The Lowestoft Boat

(East Coast Patrols of the War)

1 
In Lowestoft a boat was laid 
   Mark well what I do say
And she was built for the herring trade 
   But she has gone a-rovin’, a-rovin’, a-rovin’, 
   The Lord knows where!  
2 
They gave her Government coal to burn,
   And a Q.F. gun at bow and stern, 
And sent her out a-rovin’, a-rovin’, a-rovin’, 
   The Lord knows where!  
3 
Her skipper was mate of a bucko ship 
   Which always killed one man per trip, 
So he is used to rovin’, a-rovin’, a-rovin’, 
   The Lord knows where!  
4 
Her mate was skipper of a chapel in Wales, 
   And so he fights in topper and tails– 
Religious tho’ rovin’, a-rovin’, a-rovin’, 
   The Lord knows where!  
5 
Her engineer is fifty-eight, 
   So he’s prepared to meet his fate, 
Which ain’t unlikely rovin’, a-rovin’, a-rovin’, 
   The Lord knows where!  
6 
Her leading stoker’s seventeen, 
   So he don’t know what the Judgements mean, 
Unless he cops them rovin’, a-rovin’, a-rovin’, 
   The Lord knows where!  
7 
Her chef was cook in the Lost Dogs’ Home, 
   Mark well what I do say
And I’m sorry for Fritz when they all come 
   A-rovin’, a-rovin’, a-roarin’ and a-rovin’, 
   Round the North Sea rovin’, 
   The Lord knows where!

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