Motley Words

The worst old ship that ever made way
Sailed out of Harwich on a windy day
(Chorus)
And we’re waitin’ for the day, waitin’ for the day
Waitin’ for the day that we get our pay.

She was a galley built in Roman times
Held together with bits of twine.
(Chorus)

The skipper’s half drunk and the mate is too,
The crew were fourteen men too few.
(Chorus)

Off Orford Ness she sprang a leak,
You could hear the poor old timbers creak.
(Chorus)

We sailed close haul ‘round Lowestoft Ness,
When the wind backed round to the west-sou’-west.
(Chorus)

Through the cockles to Cromer cliff,
She’s steering like a wagon with a wheel adrift.
(Chorus)

Into the Humber, up to the town
Pump you bastards, pump or drown.
(Chorus)

Her coal was shot by a Kidby crew,
But the bottom was rotten and it fell right through.
Chorus x 2