Danger On The Barbary Poem by James Casey

Danger On The Barbary

Look ahead, look astern,
Look the weather in the lee,
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we.
I see a ship to the windward
And a towering ship to lee,
A sailing down, on down,
The coasts of The Barbary

Ahoy, are you a pirate
Or a man-o-war? cried we.
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we.
Oh no! I'm not a pirate
But a man-o-war, cried he.
A sailing down, on down
The coasts of The Barbary

We'll back up go our topsails
And heave our vessel to;
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we.
For we have got some letters
To be carried home by you.
A sailing on down, down,
The coasts of The Barbary

For broadside, for broadside
They fought all on the main;
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we.
Until at last the frigate
Shot the pirate's mast away.
A sailing on down, on down,
The coasts of Barbary

For quarters! For quarters!
The saucy pirates cried,
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we.
The quarters that we showed them
Was to sink them in the tide.
A sailing on down, on down,
The coasts of The Barbary

With cutlass and gun,
We fought for hours three;
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we.
The ship t'was was their coffin
And their grave was the sea.
A sailing on down, on down,
The coasts of The Barbary

Casey HM3 1964