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The Sailor's Alphabet—Shanty
Clifford Jenkins with chorus
A is the anchor that hangs o'er the bow,
B is the bowsprit that bends like
a bow,
C is the capstan we merrily heave round,
And D is the davits we
lower our boats down.
So merrily—so merrily—so merrily are we,
There's no
man on earth like a sailor at sea,
Blow high or blow low—as the ship sails
along,
Give the sailor his grog and there's nothing goes wrong.
E is the ensign we fly at our peak,
F is the fo'c'sle where the sailors
all sleep,
G is the galley where the cook flies around,
And H is our
hawser with a noble three strand.
I is the iron where the stormsail boom shifts,
J is the jibs which we
oft-times have set,
K is the ke'lsome in the middle of the hold,
And L is
our lanyards so sure of their hold.
M is the mainmast so stout and so strong,
N is the needle that seldom goes
wrong,
O is the oars which we pull in our boat,
And P is the pumps which
we keep her afloat.
Q is the quarterdeck the skipper does walk,
R is the rudder that's built
of strong oak,
S is the stuntsail that sweeps her along,
And T is the
topsail we hoist with a song.
U is the Union Jack we fly at our fore,
V is the vane which we all do
adore,
W is the wheel where we all take our time,
And the next three letters will
soon come in rhyme.
X is the letter the ship has no place,
Y is the yards which we oft-times
have braced,
Z is the zinc on the bottom you know,
When the watch strikes
eight bells boys we'll all go below.
Although The Sailor's Alphabet seems the most widely reported version in
England, we have found the A-Z idea used in many variations: Fishermen's
and Lumbermen's, 'A is for Adam', 'A is for Apple', and, of course, Army,
Air Force and Rugby Club versions. On board ship it could have been used for
both capstan and pumping work and, like the shanty, could be improvised
with a test of ingenuity by solo sailors taking up the verses in turn.
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