One night as I lay on my bed
I lay so fast asleep
When the thought of my true love came running to my head
And poor sailors that sail on the deep
As I sailed out one day, one day
And being not far from land
And there I spied a mermaid a-sitting on a rock
With a comb and a gla** in her hand
The song she sang, she sang so sweet
But no answer at all could us make
Till at last our gallant ship she tooked round about
Which made all our poor hearts to ache
Then up stepped the helmsman of our ship
In his hand a lead and line
All for to sound the seas, my boys, that is so wide and deep
But to hard rock or sand could he find
Then up stepped the captain of our ship
And a well-speaking man is he
He says," I have a wife, my boys, in fair Plymouth town
But this night a widow she will be"
Then up stepped the bosun of our ship
And a well-spoken man was he
He says, "I have two sons, my boys, in fair Bristol town
And orphans I fear they will be
And then up stepped the little cabin boy
And a pretty boy was he
He says, "Oh I grieve for my own mother dear
Whom I shall nevermore see"
"Last night, when the moon shined bright
My mother had sons five
But now she may look in the salt, salt sea
And find but one alive"
Call a boat, call a boat, my fair Plymouth boys
Don't you hear how the trumpets sound?
For the want of a long-boat in the ocean we were lost
And most of our merry men drowned