The Big Black Trawler
HE very best ship that ever I knew—Ah-way O, to me O—Was a big black trawler with a deep-sea crew—Sing, my bullies, let the bullgine run.
There was one old devil with a broken nose—Ah-way O, to me O—He was four score years, as I suppose—But sing, my bullies, let the bullgine run.
We was wrecked last March, in a Polar storm—Ah-way O, to me O—And we asked the old cripple if his feet was warm—Sing, my bullies, let the bullgine run.
And the old, old devil (he was ninety at the most)—Ah-way O, to me O—Roars, " Ay, warm as a lickle piece of toast "—So sing, my bullies, let the bullgine run." For I soaked my sea-boots and my dungarees—Ah-way O, to me O—In the good salt water that the Lord don't freeze "—Oh sing, my bullies, let the bullgine run.
This poem was taken from Alfred Noyes' book The Elfin Artist and Other Poems, published in 1920 by William Blackwood and Sons.
It is in a section entitled Songs of the Trawlers.
The "bullgine" is sailor slang for the small steam engine that helped bring in the trawl.
JS & CN
Alfred Noyes
Other author posts
The Highwayman
PART ONE The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees. The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas. The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
Shakespeares Kingdom
When Shakespeare came to London He met no shouting throngs; He carried in his knapsack A scroll of quiet songs No proud heraldic trumpet Acclaimed him on his way; Their court and camp have perished;
Resurrection
Once more I hear the everlasting sea Breathing beneath the mountain's fragrant breast, Come unto Me, come unto Me, And I will give you rest We have destroyed the Temple and in three days He hath rebuilt it — all things are made new: And ...
The Peoples Fleet
UT of her darkened fishing-ports they go, A fleet of little ships, whose every name —Daffodil, Sea-lark, Rose and Surf and Snow,
