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The Fourteenth of February
1
(1)
On
the fourteenth day of February,
As we sailed from the
land,
In the bold
{"Prince
of Royals"}[Princess Royal]2.
Bound for
Newfoundland
With forty brave seamen,
For
our ship company,
So boldly from the north'ard
To east'ard bore she.
(2)
We had
not been sailing
More than two days or three,
When the man from our mizzenmast,
3A sail he did
see.
She came bearing down upon us,
To see
what we were.
And under her mizzenmast,
Black colors did wear.
(3)
"Good Lord!"
cries our {capting}[captain],
"What shall we do now!
There comes a bold pirate ship,
To rob us I know."
"Oh no! cries the chief mate,
It'll ne'er be said
so,
We'll shake out a reef, my boys,
And
from her we'll go."
(4)
It's when the bold
pirate,
She hove alongside,
With a
loud-speaking trumpet,
"Whence came you here!" cried.
Our captain being loath, my boys,
Answered them
so,
"We've come from fair London town,
Bound
for a Corow."
(5)
"Come haul down your
topsail,
And heave your ship [too],
For I have a letter,
To send
home by you."
"We'll haul down our topsail,
And we'll heave our ship to,
But it'll be in some
harbour,
Not alongside of you."
(6)
They chased us to windward,
For all that long
day,
They chased us to windward,
But could
make no way.
They fired guns after us,
For
to cut down our sails,
But the bold {"Prince of Royals"}[Princess
Royal]
soon showed them her
tail
(7)
It’s now my brave boys,
Since the pirate has gone,
Go down to your grog, me
boys,
O go down, every one!
Go down to your
grog, me boys,
And be of good cheer,
For
whilst we have sea room,
My boys never fear.
Finis
Notes
1
Fourteenth of February: this ballad was interpreted by British
musician Billy Bragg in the late 1990s(
YouTube).
2
Princess Royal: a British sloop that was active in the late 1700s .
It was eventually captured at "Nootka Sound by Esteban José Martínez"(
Wikipedia).