Figureheads

'You never see a decent figure'ead - Not now,' Bill said, 'A fiddlin' bit o' scroll-work at the bow That's the most now . . . But Lord! I've seen some beauties, more'n a few, An' some rare rum uns, too. 'Folks in all sorts o' queer old-fashioned rigs - Fellers in wigs - Chaps in cocked 'ats an' 'elmets - lords an' dukes - Folks out o' books - Niggers in turbans - mandarins an' Moors - An' 'eathen gods by scores. 'An' women in all kinds o' fancy dresses - Queens an' princesses - Witches on broomsticks, too - an' spankin' girls With streamin' curls - An' dragons, an' sea-serpents - Lord knows what I've seen an' what I've not. 'An' some's in breakers' yards, bleached bare with time An' thick with grime; An' some stuck up in gardens here an' there With plants for 'air; An' no one left as knows but chaps like me How fine with paint and gold they used to be In them old days at sea.'