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!" The mate was fixed by the bos'n's pike, The bos'n 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! 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 all day long In up-staring eyes-- In murk sunset and at foul sunrise-- Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
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-- All lookouts clapped On paradise-- All souls bound just contrariwise-- Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum.
Fifteen men of 'em good and true-- Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Every man jack could ha' sailed with Old Pew-- Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! There was chest on chest full of Spanish gold, With a ton of plate in the middle hold, And the cabins riot of [loot] 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!
More was seen through the sternlight screen-- Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Chartings [no doubt] where a woman had been!-- Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! A flimsy shift on a bunker cot, With a thin dirk slot through the bosom spot And the lace stiff dry in a purplish blot. Or was she wench... Or some shuddering maid...? That dared the knife-- And took the blade! By God! she was stuff for a plucky jade-- Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
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! 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 sullen plunge In the sullen swell, Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell! Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!