The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1886-05-13
Life on the Cruiser alabama"

From a series Of brief and pitny pa
pess, in the April Century, on the Ala
bama and kearsarge, we quote as toi-
lows from the article by p. ID. Haywood,
who was a seaman on the Alabama:
"After we had swept the ocean of prizes
we had no excitement, and we east
about in every way TO amuse ourselves
The rutfianly portion of the crew found
their pleasure in hazng and ill-treatirg
their duller and less resolute sEipmatc.,
and there were some fearful examples
of this kind of work We had sparrin@
matches and singIe-stick playing, in
both of which | eXcelled. Spinning
yarns and singing songs were resources
that never failed. The starboard watch
made every man sing in turn under
penalty of pannakin of salt water,
and our poets were kept busy in com
posing new ditties One man had
splendid tenor voice; he was well edu-
Gated and had been, he said, an officer
in the Royal Navy, and was, like all
disrated gentlemen that l have ever
met, vicious and irreclaimable black
guard How strange to hear him sing
.The Lament of the Irish Emigrant,
and MY Mary in Heaven with taste and
1CpIlH0, anu lIlt nCAb Iilolltllb
even his rude associates by burst of
obscene blasphemy. One sailor, won
derful story-teller, who generally pre-
faced his warns with When l sailed in
the Taprobane, East Ingyman,' was
known as 'Top-robbin.' His imagina-
ton was prolific of horrors, and his
grim and sepulchral visage aided in
producing an effect on his hearers. His
tales were of phantom ships, that sailed
in the teeth of wind and current and
of CHASTITY women that came aboard in
the height of storms, etc, and so realis-
tic and impressive was his delivery that
some of the worst ruffians in the watch
sought their hammocks in fear and
trembling. But the poor fellow came to
grief in this wise. 1t was remarked
that he had always missed his tip in
the singing and had rather avoided the
tuneful choir. He was on this particu-
lar night ordered to pipe up and no
more temporizing about it. He put on
a look of intense misery, and COM
menced:
How Jerry Lee was hung at sea
For stabbing of his mcSSmate true,
And his body did swing, II horrible thing,
AT the sport of the wild sea-mcw.
| What voice!-it was at once squeaky
!
cord the men yelled TO him to stop. He
was assured If you ever sing again in
this ere watch while we're OFT sound
ings, we'll fire you through a lee port
Such voice as that would raise harry
cane Poor Top-robbin seemed glad TO
quit, remarking that he didn't sing for
his own diversion and we all agreed
with him.
..Most of the songs would not look
well in print, but they We're 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 4 parson inspired
many of these ditties, one OF which ran
as follows:
Oh, our captain said "When my fortunes
! made,
I'll buy church to preach in,
And fill it full of toOts and horns,
And have jolly MethOdee scrccchin.
land I'll pray the Lord from night to morn
To weather old Yankee Doodle
And I'll run Il hinfant Sunday-schoOl
With part of the Yankees Doodle.
The following was the last effort OF
the Muse and was sang the Saturday
night before we left CherbOurg:
We're homeward bound, were homcward
And soon shall land on English ground;
But ere that English land we see,
We first much lick The Nersar-gcc.'
But we didn't lick the Kersar-gee. and
the poor poet realized the alternative
for | saw him crushed and manglcd un
der gun, just before | went over the
| sideo