William Hollander Songtext

Good fortune, upon me, shone
And my parents raised me tenderly
I was their only son

Oh, me father bound me to a trade
In Waterford's fair town
He bound me to a cooper there
By the name of William Brown
I served my master faithfully
For three long years or more
Til I shipped aboard The Ocean Queen
Belonging to Tramore

And when we reached Bermuda's isle
I met with a Captain Moore
He was the skipper of the Flying Cloud
From out of Baltimore
He asked me if I'd sail with him
On a slaving voyage to go
To the burning shores of Africa Where the sugar cane does grow

For whiskey and bad company
Has made a fool of me
So, come all young men, my warning tale
Won't you shun the piracy?

'Twas after five weeks we arrived
Off Africa's burning shore
Five hundred of them weeping blacks
From their native lands, we tore
We loaded them in iron chain
And stowed them down below
Scarce eighteen inches to the man
Was all they had to show

Well, the fever came and the plague, too
And it killed them off like flies
We dragged their bodies up on deck
And we dumped them in the tide
It was better for the rest of them
If they had died below
Than to wear the chain or feel the lash
In America forever more

For whiskey and bad company
Has made a fool of me
So, come all young men, my warning tale
Won't you shun the piracy?

Oh, we sacked and we plundered many a ship
Both frigates and liners, too
Until the British man-o-war
The Dungeness, hove in view
She fired a shot across our bow
We sailed before the wind
The chain-shot brought our mainmast down
And we fell far behind

So, it's now to Newgate we are bound
And we're the ones in chains
For the sinking and for plundering
All along the Spanish Main
The judge, he found us guilty
We were condemned to die
So, to all my friends, take heed by me
Lead not such a life as I

So, it's fare thee well, old Waterford
And to the girl I do adore
I'll never kiss your lips again
Or squeeze your breasts no more
For whiskey and bad company
Has made a fool of me
So, come all young men, my warning tale
Won't you shun the piracy?

For whiskey and bad company
Has made a fool of me
So, come all young men, my warning tale
Won't you shun the piracy?