Bounty Was a Packet Ship

Bounty was a packet ship
Pump ship, packet ship
Sailing on a cruisin' trip
In the South Pacific

Billy Blight, that silly man...
Was the master in command...

He was growling day and night
Whether he was wrong or right

On the Bounty were the rules
Not for soft and silly fools

An' the answer to complaints
Handcuffs an' the iron chains

Spittin' on the quarterdeck
Punishment - a broken neck

There were troubles every day
Many sailors ran away

An' at last that Billy Blight
With his crew began to fight

Brawlin', kicking everywhere
Iron pins flew thro' the air

Mates and sailors in the night
Overpowered Billy Blight

They put Billy Blight afloat
With his madness in a boat

Bounty then went out of sight
Left alone was Billy Blight

Billy Blight he reached the coast
But the Bounty she was lost

Many gales have crossed the sea
Since the Bounty went away

Never was there heard a word
From the crew that stayed on board.

English pumping shanty printed in Hugill, Songs of the Sea
Collected from Captain Jenkins
Mutiny in 1789, survivors found on Pitcairn Island in 1809
Therefore, song from between 1789 and 1809 [Jenkins]
SOF
apr96