I saw a certain sailorman who sat beside the sea,
And in the manner of his tribe he yawned this yarn to me:
"'Twere back in eighteen-fifty-three, or mebbe fifty-four,
I skipped the farm, no, 't were the shop, an' went to Baltimore.
I shipped aboard the Lizzie or she might ha' bin the Jane;
Them wimmin names are mixey, so I don't remember plain;
But anyhow, she were a craft that carried schooner rig,
(Although Sam Swab, the bo'sun, allus swore she were a brig);
We sailed away from Salem Town, no, lemme think; 't were Lynn,
An' steered a course for Africa (or Greece, it might ha' bin);
But anyway, we tacked an' backed an' weathered many a storm
Oh, no, as I recall it now, that week was fine an' warm!
Who did I say the cap'n was? I didn't say at all?