Bold Manning

1. Bold Manning was to sea one day, And a dreary day it was,
too, As dreary day as ever you see, All wet with fog and
dew. They spied a large and lofty ship About three miles ahead.
“Come h'ist up our maintops'l, boys, And after her we'll speed!”

2 He called unto his bosun,
 Whose name was William Craig:
“Oh Craig, oh Craig, come up on deck
 And h'ist up our black flag!”
His bosun was a valiant man,
 His heart was stout and bold.
But when he saw his father's ship,
 He felt his blood run cold.

3 Now, Manning's ship you all do know,
 That ship of noted fame,
With five hundred seamen and fifty brass guns,
 As brave and crafty fellows
 As ever ploughed the main.
   ( Lines missing )

4 . . . They ploughed the main all that night
 Until they reached their [the] Fame ,
And bore right down upon her
 And sheered up alongside.
With his loud-speaking trumpet:
 “Whence come you?” he cried.

5 “Where are you from?” cries Manning.
 “I pray you tell me true,
For if to me you tell a lie,
 It'll be the worse for you.”
“We are the Fame , to New York sailed,
 For Liverpool we're bound.
Our captain's name is William Craig,
 A native of that town.”

6 “Oh, no! Oh, no!” cried Manning.
 “These things can never be true!
So heave your main yard to the mast
 And let your ship lay to.
And if you think my orders
 Are not fit to obey,
With grape shot and canister
 I'll sink you where you lay!”

7 These poor, affrighted seamen,
 Not knowing what to do,
They hove their main yard to the mast
 And let their ship lay to.
These bold and crafty pirates,
 With broadsword in hand,
They went on board of the merchant ship
 And slaughtered every man.

8 Some they shot and others they stabbed,
 And all of them they drowned,
And most of these poor fellows
 Lay bathing in their blood.
They hunted the ship all over
 And ransacked everything,
Until they came to a female
 In the after mess cabin.

9 She, not hearing of the murders
 Or knowing what was done,
Played upon her own guitar.
 True sweetily she sung:
 “Home, home, sweet, sweet home;
 'Tis for an absent lover that caused me to roam.”

10 Some did stomp and some did swear
 They would make her their bride.
“Stand back, stand back!” said Manning.
 “I'll enter [An end to?] all your strife!”
He boldly rushed upon her,
 Without fear or dread.
He boldly rushed upon this female
 And severed off her head.

11 These bold and crafty pirates,
 Not caring what they done,
They went on board of the pirate ship
 And boldly crack of dawn [crackéd on?]
With a kag of rum on the capstan,
 So boldly they did sing,
To the mid watch of that night
 You might hear their echoes ring:

“We pirates lead a merry, merry life
And a merry, merry life lead we!
And when a strange sail heaves in sight
We'll haul her under our lee.
When the jolly, jolly grog is flowing,
Light falls [Ri fol] the dol i day!
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