Justin C Ward - The Cutty Sark Lyrics

The Cutty Sark was the fastest ship
That ever sailed the China seas
At first she was a ship to be proud of
But the captain was a hard man to please
The captain was a hard man to please

All the trouble started with John Francis
The first mate had to teach him who was boss
They went square go till the captain stepped in
And the first mate was the wrong man to cross
The first mate was the wrong man to cross

The next time John Francis gave him trouble
The first mate took a spar to his black head
We carried John Francis down below
It was three days before that boy was dead
It was three days before that boy was dead

That first mate he kept to his cabin
Till the port of Anjer we could see
John Francis wasn't worth a murder trial
So the captain let that first mate go free
So the captain let that first mate go free

Four days out of Anjer we were becalmed
The captain never slept in a week
He stood and he stared at the horizon
And to a living soul he would not speak
And to a living soul he would not speak

At eight bells on the seventh day our captain
Jumped down off the rail without a sound
If the sharks didn't get him he's still swimming, boys
There wasn't enough left of him to drown
There wasn't enough left of him to drown

The first mate went to trial five years later
He told them John Francis was to blame
They give him seven years' hard labour
And the Cutty Sark it all but died of shame
And the Cutty Sark it all but died of shame

The port-of-Anjer sank into the sea
On the night that Krakatoa blew
So nobody remembers John Francis any more
But every single word is true