Mariners we
Where the hot winds be,
Caught in the Doldrums one and all;
This is our song
When the breeze blows strong
From the wooden hatchway cut in the wall:—
"Oh! a kus-kus tatty shall be our sail,
And in place of the ocean a brimming pail,
And the throb of the screw that drives our boat
Is the throb of the gay thermantidote;
While the surge of the sea in the good ship's wake
Is the surge that a two-foot nand may make."
Gallant and free
Sons of the Sea,
Sailing along on the steadiest keel
What though the wind
Cease? —never mind,
We can admonish the 'man at the wheel'.
For our brown Tom Bowlings are staunch and true
And we'll merrily sail the long months through,
With a "juldee kinch" and a "yo heave ho!"
Keeping our hot weather "watch below".
Dibden may rave
Of the wind and the wave—
Barring a dust-storm who cares for a squall?
Join then our song
As the breeze blows strong
From the wooden hatchway cut in the wall.
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