Folk and Traditional Song Lyrics:
There Was a Sea Captain

There Was a Sea Captain

There Was a Sea Captain

There was a sea captain who was married of late,
He courted a lady to gain her estate;
He was a sea captain, and bound for the sea,
And before he was bedded he was call-ed away,

  With his fol dee die addy, fol dee die addy die ay.

Now there was a young squire who liv-ed hard by,
And he was resolv-ed this lady to try;
So early one morning the squire arose,
And dressed himself up in the best of his clothes,

He called for his coach and his footman behind,
He met this young lady and bade her be kind;
She said, "Ye young squire, ye talk like a man that was poor,
And my husband captain would call me a whore"

So he took her in his arms and gave her a kiss,
Saying, "A slice from a cut loaf would never be missed".
....
....

Now when six months was over, and nine months had come,
That very same night this young captain came home;
He took her in his arms and gave her a kiss,
Said he, "My dear jewel, you are. Thick  'round the waist",

"It is nothing but fatness", this lady she cried.
....
....
"Would you have me as slim as when I was a maid?"

Now when supper was ended she went to the hall;
She opened her mouth and gave a loud call :
"The colic, the colic, the colic!" she cried;
"I am so bad with the colic I fear I shall die"

The cook she made answer out of the next room :
....
....
"I am so bad with the colic I can not come down"

The doctor was sent for, her pulse for to feel;
Be said she was bad from her head to her heel;
He felt of her pulse, and shaking his head,
"She will get better, once she is brought to bed "

The mid-wife was sent for, and when she came there,
Herself was delivered of a young son and heir.
The cook and the house-maid all brought forth the same,
And then it was poor Jenny, she ended the game,

He said, "My dear jewel, you have had a fine year
And for the joke's sake I will forgive you, my dear;
But one thing I would ask you, tell me if you can
Does all these four babies belong to one man?"

"Sir, it is for myself that I can say ;
It was the young squire that did me betray;
It was the young squire that did me beguile,
And the rest of his servants got my maids with child

Now come all you sea captains, take warning from this,
And do not blame your wife for doing amiss ;
For their husbands' long absence they can not well want,
Since  the  mistress and maids took the blanket carent
DT #734
Laws Q12
From Coombs, collected from George Humphrey of Morgantown, VA
SOF
apr97