BLOOD RED ROSES
(learned from A.L.Lloyd album and from Sing Out)
Our boots 'n' clothes is all in pawn,
Go down, you red, red roses, go down!
It's plenty draughty 'round Cape Horn,
Go down, you red, red roses, go down!
Oh, you pinks 'n' posies,
Go down, you red, red roses, go down!
It's round that cape we all must go,
Around all stiff from the ice and snow,
It's growl ya may, but go, ya must,
If ya growl too hard, your head they'll bust,
My dear old mother, she wrote to me,
My darling son, come home from sea,
Them Spanish gals are pullin' strong,
Haul down, me boys, it won't take long,
We're bound all out to Iquique Bay,
We're bound away at break of day,
Now we're all bound for the southern seas,
Where there's never a storm, and never a breeze,
(from miriam berg's folksong collection)