"Finns, they're witches," said Murphy, "'tis born in 'em maybe,
The same as fits, an' freckles, an' follerin' the sea,
An' ginger 'air in some folks . . . an' likin' beer in me."
"Finns, they're witches," said Murphy, "an' powerful strong ones too . . .
They'll whistle a wind from nowhere, an' a storm out o' the blue
'Ud sink this 'ere old hooker, an' all her bloomin' crew."
"Finns, they're witches," said Murphy, rubbing his hairy chin,
"An' some says witchcraft's bumkum, an' some it's deadly sin,
But . . . there ain't no 'arm as I see in standin' well with a Finn."
Notes
From SEA SONGS AND BALLADS 1917-22, edited by Cicely Fox Smith, published by Houghton Mifflin Co., New York, US, © 1924, p. 91. First published in PUNCH magazine, Volume 158, February 25, 1920, p. 156.
The superstition that Finnish sailors had the power to control winds appears to have been a long held traditional superstition among deep-water sailors.
Charley Noble
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