Stormy Weather
Traditional
Bob Roberts collected this many years ago from men working the spritsail barges of the East Coast of England (often called Thames Barges). This is a compilation of three versions which he strung together to make a 'travelog' of a voyage from London to Greater Yarmouth, Published in Roy Palmer's Oxford Book of Sea Songs.
Gordon: 12-string guitar; The January Men
We were laying in Surry Dock* one day
(*at Ruthorhide, England)
And the mate knew it was time to get underway
And it's stormy weather, boys, stormy weather, boys
When the wind blows, the barge will go.
He's homeward bound but he's out of luck
'Cause the skipper's half drunk in The Dog and Duck.* (*a pub)
Well the skipper comes aboard with a girl on hi arm
He's going to give up barging and take on a farm
So the mate ran forward and the cook fell in the dock
And the skipper's caught his knackers in the mainsheet block.
So the mate's at the wheel but he's gybed her twice
'Cause the skipper's got his knackers in a bowl of ice
At last we're off down the Lime House Reach
When our leeboard knocked on the Greenwich Beach
The barge went ashore and scared our whore
And she says "Chuck this, I'm off ashore!"
We shoved her off and away we did go
But the skipper's got a bottle of beer below
She fills away with a roar and a crack
But there ain't no bargemen up on the deck
There's a crash and a bump and we're ashore
And the mate says "Christ, we're on the Noire"*
(*shoal off mouth of Thames)
Then up comes a mermaid covered in mud
The skipper says I think we're off the Whittaker Spit"*
(*sandbank off the Essex coast)
Then up comes another one covered in slime
So we took her down the fo'c'sle and had a good time
On the top of the tide the barge did fleet*
(*old word for sail)
When the mate sees a ghost on the topsail sheet
So away we go and the ghost did steer
And the cook drank the dregs of the Old Man's beer
We layed close-hauled off Orford Ness*
(*East coast headland)
When the wind backed round to the South-southwest
We reached our port all safe and sound
And tied her up in Yarmouth Town
So after all our fears and alarms
We all ended up in The Druid's Arms.* (*a pub)
Stormy Weather is recorded on the album Gatherings