The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-04-14
THE ALABAMA" "
LIFE ON BOARD THE NOTED
CONFEDERATE CRUISER.
Some Amusements Of the Crew.
Songs and Stories-Treatment
of Federal Prisoners on
Board the Vessel.

From series or Drle1 ana pltny papers,
in the Century, on the Alabama and Kear-
sarge, we quote as follows from the article
by P. D. Haywood, who was seaman
on the Alabama: ''After we had swept
the ocean of prizes we had no excitement,
and we cast about in every way to amuse
ourselves. The rufianly portion of the
crew found their pleasure in hazing and
ill-treating their duller and less resolute
shipmates, and there were some fearful
examples of this kind of work. We had
sparring matches and single-stick play
ing, in both of which I excelled. Spin
ming yarns and singing songs were re.
sources that never failed. The starboard
watch made every man sing in turn
under penalty of pannikin of salt water,
and our poets were kept busy in compos-
ing new ditties. One man had splendid
tenor voice; he was well educated and
had been, he said, On officer in the royal
navy, and was, like all disrated gentle
men that have ever met, vicious and
irreclaimable blackguard.' How strange
to hear him sing The Lament of the Irish
Emigrant,' and .'My Mary in Heaven
with taste and feeling, and the next mo-
ment disgust even his rude associates by
a burst of obscene blasphemy. One
sailors wonderful story-teller, who gen.
orally prefaced his yarns with when I
sailed in the Taprobane, East Ingyman,'
was known as Top-robbin.' His mag
ination was prolific of horrors, and his
grim and sepulchral visage aided in pro-
ducing an effort on his hearers. His
tales were of phantom ships, that sailed
in the teeth of wind and current, and OF
ghastly women that came aboard in the
height of storms, etc., and so realistic
and impressive was his delivery that
some of the worst ruffians in the watch
sought their hammocks in fear and trem-
bling. But the poor fellow came to grief
in this wise. It was remarked that he
had always missed his tip in the sing
ing and had rather avoided the tuneful
choir. He was on this particular night
ordered to pipe up and no more tenn
porizing about it. He put on look OF
intense misery, and commenced:
tHow Jerry Lee was hung at sea
VOT SUdUDluS Ol LIS uoSSllldV0 luo,
And his body did swing, horrible thing,
At the sport of the wild sea-mew.'
What volce?-it was at once asqueaky
treble and hoarse bass. With one &C.
cord the men yelled to him to stop. He
was assured IF you ever sing again in
this ere watch while we're off soundings,
we'll fire you through lee port. Such
a voice as that would raise harrycane.
Poor Top-robbin seemed glad to quit,
remarking that he didn't sing for his
own diversion aud We all agreed
with him.
"Most of the songs would not look
we'll in print, but they were nearly all
squibs on the captain and his officers
and were bawled out without Mitigation
of voice, and no doubt heard in the mess
room aft. The belief that Captain Semmes
had been q parson inspired many of
these dltties, one Of which ran as fol-
lows:
oh, our captain said, "When my fortunes
made,
I'll buy church to preach in,
And FIJI it full of toots and horns,
And have a jolly Methodee screechin.
'"And I'll pray the Lord from night to morn
To weather old Yankee Doodle
And I'll run hinfant Sunday school
With part Of the Yankees boodle.'"
The following was the last effort of the
muse, and was sung the Saturday night
before we left Cherbourg:
We're homeward bound, we're homeward
bound,
And soon shall land on English ground;
Butere that English land we see,
We first must lick the Kersar-gee.'
But we didn't lick the Kersar-gee, and
the poor poet realized the alternative, for
I saw him crushel and mangled under
gun, just before I went over the side"
The second officer in command of the
Alabama, says in his article: "Among
the many prizes we captured and de-
stroyed, we necessarily saw many varie-
ties of the genus homo in the guise of
the Yankee skipper. While taking the
burning of their ships very philosophic-
ally as among the fortunes of war, some
clung to creature comforts regardless of
heavier losses. Upon one occasion, going
aboard fine ship, I told the captain he
might bring away his personal effects
He made q most ludicrous scene
by earnestly appealing to me
to grant him one request that he
might be permitted to take with him
"Spurgeon's Sermons" and akeg Of very
fine whisky" The sermons 1 granted,
but told him the whisky must 60 over
board. The prisoners on board of the
Alabama as general practice were not
put in irons, but were simply confined to
an allotted space with guard over them.
The pri, oners of the first half-dozen
prizes taken were put in irons, including
tho captains and mates, at which the cap
tans were very indignant, and remon-
strated with Captain Semmes that their
position should cntitle them to different
treatment. Captain Scmmes replied that
he confined them in irons in retaliation
for the manner in which the agents of
the United States government had treated
the purser of the Confederate States
steamer S!mtcr. The purser, under
orders, was ca. route from Gibraltar to
Cndiz in a French merchant steamer.
Stopping at T"ngicr to put off and take
on passengers and cargo, the purser
walked on shore, and was there, in
neutral country, seized by the United
States consul at the head of an armed
force of Moorish soldiers, and brutally
imprisoncd, with heavy manacles. From
there he was taken in irons by the United
States armed vessel Ino, and finally sent
to New York in irons. The purser was