Index
No. Title Page
101 (An) AA Gunner Lay Dying
135
94 Abraham the Sailor
127
115 Angels of Queen Street
146
75 (The) A25 Song
100
48 'Baa!' Go the Goats
65
34 Barrossa Jack
49
59 (The) Battle of the Falkland Islands
77
64 (The) Battle of the River Plate
83
93 Bell-bottom Trousers
126
105 (The) Brothers St John
138
106 (My) Brother Sylvest
139
53 Can a Dockyard Matey Run?
70
8 Captain of the Heads' Lament
25
43 (The) Captain's Ball
58
14 Chiefy Loves Me
31
46 Chinese Maiden's Lament
64
2 Coal Ship Song (I)
19
3 Coal Ship Song (II)
20
4 Coal Ship Song (III)
21
88 Come to the Spare Crew
117
54 (The) Commissioning of HMS Hood
71
30 (The) Cook
47
29 Cook of the Mess
46
19 Corrosion has Set In
35
21 Damage Control Song
38
25 Damn Fine Kids in Harbour
42
58 Dardanelles Patrol Song
76
28 Dining Hall Song
45
26 (The) Dockyard Cavalry
42
174
~ Index ~
52 Dockyard Mateys' Sons
69
87 Don't Give Us a Make-and-Mend, Sir
116
98 Flash Cows of the City
131
41 Four Girls of Portsmouth Town
56
40 Gosport Nancy
54
109 (The) Grey North Sea
144
85 Half Ahead Together
115
61 Harwich Naval Force Song
81
96 (The) Hat Me Old Man Wore
129
78 HMS Ariel Song
107
66 HMS Exeter Song
88
73 Hospital Ship Song
96
77 How Lovely it Was
106
38 I Hopped up to the Gangway
53
51 I Was Only Seventeen
68
27 I Was Walking Through the Dockyard in a Panic
43
79 Irreverence
107
56 Jenny Wren Bride
72
65 (The) Jervis Bay
86
81 (The) K26 Song
111
36 (The) King's Horses, The King's Men
51
114 Lash Up and Stow
146
11 (The) Leadsman's Lament
29
70 Little Ships
94
44 Lordy Edgcumbe Good and Great
61
90 Mary Was a Three-badge Wren
119
92 (A) Matelot and a Pongo
125
91 (The) Matelot's Prayer
121
106 My Brother Sylvest
139
102 My Girl from Battersea
136
62 Never Mind
81
60 (The) Noble Eighth of December
78
89 Nobody Washes in a Submarine
118
55 Ode to Guzz
72
45 (The) Oggie Song
62
50 On Gibraltar's Slopes
67
10 On the Booms
28
22 Onward Christian Sailors
39
15 Orders Came for Sailing
31
5 Paint Ship Song (I)
23
6 Paint Ship Song (II)
23
57 (The) Preacher in the Dockyard Church
74
33 Pretend You're Red Watch
49
86 Pump, Suck, Blow
115
18 (The) Ragtime Tiffy
33
175
I !
~ Index ~
37 (The) Raleigh Song 52
23 Rhyme for Entering Portsmouth Harbour
40
74 Roll on the Aeroplane Navy *
98
47 Roll on the Boat That Takes Me Home
64
68 Russian Convoy Escort's Song
90
72 SBA's Song
96
35 (The) Sailors of the Present Day
50
112 (The) Sailors They are Going Away
145
42 Sailors' Wives
57
13 Sammy Ring the Bell
30
39 Scrumpy Wine
54
110 Send Out the Chryssy
145
7 She's a Tiddley Ship
23
113 Shore Sailor
145
31 Shotley Stew
48
67 (The) Sinking of HMS Hood
89
107 Sod 'em All
141
83 (The) Starfish Song
113
16 (The) Stoker's Complaint
31
17 (The) Stoker's Lament
32
49 Stripey and Blondie
66
71 Sweepers - 95
9 Swim Back You Bastard to Me
27
24 Take My Tip, Pack Your Grip
4.1
80 Ten Little Furies
108
103 10th MTB Flotilla Song
137
1 That's What it's Like in the Navy
18
16 There's a Fuck-up on the Flight Deck
104
99 This Old Hat of Mine
132
12 To The Man in the Chains
30
84 Twelve Little 'S'-boats
113
69 Twenty-third Flotilla Song
92
82 Underneath the Surface
111
20 Waiting for the Day
37
104 We are But Little Sailors Weak
137
97 We'll Have Another Dance Until the Boat Comes In 130
32 Well I Couldn't Care Less
48
63 We're Looking for the Kaiser
82
111 (The) West Atlantic Squadron
145
95 (The) Whale Island Anthem
128
108 When the Flagship Victoria went Down
143
100 You'll be Happy Little Sweetheart in the Spring
133
176
Sternpiece
Collections are illusory things. Though they are often the outcome of
years of very occasional gleanings of a sparsely distributed item, yet,
gathered together in one place, whether it be a book, a museum or a
gallery, they convey the impression of abundance. Thus, because of
the diligent work of several individuals such as Cecil Sharp and
Sabine Baring-Gould, certain counties of Britain are popularly
believed to have been the home of more folk songs than other
counties; a book-full of rustic songs gives the armchair reader a false
picture of a singing peasantry warbling from dawn to dusk. And it is
much the same with the old collections of sea songs. Because men
like Ashton and Whall applied themselves to the task of gathering
the material into a volume it does not necessarily follow, as some
think, that the Victorian needed only to tap a passing sailor on the
collar and he would straightway launch into half a dozen stirring
traditional sea ballads. Now that my own collection is published no
doubt the pendulum of opinion will overswing again, so that where
before all agreed the matelot's muse had perished by the time of the
Dreadnought so it will now be the common belief that every second
bluejacket strolling out of the dockyard gate heads for the nearest
tavern for an evening of traditional matelot's ditties. Nothing could
be further from the truth. Song-hunting will always be a difficult and
demanding hobby, but I hope I have demonstrated that, in the case
of the Royal Navy at least, it will never be a futile one.
Cyril Tawney
177