As lately I travelled
Towards Gravesend,
I heard a fair Damsel
A Seaman commend;
And as in a tilt-boat
We passed along,
In praise of brave Seamen
She sung this new song:
Come Tradesman or Merchant,
Whoever he be,
There's none but a Seaman
Shall marry with me.

A seaman in promise
Is faithful and just,
Honest in carriage
And true to his trust:
Kind in behaviour
And constant in love,
Is firm in affection
As the turtle dove:
Valiant in action
In every degree.
O, none but a sailor
Shall marry with me.

The seamen adventure
Their lives on the seas,
Whilst landmen on shore
Take pleasure and ease;
The seamen at all times
Their business must ply,
In winter and summer,
In wet and in dry.
From toil and pains-taking
They seldom are free,
And none but a sailor
Shall marry with me.

Moreover, I'd have you
For to understand,
That seamen bring treasure
And profit to land;
Above and beneath ground
For wealth they have sought;
And when they have found it,
To England 'tis brought,
With hazard of lives,
By experience we see:
There's none but a sailor
Shall marry with me.

Seamen from beyond the seas
Bring silver and gold,
With pearls and rich jewels,
Most rare to behold;
With silks and rich velvets,
Their credits to save,
Or else you gay ladies
Could not go so brave.
This makes my heart merry
As merry may be,
There's none but a seaman
Shall marry with me.

The seamen bring spices,
And sugar so fine,
Which serve the brave gallants
To drink with their wine,
With lemons and oranges
All of the best,
To relish their palates
When they make a feast;
Sweet figs, prunes, and raisins,
By them brought home be.
There's none but a seaman
Shall marry with me.

To comfort poor people
The seamen do strive,
They bring in maintenance
To keep them alive,
As raw silk and cotton-wool
To card and to spin,
And so by their labours
Their livings come in:
Most men are beholding
To seamen we see.
And none but a seaman
Shall marry with me.

The mercer's beholding,
We know well enough,
For holland, lawn, cambric,
And other gay stuff,
That's brought from beyond seas
By seamen so bold,
The rarest that ever
Men's eyes did behold.
God prosper the seamen
Wherever they be.
There's none but a seaman
Shall marry with me.

The merchants themselves
Are beholding also
To honest seamen
That on purpose do go,
To bring them home profit
From other strange lands,
Or else their fine daughters
Must work with their hands,
The nobles and gentry
In every degree.
O, none but a sailor
Shall marry with me.

Thus for rich men and poor men
The seamen does good,
And sometimes comes off with
Loss of much blood:
If they were not a guard
And a defence for our land
Our enemies soon will get
The upper hand,
And then in a woeful case
Straight should we be.
There's none but a seaman
Shall marry with me.

To draw to conclusion
And so make an end,
I hope that great Neptune
My love will befriend,
And send him home safely
With health and with life,
Then shall I with joyfulness
Soon be his wife.
You maids, wives, and widows,
That seamen's loves be,
With hearts and with voices
Join prayers with me.

God bless all brave seamen
From quicksands and rocks,
From loss of their blood,
And from enemies' knocks,
From lightning and thunder,
And tempests so strong,
From shipwreck and drowning,
And all other wrong,
And they that to these words
Will not say amen,
'Tis pity they should
Ever speak word agen.