English translation

Oh, we must not grieve, we must not grouse, The steward, our friend is always near us, For he has promised in hand to take us, What so wind may blow, however we may cuss
For he has promised in hand to take us, What so wind may blow, however we may cuss
Oh, we must not grieve, we must not grouse, The wind-pump we have is at the tread-mill light, Murmur'd grumbles you will rue, for the steward will catch you, And now to reef the sail, for she's pumped dry.
Murmur'd grumbles you will rue, for the steward will catch you, And now to reef the sail, for she's pumped dry.
Oh, we must not grieve, we must not grouse, The steward has weighed out our bread, pork, and herring, If this skipper's pleased, he'll let the rope-end fall, We'll get extra victualing, every single night.
If this skipper's pleased, he'll let the rope-end fall, We'll get extra victualing, every single night.

Source: Captain Sternvall, *Sång under Segel*

From Captain Sternvall’s Swedish shanty collection Sång under Segel, the last two lines of each verse are repeated in chorus. From Stan Hugill‘s Songs of the Sea:

The wind-pump mentioned in this song was to be seen in all of the small sailing barks of Norway at the end of the last century. The “Baltic barks” were built of wood and, to use a sailor expression “leaked like a basket”. Sailors, on joining such a ship, would lift a hatch and smell the odors coming up from the hold. If the hold stank to high heaven, the sailor would be satisfied; if it smelled sweet, he knew that the ship was leaking and he would head ashore. The windmill pump saved many hours of the heart-breaking work known in ships having only manual pumps.