A Ballad of John Silver

by John Edward Masefield

We were schooner-rigged and rakish, with a long and lissome hull,
And we flew the pretty colours of the crossbones and the skull;
We'd a big black Jolly Roger flapping grimly at the fore,
And we sailed the Spanish Water in the happy days of yore.

We'd a long brass gun amidships, like a well-conducted ship,
We had each a brace of pistols and a cutlass at the hip;
It's a point which tells against us, and a fact to be deplored,
But we chased the goodly merchant-men and laid their ships aboard.

Then the dead men fouled the scuppers and the wounded filled the chains,
And the paint-work all was spatter dashed with other peoples brains,
She was boarded, she was looted, she was scuttled till she sank.
And the pale survivors left us by the medium of the plank.

O! then it was (while standing by the taffrail on the poop)
We could hear the drowning folk lament the absent chicken coop;
Then, having washed the blood away, we'd little else to do
Than to dance a quiet hornpipe as the old salts taught us to.

O! the fiddle on the fo'c'sle, and the slapping naked soles,
And the genial "Down the middle, Jake, and curtsey when she rolls!"
With the silver seas around us and the pale moon overhead,
And the look-out not a-looking and his pipe-bowl glowing red.

Ah! the pig-tailed, quidding pirates and the pretty pranks we played,
All have since been put a stop to by the naughty Board of Trade;
The schooners and the merry crews are laid away to rest,
A little south the sunset in the islands of the Blest.

The Dark Lady

The Dark Lady
by Bernadette Gillece

A fierce one-eyed man named Baron LaBonne
A meaner pirate had never been known
And he sailed on the Dark Lady
A ship strong and sound with a perilous crew
And high on the mast the skull and bones flew
Fleet and swift was the Dark Lady

And ever night the Baron would drink a toast
He'd say, "Here's to my lovely lady host!
My one true love..."
"Hear, hear!" the crew replied
And the Dark Lady sighed.

A rich Spanish galleon was spotted one night
The Dark Lady's crew prepared for the fight
Clash of swords...No Spaniard survived it
Except for the maiden with dark eyes so bold
Found in the hull with the jewels and the gold
LaBonne laughed and took her for ransom

And ever night the Baron would drink a toast
He'd say, "Here's to my lovely lady host!
My one true love..."
"Hear, hear!" the crew replied
And the Dark Lady sighed.


The girl Carlotta was a beauty quite rare
With each passing night LaBonne couldn't bear
His empty bed. He brought her to it.
The Baron soon found he felt more than desire
His love for her grew and his soul filled with fire
He proclaimed that they would marry.

That night the Baron drank with jubilee
And said, "Here's to my lovely bride to be!
My one true love..."
"Hear, hear!" the crew replied
And the Dark Lady cried.

The following night a storm brewed at sea
The Dark Lady saw her chance to be free
Of her rival, the beauty Carlotta
The ship steered herself to the heart of the gale
Where a wave swept the maiden out over the rail
Sweet revenge on an unfaithful lover.

That night the Lady drank a toast
And said, "Here's to your lovely lady host!
Your one true love..."
No voices replied
And the Dark Lady smiled.

And now any night when a storm fills the sky
They say that a ghost ship sails in it's eye
Fleet and swift is the Dark Lady
A ship strong and sound with a perilous crew
And high on the mast the skull and bones flew
While the captain gazes out to sea.

And every night the Baron must drink a toast
He says, "Here's to our lovely lady host!
My one true love..."
"Hear, hear," the ghost crew replies
And the Dark Lady smiles.

There are a few groups that have done this song, I suggest the Bedlam Bards version, which I think is the best one I have heard yet.