One night as I was a-trimming the glim,
And singing a verse from the Evening Hymn,
A voice from the starboard shouted "Ahoy!"
And there was my mother sitting on a buoy.
Yo ho ho, the wind blows free, Oh for a life on the rolling sea!
"Now what's become of my children three?"
My mother asked of me.
"One was exhibited as a talking fish,
And the other was served from a chafing dish."
Yo ho ho, the wind blows free, Oh for a life on the rolling sea!
The phosphorus flashed in her sea-green hair,
When I turned to look, my mother wasn't there,
But a voice came echoing out of the night:
"To Hell with the keeper of the Eddystone Light!"
Yo ho ho, the wind blows free, Oh for a life on the rolling sea!