Original French

C'est en passant sur l'pont d'Morlaix, Ch: Haul away! Old fellow, away! La belle Hélène, j'ai rencontrée, Ch: Haul away! Old fellow, away! Bien humblement j'l'ai saluée, D'un doux sourire ell'm'a remercié. Mais j'ai bien vu qu'c'est charité, Car c'est une dame de qualité. C'est la fille d'un cap'taine nantais, Un matelot ne s'ra jamais. Pour nous sont les garces des quais Qui vol'nt, qui mentent, qui font tuer! J'n'étale plus, j'vas tout larguer, J'vas faire mon trou dans la salée. Mat'lots, mon coeur est embrumé, Buvons quand même a sa beauté. Encore un coup pour étarquer, Hisse le grand foc! Tout est payé!

English translation

When I was crossing the bridge of Morlaix, Ch: Haul away! Old fellow, away! I met Helen looking so gay, Ch: Haul away! Old fellow, away! With me hat in me hand I said, "How d'ya do?" She gave me a smile that said, "Thank you!" Her smile I could see was merely charity, 'Cos she was a lady of quality. The daughter, me lads, of a Nantes captain, She'll never belong to a simple sailor. For us the trollops who hang round the quay, Who lie an' steal, get men killed with glee. No longer I'll stick it, cast off everything, I'm going to ship deepwater. Shipmates, me heart is wrapped in a fog, Let's drink, all the same, to her beauty in grog. One more pull lads, oh, haul her away, Hoist taut the big jib—high enough, belay!

Stan Hugill translates this halyard shanty from Capt. Armand Hayet’s collection. Hugill writes,

It has as its theme the fact that “ladies of quality” are above the garces des quais, the common or garden-variety sailor’s girls.

Our hero knows his place—he should not be deigning to try his luck with such a lady; for him the common trollop, the whores of the wharfside of sailortown. Many sailorsongs have this theme. On the other hand there are those songs in which Jack (or Jean, or Jan) manages to outwit the type of gallant that such a lady of quality, under normal circumstances, prefers—someone of her own class—and he manages, by subterfuge, to get the dainty lady into his arms. In this latter class of song we have: Do Me Ama, Jack Tar, and While Cruising Around Yarmouth.