Derelict: Cap'n Billy Bones' song
Created | Updated May 13, 2006
Derelict was published complete in 1901 as the work of Allison & Waller, playrights. Allison is said to have received his inspiration from the quatrain of Billy Bones’ song in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island that was first published in 1881. Dead Man’s Chest in the song refers to the profile of an island rendevous used by the pirates.
Other tunes in this series can be found listed on the Toots of the Whistle page of the Guide.
This abc-rendition is transposed for the pennywhistle, tuned to the key of D. Copy and paste the abc-code, shown below, into your own text file and then process the file using the abc-tool of your choice. Free abc utilities are available that will convert the code to a MIDI file, to Adobe PostScript, and to Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) suitable for printing the sheet music. As an alternative, it is possible to read the abc-code direct and play it on your favourite instrument.
ABC Code
X:11564732
T:Derelict
T:Cap'n Billy Bones' song
T:--h2g2 article A11564732--
B:Treasure Island
L:1/8
S:1st 4 lines: Treasure Island, 1881.
S:Young Ewing Allison (1853-1932).
C:Allison & Waller, playrights, 1901
C:(1st 4 lines: Robert Louis Stevenson)
N:pennywhistle, tinwhistle, tin, penny, whistle
N:flageolet, fipple, flute, feadog
Z:Transposed 20060506 by H2G2 U107221 for the pennywhistle keyed in D.
F:Derelict-H2G2-A
M:4/4
Q:1/4=120
K:G
"^Pennywhistle in D"
E2 F2 G2 F E | G2 F2 E4 | E2 F2 G2 F E | G G2 F E4 |
w:Fif-teen men on the Dead Man's Chest, Yo-ho-ho and a bot-tle of rum!
A2 B B c c2 A | c2 B B A4 | A2 B2 c2 B A |
w:Drink and the De-vil had done for the rest, Yo-ho-ho and a
c c2 B A3 ^A | B2 B2 G2 E F | G2 F2 E3 ^A |
w:bot-tle of rum! The mate was fixed by the bos-'n's pike, The
B2 B2 G2 E F | G2 F2 E3 D | G2 G2 A2 A2 | B2 B2 ^A3 A |
w:bos-'n brained with a mar-lin-spike, And cook-ey's throat was marked be-like, It
B2 B2 ^c2 A2 | d2 d2 ^c3 c | d2 d2 ^c2 =c2 | B2 B2 ^A3 A |
w:had been gripped By fin-gers ten; And there they lay, All good dead men, Like
B2 B2 G2 E F | G2 E2 ^D4 | E2 F2 G2 F E | G G2 F E4 |
w:break-o'-day in a booz-ing-ken, Yo-ho-ho and a bot-tle of rum!
W:
W:Fifteen men of a whole ship's list\-\-
W:\ \ \ \ \ Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
W:Dead and be damned and rest gone whist!\-\-
W:\ \ \ \ \ Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
W:The skipper lay with his nob in gore
W:Where the scullion's axe his cheek had shore,
W:And the scullion he was stabbed times four.
W:\ \ \ \ \ And there they lay and the soggy skies,
W:At murk sunset and at foul sunrise\-\-
W:\ \ \ \ \ Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
W:
W:Fifteen men of 'em stiff and stark\-\-
W:\ \ \ \ \ Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
W:Ten of the crew had the Murder mark\-\-
W:\ \ \ \ \ Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
W:'Twas a cutlass swipe, or an ounce of lead,
W:Or a yawning hole in a battered head,
W:And the scuppers glut with a rotting red.
W:\ \ \ \ \ And there they lay\-\- aye, damn my eyes!\-\-
W:\ \ \ \ \ All lookouts clapped on paradise,
W:All souls bound just contrariwise\-\-
W:\ \ \ \ \ Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
W:
W:Fifteen men of 'em good and true\-\-
W:\ \ \ \ \ Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
W:Every man jack could ha' sailed with Old Pew\-\-
W:\ \ \ \ \ Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
W:There was chest on chest of Spanish gold,
W:With a ton of plate in the middle hold,
W:And cabins riot of stuff untold.
W:\ \ \ \ \ And they lay there that had took the plum,
W:\ \ \ \ \ With sightless glare and their lips struck dumb,
W:While we shared all by the rule of thumb\-\-
W:\ \ \ \ \ Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
W:
W:Fifteen men on the dead man's chest\-\-
W:\ \ \ \ \ Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
W:Drink and the devil had done for the rest\-\-
W:\ \ \ \ \ Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
W:We wrapped 'em all in a mains'l tight,
W:With twice ten turns of a hawser's bight,
W:And we heaved 'em over and out of sight\-\-
W:\ \ \ \ \ With a yo-heave-ho! and a fare-you-well!
W:\ \ \ \ \ And a sullen plunge in the sullen swell,
W:Ten fathoms deep on the road to Hell!
W:\ \ \ \ \ Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
