their might that the cabin boy would
die;
But the doctor run with all his might, he was smilin' at the fun,
For to think a sailor lad would have a dochter or a son.
5 But when the sailors heard the joke thay a' began to
stare,
"For the child belongs to none of us," a' solemn they
did swear;
"But the lady and the captain they have oftimes kissed and
toyed,
And we'll soon find out the secret of our handsome cabin
boy."
6 For they a' took up a bumper and they drunk success to
trade:
"It's twice unto this cabin boy she's neither man nor maid;
But if this war should rise again our sailors to destroy,
And we'll ship some able seamen same's our handsome cabin
boy."
7 Through the Bay of Biscay our gallant ship did plough,
And that night the sailors they kicked up a bloomin' row;
They took their bundles from their hammocks and the rest they did
destroy,
And it was all through the groanin' of our handsome cabin boy.
The Handsome Cabin Boy, sung by Jeannie Robertson. From James Porter and Herschel Gower's study of this famous singer, Jeannie Robertson: Emergent Singer, Transformative Voice (East Linton, 1995), p.157-8. Porter and Gower provide information on every item in Jeannie Robertson's repertoire, as well as contextual and biographical information for this singer.