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Do, my Johnny Boker, come rock and roll me over Ch: do my Johnny Boker, do! Do, my Johnny Boker, from Calais down to Dover, Ch: do my Johnny Boker, do! Do, my Johnny Boker, a steady gale is blowing Ch: do my Johnny Boker, do! Do, my Johnny Boker, the Yankee ship is rolling, Ch: do my Johnny Boker, do! Do, my Johnny Boker, the weather's thick and hazy, Ch: do my Johnny Boker, do! Do, my Johnny Boker, the mate is damn near crazy, Ch: do my Johnny Boker, do! Do, my Johnny Boker, our arms are sore and aching, Ch: do my Johnny Boker, do! Do, my Johnny Boker, our hearts are near to breaking, Ch: do my Johnny Boker, do! Do, my Johnny Boker, the skipper is a rover Ch: do my Johnny Boker, do! Do, my Johnny Boker, the mate he's never sober Ch: do my Johnny Boker, do! Do, my Johnny Boker, the bo'sun is a tailor Ch: do my Johnny Boker, do! Do, my Johnny Boker, come roll me in the clover Ch: do my Johnny Boker, do!

Like Paddy Doyle, this tune was used for bunting a sail.

As far as narrative shanties go, nothing more seems known about Johnny Boker than his name.

Like many shanties, the origins likely lie in mid-19th century minstrel songs. The Ethiopian Glee book, published under pseudonym (Elias Howe, Boston, 1848) shares Jenny Boker, Or De Broken Yoke in tact with the do Jonny Boker do chorus and melody. This song follows the trip of Jonny Boker as his wagon fails repeatedly and he gets help from others. The song book gives Jenny in the title but Jonny in the lyrics.

According to Joanna Colcord in Roll and Go, the words of a popular American ballad “Aunt Jemima’s Plaster” were sometimes adopted to the tune:

Last time I met my wife, she wasn’t very civil;

So I stuck a plaster on her back and sent her to the devil.

Sheepskin, pitch and beeswax, they make a bully plaster;

The more she tries to get it off, it only sticks the faster!

Sheet Music (3 melodies)

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