ture forced a glimpse into
his hazy mind of what it all meant! Happily there are few
sailors who inherit such a defective nature. It is a good
thing that some of these thrilling old songs have been
preserved to us. Even if they do not convey an accurate
impression of the sailors' way of rendering them, they give
some faint idea of it. The complicated arrangement of words
in some of the songs is without parallel in their peculiar
jargon, and yet there are point and intention evident
throughout them. For setting sail, "Blow, boys, blow" was
greatly favoured, and its quivering, weird air had a wild
fascination in it. "Boney was a warrior" was singularly
popular, and was nearly always sung in hoisting the
topsails. The chanty-man would sit on the topsail halyard
block and sing the solo, while the choristers rang out with
touching beauty the chorus, at the same time giving two
long, strong pulls on the halyards. This song related mainly
to matters of history, and was sung with a rippling
tenderness which seemed to convey that the singers'
sympathies were with the Imperial martyr who was kidnapped
into exile and to death by a murderous section of the
British aristocracy. The soloist warbled the great Emperor's
praises, and portrayed him as having affinity to the
godlike. His death was proclaimed as the most atrocious
crime committed since the Crucifixion, and purgatory was
assigned as a fitting repository for the souls of his mean
executioners. The words of these songs may be distressing
jargon, but the refrain as sung by the seamen was very fine
to listen to:--

HAUL THE BOWLING (SETTING SAIL)

Haul th' bowlin', the fore and maintack bowlin',
Haul th' bowlin', the bowlin' haul!
Haul th' bowlin', the skipper he's a-growlin',
Haul th' bowlin', the bowlin' haul.

Haul th' bowlin', oh Kitty is me darlin',
Haul th' bowlin', the bowlin' haul.
Haul th' bowlin', the packet is a bowlin';
Haul th' bowlin', the bowlin' haul.

As for the song itself, it was as follows:--

BONEY WAS A WARRIOR

Oh, Boney was a Corsican,
Oh aye oh,
Oh, Boney was a Corsican,
John France wa! (Francois.)

But Boney was a warrior,
Oh aye oh,
But Boney was a warrior,
John France wa.

Oh, Boney licked the Austrians!--
Oh aye oh,
Oh, Boney licked the Austrians!--
John France wa!

The Russians and the Prussians!