Battle Of The Chesapeake And The Shannon
Traditional:
courtesy of www.SailorSongs.com
The Chesapeake so bold
Out of Boston she was towed
To take an English frigate
Neat and handy, O;
And the people in the port
They came to see the sport,
Whilst the music played up
Yankee doodle dandy, O.
Hi! Yankee doodle doo,
Yankee doodle dandy!
Hi! Yankee doodle doo,
Yankee doodle dandy!
Now the British frigate's name,
0 that for the purpose came
To cool the Yankees' courage
Neat and handy, 0,
Was the Shannon, Captain Broke,
With his men all hearts of oak,
Who for fighting was allowed to be
The dandy, 0.
Hi! Yankee doodle doo,
Yankee doodle dandy!
Hi! Yankee doodle doo,
Yankee doodle dandy!
Just before the fight began,
Said the Yankees with much fun:
We'll tow her into Boston
Neat and handy, 0;
And then afterwards we'll dine
With our sweethearts and our wives,
And we'll dance the jig called
Yankee doodle dandy, 0.
Hi! Yankee doodle doo,
Yankee doodle dandy!
Hi! Yankee doodle doo,
Yankee doodle dandy!
Now the fight had scarce begun
When they flinch-ed from the guns,
Which they thought that they would fight
So neat and handy, 0;
Then brave Broke he drew his sword, crying:
Now my lads we'll board
And we'll stop them playing
Yankee doodle dandy, 0.
Hi! Yankee doodle doo,
Yankee doodle dandy!
Hi! Yankee doodle doo,
Yankee doodle dandy!
They no sooner heard the word
Than they quickly jumped on board,
And haul-ed down the ensign
Neat and handy, 0.
Notwithstanding all their brag,
Soon the glorious British flag
At the Yankee's mizen-peak it looked
The dandy, 0.
Hi! Yankee doodle doo,
Yankee doodle dandy!
Hi! Yankee doodle doo,
Yankee doodle dandy!
Here's a health, my boys, to you,
With your courage stout and true.
Who fought the Chesapeake
So neat and handy, 0;
And may it ever prove
That in fighting as in love
That the true British sailor
Is the dandy, 0.
Hi! Yankee doodle doo,
Yankee doodle dandy!
Hi! Yankee doodle doo,
Yankee doodle dandy!
The author of this website has put a lot of time and effort into gathering the greatest collection of sea shanties for the world to enjoy - There are songs that have been to sung to a job of work at sea for many, many years and collecting them has been a great endeavour. - Roger Chartier has made the effort out of his own interest and the requests that he has gotten to do this work from fellow musicians who wanted a good source of sea shanties to draw on and learn from. He has been told that for this effort he is a remarkable man.
