Poem: 'Fifteen Men on a Dead Man's Chest'

[dwgm]

1. Fifteen men on a dead man's chest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
The mate was fixed by the bosun's pike
The bosun brained with a marlinspike
And cookey's throat was marked belike
It had been gripped by fingers ten;
And there they lay, all good dead men
Like break o'day in a boozing ken
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

2. Fifteen men of the whole ship's list
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Dead and be damned and the rest gone whist!
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
The skipper lay with his nob in gore
Where the scullion's axe his cheek had shore
And the scullion he was stabbed times four
And there they lay, and the soggy skies
Dripped down in up-staring eyes
In murk sunset and foul sunrise
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

3. Fifteen men of 'em stiff and stark
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Ten of the crew had the murder mark!
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
Or a yawing hole in a battered head
And the scuppers' glut with a rotting red
And there they lay, aye, damn my eyes
Looking up at paradise
All souls bound just contrawise
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.


4. Fifteen men of 'em good and true - '
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Ev'ry man jack could ha' sailed with Old Pew,
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
There was chest on chest of Spanish gold
With a ton of plate in the middle hold
And the cabins riot of stuff untold,
And they lay there that took the plum
With sightless glare and their lips struck dumb
While we shared all by the rule of thumb,
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

5. More was seen through a sternlight screen...
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Chartings undoubt where a woman had been
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
'Twas a flimsy shift on a bunker cot
With a dirk slit sheer through the bosom spot
And the lace stiff dry in a purplish blot
Oh was she wench or some shudderin' maid
That dared the knife and took the blade
By God! she had stuff for a plucky jade
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

6. Fifteen men on a dead man's chest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
We wrapped 'em all in a mains'l tight
With twice ten turns of a hawser's bight
And we heaved 'em over and out of sight,
With a Yo-Heave-Ho! and a fare-you-well
And a sudden plunge in the sullen swell
Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell,
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

The song, sung by sailors when hauling ropes on their sailing ships, was included by Robert Louis Stevenson in his classic novel "Treasure Island" published in 1883.

Dead Man's Chest is a tiny isle that forms part of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea. Local history and folklore claims that pirate Edward Teach, known as Blackbeard, punished a mutinous crew by marooning them on Dead Man's Chest, which has high cliffs and no water and is inhabited by pelicans and snakes. Each sailor was given a cutlass and a bottle of rum.

Teach's hope was that the pirates would kill each other, but when he returned after a month he found 15 men had survived. This would explain the verse: "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest. Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! Drink and the devil had done for the rest Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"

Comments

[linaelyn.livejournal.com]

You are amazing. I was just watching DMC tonight, and speculating with Estel whether this poem was written by Stevenson (my assertion) or whether it was an already-extant chanty, added to Treasure Island.

Thank you so much.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

There is way more information on my post at potc_universe here -- Piraty TMI.

[woolymonkey.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I always assumed it was by Stevenson. Don't think I'd ever seen the whole thing, let alone the interesting hints of it's origin.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

The whole thing was sung in Muppets Treasure Island. I didn't know if they made up the additional lyrics for that or what, so I investigated. Apparently not!

[yoiebear.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the history lesson!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! Even more info here -- Piraty TMI.

[yoiebear.livejournal.com]

Cool! I'll take a look at it tonight.

[p0wdermonkey.livejournal.com]

It's great to have the words and the background.
Have just posted another piratey song and a book rec as a way of thanking you for this post.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

That Dr. Syn post was great -- thanks again for that.

All this piratiness makes Monday much more fun!

[dharma-slut.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks-- what a wealth of detail!

I don't think this song has anything to do with a marooning, really. It's all about the ship and what they found there-- And the scuppers' glut with a rotting red is particularly gruesome.

"fifteen men on a dead man's chest" sounds like one man killed all of those, before being killed himself-- It also reads to me as if another crew found this pirate ship, with all the signs of fresh spoils, and all hands dead or missing. Ooooh, plot bunny! Of course these stories get tangled up in each other, and so possible that several tales are con-fused herein...

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks-- what a wealth of detail!

You're very welcome, but you ain't seen nothin' yet -- take a look at my post at potc_universe here -- Piraty TMI.

What with this and p0wdermonkey's Dr. Syn post, there is a whole herd of plot bunnies hopping around.

[ceria-taliesin.livejournal.com]

Pirate poetry! What more can a girl ask for.

::sighs happily::

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

It's so deliciously gruesome, isn't it? *g*

[ceria-taliesin.livejournal.com]

Delicious is the key word, and it just made me go out to my car to get the PotC Ultimate Swashbuckler CD so I can listen to it tonight. :)