Fifteen men on a dead man’s chestYo ho ho and a bottle of rumDrink and the devil had done for the restYo ho ho and a bottle of rum.The mate was fixed by the bosun’s pikeThe bosun brained with a marlinspikeAnd cookey’s throat was marked belikeIt had been gripped by fingers ten;And there they lay, all good dead menLike break o’day in a boozing kenYo ho ho and a bottle of rum.Fifteen men of the whole ship’s listYo ho ho and a bottle of rum!Dead and be damned and the rest gone whist!Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!The skipper lay with his nob in goreWhere the scullion’s axe his cheek had shoreAnd the scullion he was stabbed times fourAnd there they lay, and the soggy skiesDripped down in up-staring eyesIn murk sunset and foul sunriseYo ho ho and a bottle of rum.Fifteen men of ‚em stiff and starkYo ho ho and a bottle of rum!Ten of the crew had the murder mark!Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of leadOr a yawing hole in a battered headAnd the scuppers‘ glut with a rotting redAnd there they lay, aye, damn my eyesLooking up at paradiseAll souls bound just contrawiseYo ho ho and a bottle of rum.Fifteen men of ‚em good and trueYo ho ho and a bottle of rum!Ev’ry man jack could ha‘ sailed with Old Pew,Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!There was chest on chest of Spanish goldWith a ton of plate in the middle holdAnd the cabins riot of stuff untold,And they lay there that took the plumWith sightless glare and their lips struck dumbWhile we shared all by the rule of thumb,Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!More was seen through a sternlight screenYo ho ho and a bottle of rumChartings undoubt where a woman had beenYo ho ho and a bottle of rum.’Twas a flimsy shift on a bunker cotWith a dirk slit sheer through the bosom spotAnd the lace stiff dry in a purplish blotOh was she wench or some shudderin‘ maidThat dared the knife and took the bladeBy God! she had stuff for a plucky jadeYo ho ho and a bottle of rum.Fifteen men on a dead man’s chestYo ho ho and a bottle of rumDrink and the devil had done for the restYo ho ho and a bottle of rum.We wrapped ‚em all in a mains’l tightWith twice ten turns of a hawser’s bightAnd we heaved ‚em over and out of sight,With a Yo-Heave-Ho! and a fare-you-wellAnd a sudden plunge in the sullen swellTen fathoms deep on the road to hell,Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!