"I'm goin' to get 'er 'ome
For Christmas," said the skipper
O' the clipper
Flyin' Foam . . .
Built on the Clyde, an' built to go,
By Bell an' Burnie for Keith an' Co.,
She was a beauty, she was a mover,
An' our ol' man was the man to shove 'er!
We cleared the 'Eads the fust of October:
It was "All 'ands aft," afore we was sober,
An' "Boys," says 'e, "on board this packet
You'll 'ave to jump or else stand the racket . . . "
"'Cos I mean to get 'er 'ome
For Christmas," said the skipper
O' the clipper
Flyin' Foam.
Off o' Cape Stiff it blowed a teaser —
A reg'lar snorter, a beast of a freezer —
It blowed bad, an' it blowed bitter,
With lumps o' seas that froze when they 'it 'er,
With hail as stung like shot in our faces,
An' ice like iron on sheets an' braces:
But 'ailin' an' freezin' an' snowin' an' blowin',
'E stuck to 'is topsails, 'e kept 'er goin' —
'Cos I mean to get 'er 'ome
For Christmas, did the skipper
O' the clipper
Flyin' Foam.
She took 'er Trade an' she run from the South
With everything set an' a bone in 'er mouth,
She snored along with 'er lee rail under,
An' 'er main to'gal'ntsail bust like thunder!
It was breezing up an' the sea a smother,
But we laid aloft an' we bent another —
For 'e says, says 'e, "By the Great Lord Harry,
She must darn well drag what she can't darn carry,"
"But I'm goin' to git 'er 'ome
For Christmas," said the skipper
O' the clipper
Flyin' Foam.
We 'and't 'ardly struck the Channel
When a fog come down as thick as flannel:
You couldn't see, an' you couldn't 'ear,
An' all you could do was stand an' steer.
An' where we was, well, there warn't no knowin',
But we blowed the 'orn an' we kep' on goin',
Till all of a suddent the fog got thinner,
An' there was the Foreland, as I'm a sinner . . .
An 'e'd got 'er 'ome
For Christmas, 'ad the skipper
O' the clipper
Flyin' Foam.
Notes
From SAILOR'S DELIGHT, edited by Cicely Fox Smith, published by Methuen & Co., London, UK, © 1931, pp. 56-59.
This poem traces a voyage from Sydney Heads, round Cape Horn, to England. The captain really "cracks it on" and does make it home by Christmas.
"The 'Eads" is most likely a reference to Sydney Harbor's Heads.
"Cape Siff" is sailor's slang for Cape Horn.
A "bone in 'er mouth" is a reference to what the ship's bow wave looked like when she was tearing along.
Alan Fitzsimmons (UK) has adapted this poem for singing as recorded by Pinch o' Salt on SEABOOT DUFF & HANDSPIKE GRUEL, © 2000.
Charley Noble
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Comments
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I have just been commiting this to memory for Christmas recitations.
A good example of the lady's art and an excellent seasonal offering.
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