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26 |
AMERICAN SEA SONGS. |
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And Johnny clapped his helm hard up, And we went following after.
In haste to join the Cherub he
Soon bent his scurvy way, While we returned in merry glee To Valaparaiso Bay.
And let them go. To meet the foe
We '11 take no farther trouble, Since all the world must fairly know
They '11 only fight us double.
Ne'er mind, my lads, let's drink and sing,
" Free trade and sailors' rights." May liquor never fail the lad Who for his country fights.
Huzza, my lads, let's drink and sing, And toast them as they run : " Here's to the sailors and their king Who '11 fight us two to one."
There were other exploits of American ships told in verse, among them the gallant repulse, by the crew of the privateer General Armstrong, Captain Samuel C. Reid, in the Harbor of Fayal, of the boats of three- British men-of-war, which was the subject of a forecastle ballad, but none of this memorial verse reached the level of poetry. The battles of Lake Erie and Lake Champlain also had their numerous laureates; and the raid of Admiral Cockburn and the troops upon Baltimore was the |
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