Song in the
public domain from the
California Gold Rush of the 1850s (Most of the rivers that contained
gold were
tributaries of the
Sacramento River--it was also the main route to the gold country from
San Francisco).
This song was used as a capstan shanty for sailors on their way to California, and as such, verses could be improvised so that the song could keep going as long as the task at hand.
In the folk tradition, you can make up your own verses. You can sing it to the tune of Stephen Foster’s “Camptown Races” (1850):
Sing and heave, and heave and sing,
To me hoodah! To my hoodah!
Heave and make the handspikes spring.
To me hoodah! To me hoodah!
(Sn the interest of page weight, I will leave out the hoodahs in subsequent verses)
Chorus: And it's blow, boys, blow, for Californi-o.
For there's plenty of gold, so I've been told,
On the banks of the Sacramento.
From Limehouse Docks to Sydney Heads,
Was never more than seventy days.
Chorus
We cracked it on, on a big skiute,
And the old man felt like a swell galoot.
Chorus
alternate version:
O, around Cape Horn we are bound to go
To me hoodah! To my hoodah!
Around Cape Horn through the sleet and snow,
To me hoodah, hoodah, day!
Chorus
Oh around the Horn with a mainskys'l set,
Around Cape Horn an' we're all wringin' wet.
Chorus
Oh, around Cape Horn in the month o' May,
Oh, around Cape Horn is a very long way.
Chorus
Them Dago gals we do adore,
They all drink vino an' ask for more.
Chorus
Them Spanish gals ain't got no combs,
They comb their locks with tunny fish bones.
Chorus
To the Sacramento we're bound away,
To the Sacramento's a hell o' a way.
Chorus
We're the buckos for to make 'er go,
All the way to the Sacramento.
Chorus
We're the bullies for to kick her through,
Roll down the hill with a hullabaloo.
Chorus
Starvation an' ease in a Yankee ship,
We're the bullies for to make 'er rip.
Chorus
Santander Jim is a mate from hell,
With fists o' iron an' feet as well.
Chorus
Breast yer bars an' bend yer backs,
Heave an' make yer spare ribs crack.
Chorus
Round the Horn an' up to the Line,
We're the bullies for to make 'er shine
Chorus
We'll crack it on, on a big skiyoot,
Ol' Bully Jim is a bloody big brute.
Chorus
Oh, a bully ship wid a bully crew,
But the mate is a bastard through an' through.
Chorus
Ninety days to 'Frisco Bay,
Ninety days is damn good pay.
Chorus
Oh, them wuz the days of the good ol' times,
Back in the days of the Forty-nine.
Chorus
Sing an' heave an' heave an' sing,
Heave an' make them handspikes spring.
Chorus
An' I wish to God I'd niver bin born,
To go a-ramblin' round Cape Horn.
Chorus
CST Approved