Were you ever down on the Eastern Shore, It really is a treat, Oh! Way, haul away, we'll haul away for Rosie Way, haul away, we'll haul away for Rosie, Oh. Where the Baltimore whores in their purple drawers Come runnin' out to greet you. Way, haul away, we'll haul away for Rosie Way, haul away, we'll haul away for Rosie, Oh.
Oh, when I was a little boy My mother often told me; That If I didn't kiss the girls My lips would all get mouldy.
I sailed the seas for seven years Not knowin' what I was missin'; Then I trimmed my sails before the gales And started in a-kissin'.
Well, first I had an Irish gal, Her name was Kitty Brannigan; She stole me boots, she stole me clothes She pinched me plate and pannikin.
And then I got a German girl And she was fat and lazy, And then I got a New York girl She damn near drove me crazy.
And then I got a Frenchie girl She took things free and aisy; But now I have an English girl An' sure she is a daisy.
So harken while I sing to you About my darlin' Nancy; She's copper-bottomed, clipper-built And just my cut and fancy.
Well, once in my life I married a wife And Damn! but she was lazy; She never worked a day in her life, Which damn near drove me crazy.
She stayed out all night, a Hell of a sight! And where do you think I found 'er? Behind the pump, the story goes, With forty men around 'er.
You call yerself a second mate, An' cannot tie a bowline; You cannot even stand up straight When the packet she's a rollin'.