Seán Dagher’s Shanty of the Week 19 Blow the Man Down

T-SHIRTS !!!! You can get the songs at You can support the Shanty of the Week at Thanks to Patreon supporters Dennis Wiscount, Arcspel, Vlad Nica, Kristian Brabander, Mike Carr, Erik Twombly, Cooper Chassé, Élise Gravel, Maeve Haldane, Adrian Castellanos, Andy Jurik, Matt Werner, Aleksander Wasser, Graham Greve, Tom Liacas, Robert Nunn, Cameron Cole. This is probably the first shanty I ever learned. Maybe the first you learned, too. Here are nine of the 107 verses I found. Blow the man Down - Lyrics 1. I’ll sing you a song of the fish in the sea. Wey! Hey! Blow the man down! And trust that you’ll join in the chorus with me. Oh give me some time to Blow the man Down! 2. There was an old skipper, I don’t know his name. I know that he played him this really smart game. 3. When he was becalmed in the tropical sea. He whistled all day, but it stirred up no breeze. 4. A seal heard his whistle and loudly did call. I’ll send you some fish and some whalefish and all. 5. Well first came the herring, the King of the Sea. He jumped on the poop and said Captain I’ll be. 6. Well next came the flat fish, they call him the skate. If you’ll be the captain then I’ll be the mate. 7. Then next came the hake, he was reading a book. Says he, I’m no sailor, I’ll ship as the cook. 8. Then next came the shark with his two rows of teeth. Cook, you mind the cabbage, and I’ll mind the beef. 9. And last came the whale, he was biggest of all. He climbed up aloft and he let each sail fall.