Yarn of the Nancy Bell-a sailors yarn.docx - The Yarn of...

The Yarn of the 'Nancy Bell'
by W.S. Gilbert
'Twas on the shores that round our coast
From Galveston to Rio Grande way,
That I found alone on a piece of stone
A man of naval ways. A sailor.
His hair was weedy, his beard was long,
And weedy and long was he,
And I heard this wright on the shore recite,
In a singular minor key:
"Oh, I am a cook and a captain bold,
And the mate of the Nancy brig,
And a bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite,
And the crew of the captain's gig."
For you landlubbers, the captain is the boss, cookie does
cooks food and doctoring, the mate is the #2 boss, a
bosun can take the ship apart and put it back together,
a midshipman is a kid who’s papa is paying the captain
to teach the art of seafaring and the crew of the
captains gig are men who row the captain when he goes
ashore or visiting other ships.
And he shook his fists and he tore his hair,
Till I really felt afraid,
For I couldn't help thinking the man had been drinking,
And so I simply said:
"O, elderly man, it's little I know