The Wager

(Edinburgh Shanty Night original - words by Rob, music by Adam)

It was in the War of Jenkins’ Ear
3 Cheers, God Bless the King,
The Wager sailed with Ansen’s fleet,
Through cold and ice and snow and sleet,
Two hundred-fifty haul the sheets,
And the fated ship she sailed

Heave, heave away!
Byron’s boys we sail the horn,
Blow storms they blow,
And to the depths the Wager goes…

The Captain was a man named Cheap,
3 Cheers, God Bless the King,
The men aboard who made his band,
Ruled over with an iron hand,
Two hundred-twenty his command,
And the fated ship she sailed

Around the Horn the ships they cruised
3 Cheers, God Bless the King,
But storms blew through the night and day
The Wager, she was blown astray
Two hundred souls carried away,
And the fated ship she sailed

The ship became a perfect wreck
3 Cheers, God Bless the King,
By luck she limped her way to shore,
But on the rocks a hole was bored,
One hundred-fifty souls aboard,
And the fated ship she sailed

Three boats of men made for the land
3 Cheers, God Bless the King,
The crew would almost soon be gone,
But with Cheape, Bulkley and Byron,
One hundred forty souls lived on,
And the fated ship she sailed

For five long months the crew endured,
3 Cheers, God Bless the King,
But many good men starved and died,
Others sick they perished besides,
One hundred souls had yet survived,
And the fated ship she sailed

Three boats were built to sail for home
3 Cheers, God Bless the King,
But Bulkely longing to be free,
Against Cheape led a mutiny,
Eighty six men set for sea,
And the fated ship she sailed

Five years now passed since first they set,
3 Cheers, God Bless the King,
The mutineers, on England's shore,
Arrived to face the courts furore,
With only six souls left aboard,
And the fated ship she sailed

Another year in England passed
3 Cheers, God Bless the King,
The mutineers became concerned, 
When Bulkley to his terror learned
Another four souls had returned,
And the fated ship she sailed

And what of Ansen’s Privateers
3 Cheers, God Bless the King,
They cruised the storms with spirits bold,
And seized the ship of Spanish gold,
One million coins within her hold,
And the fated ship she sailed

The final words are here enshrined
3 Cheers, God Bless the King,
Of Three whose death had been consigned,
So four could live, three left behind,
Three brave Marines, marooned to die,
And the fated ship she sailed