From Charles Snellen, Marblehead, Massachusetts

Sources: The James Madison Carpenter Collection AFC 1072/001 MS p. 09180; Carpenter, James Madison. Forecastle Songs and Chanties. PhD Thesis, Harvard University, 1928 pp. 185-186.

1. We were sitting in the parlor
   Thinking over every plan
   When in came Palmer in a hurry
   To ship us on the Bridget Ann.chorus
   Chitty sehlong, shelong, shelah
   Hilo, chitty shelong, shelah.
2. We went down to see the skipper
   And finding him a nice young man
   We told him we could go a-fishing
   If he’d ship us on the Ann.
3. If you want to go a-fishing
   Do your duty like a man
   Oil down the shrouds and rigging
   All on the board the Bridget Ann.
4. Here’s the tar, now take the bucket
   Rub it in on every strand
   You will stand upon the rigging
   All on board the Bridget Ann.
5. When we left old Cape Ann harbor
   Plenty tobacco we had on hand
   When we reached the gut of Canso
   Narry a chew on the Bridget Ann.
6. We stopped awhile in the Gut of Canso
   There lived the skipper’s Doxy Ann
   Clear away, boys, get everything ready
   To lower a boat from the Bridget Ann.