The pirate Sally Rover had a name of great
reknown,
Spoken of in hush'ed whispers in many a seaport town,
Indeed, 't'were often whispered in a dark and private room,
By the sailor that was with her, sailin' blithely to his doom!
(Chorus)
Oh, they called her Sally Rover, she ruled the seven seas
There ne'er sailed a sailor she could not bring to his knees
And although she ne'er put to sail, nor e'er crossed the waves,
No privateer nor pirate put more sailors in their graves.
Old Sally had a tiny house, out on a pier it
lay
The window to her bedchamber, it o'erlooked the bay
And when a young lad's time were done, his heart and loin would grieve
He'd jump the sill into the drink afore he'd bear to leave!
(Chorus)
Two sailors out of Devon, good brothers brave
and true,
Each would sail to Hell and back for the other of the two,
Both decided that the lovely Sally Rover they would woo,
By morning they had quarreled and run one another through!
(Chorus)
Sally Rover went a wanderin', to a town on
Portsmouth Bay,
But the goodly women folk thereof soon drove her far away,
The men she'd got a hold of were now useless to their wives,
The ones that she had not worn out had taken their own lives!
(Chorus)
The captain o' a mighty ship, out o' duty to
his wife,
That he would not go near Sally Rover, he swore upon his life,
But, Alas! He could not stay away, for what else could he do?
If he did not keep her occupied, he might run out of crew!
(Chorus)