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Maggie May
Bob Roberts
Come all you sailormen an' listen to my plea,
When you've heard it you will pity me.
For I was a goddam fool in the port of London Pool
On the first day me barge came from sea.
I was paid off at Greenhithe from a voyage from north of Blyth,
And four pound ten a month it was my pay,
And as I
jingled with my tin I was very soon taken in
By a pretty girl—they called her Maggie May.
Well do I remember where I first met Maggie May
Cruisin' up and down
Woolwich place,
She wore a crochet fine—like a frigate on the line
And
like a bargeman I gave chase.
I caught her all aback—she shifted her main tack,
But Maggie she had
busted her main stay,
And next morning when I woke with me heart just sore
an broke.
Cos Maggie had skiddaddled with my pay.
And that morning when I woke—I was not only broke
No shirt, no pants, no waistcoat could I find.
I wrote for where they were—she replied:
"My dear Sir
They are down in Ipswich pawnshop— number nine."
To the pawnshop we did go but I could not find my clothes,
So a bobby came and took the girl away,
And the judge
he guilty found her
For the robbin' of a homeward bounder,
And he paid her
passage back to Butterman's Bay.
O Maggie Maggie May—they've taken you away
To toil upon that demon-troubled shore,
Cos you've robbed so many sailors
An' you've done so many whalers
But you'll never see the 'Riga' anymore.
As with many of his songs, with the mention of Butterman's Bay (on the
River Orwell between Ipswich and Harwich) and the 'Riga', his local pub at
Pinmill, Bob has localised his version to the home port of his barge in
Suffolk. Other versions have 'Botany Bay' and 'Van Dieman's Land' and
are usually located in Liverpool. I myself like to sing further verses I
got from a naval captain in Jersey:-
The rain came down in torrents
As I wandered down the street.
The water soon was pouring through my socks.
With no tin I could not linger
So I turned a comic singer,
And made my first appearance at the docks
A crowd soon gathered round
To hear my mournful sound,
Some of them seemed to think it served me right.
So next time I shall know
When to Liverpool I go,
And I shan't care if they skin me every night.
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