Paul Lauzon, from Albatrossity
Come all ye and listen to a tale that is true
The Liverpool paper said, “Men we need you
Young men and strong come sign up today
In the morning we’re bound for Amerikay”
So I says to the captain Mr. Plato Denney,
“Sir, I crave to be free of this poverty”
He said, “Sign here young man, come give us a hand
In seven short years[^4] you will own your own land”
Chorus:
Hey boys, won’t you sing us a song
Hey boys, to last the whole night long
Ah love, don’t you turn me away
In the morning I’m bound for Amerikay
We set sail from Liverpool across the wide sea
In April of seventeen hundred and seventy
Thirty-eight men, no children, no wives
Bound for the new world to make new lives
Hail, sleet and rain, a confused angry sea
With close smelling quarters – you had to fight just to breathe
Weary and wasted sailors we were
Eating salt beef and biscuits with water and vinegar
Chorus
In summer we landed on Campobell’ Isle
And they put us to work in a very short while
Building houses and barns, planting turnips and grain
And fishing for cod in the wind and the rain
Oh, the masters were hard as my calluses showed
It was us made them rich but still debts we owed
We’d work from the dust to the late setting sun
But at night we’d forget with our spruce beer and rum
Chorus
In seventeen hundred and seventy two
We ambushed the captain and told him we were through
Of slaving for nothing in a land not our own
And at gunpoint we told him you’re taking us back home
We set sail for Liverpool, ‘twas late in the year
Each role of the ship, we let out a cheer
Free men at last, ourselves in command
But our good ship went down just after Newfoundland
Chorus