Songs of the sea and lays of the land :: :: University of Virginia Library

When there's rain and shine together,
Chorus.
Yo heave ho!
Uncle Sam is in the weather:
Chorus.
Yo heave ho!

When the sun shines through a fog,
Yo heave ho!
Uncle Samuel drinks his grog:
Yo heave ho!

When the blue sky shows in pieces,
Yo heave ho!
Those are Uncle Samuel's breeches:
Yo heave ho!

When a cloud is low and flat,
Yo heave ho!
That is Uncle Samuel's hat:
Yo heave ho!

When the wind is loud and bad,
Yo heave ho!
Then Old Sam is getting mad:
Yo heave ho!

When the wind begins to bellow,
Yo heave ho!
Uncle Sam is in the cellar:
Yo heave ho!

When the sky is clean and red,
Yo heave ho!
Uncle Sam is gone to bed:
Yo heave ho!

When you hear the wind a-roaring,
Yo heave ho!
That is Uncle Sam a-snoring:
Yo heave ho!

When you see the lightning spooning,
Yo heave ho!
Then old Uncle Sam's harpooning:
Yo heave ho!

When you hear the wind a-barking,
Yo heave ho!
Uncle Sam has gone a-sharking:
Yo heave ho!

When you see a santo-corpus,
Yo heave ho!
Uncle Sam is arter a porpus:
Yo heave ho!

When the water gabbles too much,
Yo heave ho!
Uncle Sam is talking Dutch:
Yo heave ho!

When the sea hawk's scream is heard,
Yo heave ho!
He wants to know if there's Dutch on board:
Yo heave ho!

When the wind's before the rain,
Yo heave ho!
Soon you can make sail again:
Yo heave ho!

“Belay that song I say—'tis gettin' weary:”
Cried out a voice, “Let's change to Mother Carey!”