Fire Down Below
(Fire! Fire!)
There is fire in the lower hold, there's fire down below
Fire in the mainwell, the captain didn't know
ChorusFire! Fire! Fire down below. It's fetch a bucket of water, girls, There's fire down below!There is fire in the fore-top, fire in the main, Fire in the windlass and fire in the chain. There is fire in the fore-peak, fire down below, Fire in the chain-plates, the bosun didn't know. There is fire up aloft, there's fire down below, Fire in the galley, the cook he didn't know.
The joke, in Colcord’s (Roll and Go) variant, lay in choosing non-flammable portions of the ship in which to locate his imaginary fire (except, of course, the cook’s galley— the kitchen always had its cooking fire).