A mermaid's not a human thing,
An' courtin' sich is folly;
Of flesh an' blood I'd rather sing,
What ain't so mel-an-choly.
'Ere's, Berta, Loo, Jaunita, Sue,
A long good-luck to me an' you ---
Sing rally, ri-a-rally!
The seas is deep; the seas is wide,
But this I'll prove, what else beside,
I'm bully in-the-alley,
I'm bull-ee in our al-lee.
The Hooghli gal 'er face is brown,
The Heelo gal is lazy;
The gal that lives by 'Obart Town
'U'd drive a dead man crazy.
Come, wet your lip, and let it slip,
The Gretna Green's a tidy ship,
Sing rally!
The seas is deep, the seas is blue,
But 'ere's good 'ealth to me an' you,
Ho, rally!
The Lord may drop us off our pins
To feed 'is bloomin' fishes;
But, Lord, forgive us all our sins!
Our sins is most delicious.
Come drink it up, an' fill yer cup,
The World it owes us bite an' sup --
'Ere's Mimi, Ju-Ju, Sally --
The seas is long, the winds is strong,
The best of men they will go wrong,
Hi, rally, ri-a-rally!
The Bowery gal she knows 'er know,
The Sydney gal is silly,
The Hayti gal ain't white as snow,
They're whiter down in Chili.
Now, what's the use to shun the booze,
They'll flop your bones among the ooze
Sou'-west by south-the-galley.
The seas is green, the seas is cold,
The best of men they must grow old,
Sing rally, re-a-rally!
All round the world "where'er I roam"
This lesson I am learnin' --
If you've got sense you'll stop at 'ome
An' save the bit yer earnin'.
But damn the odds! it's little odds,
When every 'eathen 'as 'is gods
An' neither two will tally.
When Black and White drink, woman, fight,
In them three things they're all all-right,
Sing rally, re-a-rally!
When double bunks, fo'castle end,
Is all the kind that's carried,
Our manners they will likely mend ---
Most likely we'll get married.
But till sich time as that is done
We'll take our fun where we've begun ---
Sing rally!
The flesh is weak, the world is wide,
The Dead Man 'ee goes over-side ---
Sing rally, rally!
It's Tokio town when the sun goes down,
It's 'arf-a-pint an' it's 'arf-a-crown --
Sing rally!
'Er spars may lift an' 'er keel may shift,
When a man is done 'e's got to drift --
Ho, rally!
We're given an' lost to the girls that wait
From Trinity to Whitsunday --
From Sunda Strait to the Golden Gate
An' back to the Bay o' Fundy.
Oh, it's Mabel Loo, an' it's Nancy-poo!
So 'ere's good luck, an' I love you ---
Sing rally!
It's cents an' dollars, an' somebody hollers,
The sun comes up an' the mornin' follers ---
Ho, rally, rally!
The Hoogli gal 'er face is brown,
The Heelo gal's a daisy;
The gal that lives by 'Obart Town
She'd drive a dead man crazy.
So pretty an' plain, it's Sarah Jane
'Uggin' an' kissin' an' come again --
Sing rally, ri-a-rally!
The seas is deep, the seas is wide,
But this I'll prove, what else beside --
I'm bully in the alley,
Ho! Bul-lee in the alley!
First published in The Bulletin, 22 January 1898;
and later in
The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse edited by Walter Murdoch, 1918;
An Australasian Anthology: Australian and New Zealand Poems edited by Percival Serle, R. H. Croll and Frank Wilmot, 1927;
From the Ballads to Brennan edited by T. Inglis Moore, 1964; and
The Penguin Book of Australian Ballads edited by Russel Ward, 1964.
Author reference sites: Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian Poetry Library
See also.
An' courtin' sich is folly;
Of flesh an' blood I'd rather sing,
What ain't so mel-an-choly.
'Ere's, Berta, Loo, Jaunita, Sue,
A long good-luck to me an' you ---
Sing rally, ri-a-rally!
The seas is deep; the seas is wide,
But this I'll prove, what else beside,
I'm bully in-the-alley,
I'm bull-ee in our al-lee.
The Hooghli gal 'er face is brown,
The Heelo gal is lazy;
The gal that lives by 'Obart Town
'U'd drive a dead man crazy.
Come, wet your lip, and let it slip,
The Gretna Green's a tidy ship,
Sing rally!
The seas is deep, the seas is blue,
But 'ere's good 'ealth to me an' you,
Ho, rally!
The Lord may drop us off our pins
To feed 'is bloomin' fishes;
But, Lord, forgive us all our sins!
Our sins is most delicious.
Come drink it up, an' fill yer cup,
The World it owes us bite an' sup --
'Ere's Mimi, Ju-Ju, Sally --
The seas is long, the winds is strong,
The best of men they will go wrong,
Hi, rally, ri-a-rally!
The Bowery gal she knows 'er know,
The Sydney gal is silly,
The Hayti gal ain't white as snow,
They're whiter down in Chili.
Now, what's the use to shun the booze,
They'll flop your bones among the ooze
Sou'-west by south-the-galley.
The seas is green, the seas is cold,
The best of men they must grow old,
Sing rally, re-a-rally!
All round the world "where'er I roam"
This lesson I am learnin' --
If you've got sense you'll stop at 'ome
An' save the bit yer earnin'.
But damn the odds! it's little odds,
When every 'eathen 'as 'is gods
An' neither two will tally.
When Black and White drink, woman, fight,
In them three things they're all all-right,
Sing rally, re-a-rally!
When double bunks, fo'castle end,
Is all the kind that's carried,
Our manners they will likely mend ---
Most likely we'll get married.
But till sich time as that is done
We'll take our fun where we've begun ---
Sing rally!
The flesh is weak, the world is wide,
The Dead Man 'ee goes over-side ---
Sing rally, rally!
It's Tokio town when the sun goes down,
It's 'arf-a-pint an' it's 'arf-a-crown --
Sing rally!
'Er spars may lift an' 'er keel may shift,
When a man is done 'e's got to drift --
Ho, rally!
We're given an' lost to the girls that wait
From Trinity to Whitsunday --
From Sunda Strait to the Golden Gate
An' back to the Bay o' Fundy.
Oh, it's Mabel Loo, an' it's Nancy-poo!
So 'ere's good luck, an' I love you ---
Sing rally!
It's cents an' dollars, an' somebody hollers,
The sun comes up an' the mornin' follers ---
Ho, rally, rally!
The Hoogli gal 'er face is brown,
The Heelo gal's a daisy;
The gal that lives by 'Obart Town
She'd drive a dead man crazy.
So pretty an' plain, it's Sarah Jane
'Uggin' an' kissin' an' come again --
Sing rally, ri-a-rally!
The seas is deep, the seas is wide,
But this I'll prove, what else beside --
I'm bully in the alley,
Ho! Bul-lee in the alley!
First published in The Bulletin, 22 January 1898;
and later in
The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse edited by Walter Murdoch, 1918;
An Australasian Anthology: Australian and New Zealand Poems edited by Percival Serle, R. H. Croll and Frank Wilmot, 1927;
From the Ballads to Brennan edited by T. Inglis Moore, 1964; and
The Penguin Book of Australian Ballads edited by Russel Ward, 1964.
Author reference sites: Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian Poetry Library
See also.
