by Cicely Fox Smith (1882 - 1954)
Sweethearts and Wives
Language: English
The very first voyage as ever I made I went to sea in the East Coast trade And I courted a gal at Seaton Sluice If her name warn't Lizzie it must ha' been Luce So I did! And then I sailed in a Colonies clipper With a rare old rip of a racing skipper, And there warn't no sense nor there warn't no use A-courtin' a gal at Seaton Sluice; So I looked for another down Melbourne way If her name warn't Kitty, it must ha' been May So I did! Oh next I sailed in a pearlin' brig To the South Sea Isles both little and big, Where it warn't no use, say what you may, A-courtin' a gal down Melbourne way. So I didn't worry with her no longer But I soon picked up with a gal in Tonger, An island gal as brown as a berry Don't know her name, but I called her "Cherry", "Cherry" So I did! But last I signed in a Liverpool liner, Go where you will and you won't find a finer! And it's time, thinks I, to be settlin' down, So I married a widder in Monkey Town, With a bit in the bank and a "corner off" And when I'm ashore now I lives like a toff. And as for the gal at Seaton Sluice I 'ope she ain't waitin', for that ain't no use, And as for the ones at Montreal and Tonger and Taltal and Melbourne and all, And all the whole boilin' from France to Fiji, I 'ope they're all married and 'appy like me. So I do!
Authorship:
- by Cicely Fox Smith (1882 - 1954) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Michael (Dewar) Head (1900 - 1976), "Sweethearts and Wives", 1948, published 1949, from Six Sea Songs, no. 6. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Thomas Dymit
This text was added to the website: 2008-11-19
Line count: 34
Word count: 272