Casey An' Me

First I knowed Casey him an' me was young, An' many a yard we h'isted, an' many a stave we sung In Macfarlane's clipper Merlin , skysail-yarder, her as come Round in ninty days from 'Frisco, first of all the grain fleet 'ome. An' I wish she was a-sailin' for 'Frisco once again With a sandy Glasgow skipper an' a kickin' mate from Maine, With a Finn an' a Frenchy, an' a woolly Portugee, A Scotchman, a Dutchman, an' Casey an' me! She was 'ard an' she was 'ungry, she was wet an' she was wild, An' the bread was mostly weevils, an' the duff was mostly sp'iled, An' the mate 'e was a terror, an' the bosun e' was worse, An' the crowd o' greasers forrard they'd 'a' made an angel curse. First I knowed Casey - Lord! It's long since then: The old Merlin went a-missin' nineteen-nine - or was it ten? An' I last crossed 'awse with Casey once ashore in Callao, But I couldn't say when that was - years an' donkeys' years ago. But I wish I was a-haulin' outer Salthouse Dock this day, With the Mersey gulls a-pipin' an' the mornin' breakin' grey, Sweatin' up the topsail yards, roarin' out in chorus, All the bloomin' world to see, all our years afore us… In the skysail clipper Merlin , bound for 'Frisco once again, With a sandy Glasgow skipper an' a kickin' mate from Maine, With a Finn an' a Frenchy, an' a woolly Portugee, A Scotchman, a Dutchman, an' Casey an' me!