Blow the Man Down

(Halyard Shanty)
Anonymous

Given the working title Topsail Shanty, on page 95 of Home Port: Victoria (Ursula Jupp, 1967, Victoria: the Author) the song is one of only a rare handful of sea songs from the days of sail that refers to Victoria. The title of the song is, of course, Blow the Man Down and it was used for hauling on the halyards to, in this case, raise the topsail. Hugill, in his Shanties from the Seven Seas (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979, p.199), refers to the song in its popular form as being a product of the Western Ocean Sailing Packets (ie. the Pacific Ocean), which historically puts this version of the song right where it belongs. In the following, one or two words have been adjusted or added to the version taken down by Jupp from her unknown source to help the words fit the cadence of a working shanty from this singer’s point-of-view.  Mike Ballantyne

As I was a-walking on down Broughton Street,
To me, way, heigh, blow the man down,
I went into Speedie’s me shipmates to meet,
Gi’ me some time to blow the man down.

Well the crowd was all there, pretty tough-looking crew,
To have our peasoup and salt horse for to chew,

Well the Old Man is tough and a hard-looking guy,
To get more than your whack there is no use to try,

Well the duff is like rubber and heavy as lead,
With roaches in plenty for raisins instead,

Well the cook is a soaker who loves a good booze,
Twixt him and the steward there’s little to choose,

And talk of the Bo’sun, he’s tougher than tough,
In handling poor sailors he’s much more than rough,

Supercargo is stingy with stores he is mean,
On robbing poor sailors he’s awfully keen,

I don’t like to sail in this rotten old tub,
With no grog allowed and the poorest of grub,

When we get to port I am leaving the sea,
I’ll get work on land and a farmer I’ll be,

And now I have come to the end of me lay,
For the topsail’s aloft and the Mate said, “Belay!”