Luckiest Sailor Linda Kelly
I’ve been fishing the sea since a lad of fifteen;
Not a place in the ocean that I’ve never been,
And I’ve seen Northern lights and the whalefish at play,
Been drunk on the dogwatch, been fined half me pay,
And I’ve prayed long and hard in a westerly storm,
And I’ve dreamt of the young girls who helped keep me warm,
And I’ve sat with the old jacks, I listened in glee
To the tales of the women, the drink and the sea.
Chorus: I’m the luckiest sailor that Hull ever knew;
When the Kingston ship sank with the loss of her crew,
And I prayed for their lives, their bains and their wives,
On the day that the Peridot perished.
Well, I am a young deckie with settle in hand,
And trawling in Iceland and the white fish to land,
Now I’m dressed to the nines in me Ruckerback tails
And I’m off down the Stricky for to sink a few ales;
I’ll tell you a story of the taxman and me,
Been robbing me blind since I first went to sea,
So I says to the skipper, “I’ll spend time ashore,
For I’m damned if the taxman’ll have any more!”
Well, a whisper was heard that a Hull ship was down,
No hope of a rescue, for her crew was all drowned,
And I supped up me ale and I knew in me head
That the Hull ship was my ship and me mates was all dead,
The coins in me pocket weighed heavy that day,
And it took me no courage to throw ’em away,
And me mind took me back to me long years at sea,
And I asked the good Lord why me mates and not me.