Blow the Winds, I Oh
Collected by Bob Copper in about 1954 from a book left by John Johnson (right), 1865-1943, in Fittleworth, Sussex: see Chapter Nine, pp. 83-9, of Songs and Southern Breezes for the details; and the appendix for these words. The photo of John Johnson at his garden date is credited to George Garland of Petworth (West Sussex). Click on the photo for a much larger one (also by George Garland, and which might have been taken around 1940) of John Johnson and his wife on their golden wedding anniversary.
Sing Oh for a brave and a valiant barque, a brisk and lively breeze,
A bully crew and a captain too, to carry me over the seas,
To carry me over the seas, my boys, to carry my true love so gay,
She has taken a trip on a government ship ten thousand miles away.Chorus
So blow the winds, I Oh, and a-roving I will go,My true love she is beautiful, my true love she is young,
I'll stay no more on England's shore so let the music play.
I'll start by the morning train to cross the raging main,
For I'm on the move to my own true love ten thousand miles away.
Her eyes are blue as the violet's hue and silvery sounds her tongue,
And silvery sounds her tongue, my boys, but while I sing this lay,
She's doing the grand in a distant land ten thousand miles away.
ChorusI wish I was but a bosun bold or only a bombardier,
I'd hire a boat and hurry afloat and straight to my true love steer
And straight to my true love steer, my boys, where the dancing dolphins play,
And the whales and sharks are having their larks ten thousand miles away.
ChorusAnd the sun may shine through a London fog and the Thames run bright and clear,
And the ocean's brine be turned to wine and I may forget my beer,
And I may forget my beer, my boys, and landlord's quarter day,
But I'll never part from my own sweetheart ten thousand miles away.
Chorus
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