The Handsome Cabin Boy

The Handsome Cabin Boy
Previously unreleased.

It's of a pretty fair maid I'll let youse understand,
She had a mind for roving to some foreign land.

She dressed in sailor's clothes and boldly did appear,
Engaging with the captain, given service for a year.

For the wind it being in favour, and we soon set off to sea,
The Lady to the Captain said, "My love, I wish you joy.
That you have engaged such a handsome cabin boy."

For his cheeks appeared like roses, and his side-locks they did curl,
For oftentimes the sailors smiled and said he looked like a girl.

But biting cabin biscuits his curls did destroy,
And the wind did swell our pretty belle, our handsome cabin boy.

"O doctor, O doctor!" the cabin boy did cry.
The sailors swore with all their might that their cabin boy would die.

But the doctor ran with all his might, he was smiling at the fun,
For to think a sailor lad would have a daughter or a son.

But when the sailors heard the joke they all began to stare,
For the child belongs to none of us, how solemn they did swear.

But the laddie and the Captain they have ofttimes kissed and toyed,
So we'll soon find out the secret of our handsome cabin boy.

They all took a bumper and they drunk success to trade,
It's twice unto this cabin boy; she's neither man nor maid.

But if this war should rise again our sailors to destroy,
And the ships some able seamen send our handsome cabin boy.

It was through the Bay of Biscay our gallant ship did plough,
And that night the sailors, they kept up a blooming row.

They took their bundles from their hammocks, and the rest they did destroy,
And it was all through the groaning of the handsome cabin boy.

English history books record several instances in the seventeenth and eighteenth century of young women passing as men and joining the army or navy, so this tale of maritime cross-dressing may not be as far fetched as it seems. Nor is it unique in the folk repertoire: songs such as "Jack Munro" and "The Female Drummer Boy" tell similar stories, although this one is unusual in that the heroine actually becomes pregnant. Similar ballads are also found in Italy, Spain, and elsewhere in Europe.