Come, all ye young sailormen, listen to me,
I'll sing you a song of the fish of the sea.
Ch: Then blow ye winds westerly, westerly blow,
We're bound to the south'ard, so steady she goes!
Oh, first come the whale, the biggest of all;
He clumb up aloft and let every sail fall.
And next come the mack’rel with his strip-ed back;
He hauled aft the sheets and boarded each tack.
Then come the porpoise with his short snout;
He went to the wheel, calling "Ready! About!"
Then come the smelt, the smallest of all;
He jumped to the poop and sung out "Topsail, haul!"
The herring come saying, "I'm king of the seas,
If you want any wind, why, I'll blow you a breeze."
Next come the cod with his chuckle-head;
He went to the main-chains to heave at the lead.
Last come the flounder as flat as the ground;
Says "Damn your eyes, chuckle-head, mind how you sound!"