"Don't Forget Your Old Shipmate" (

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud. Roud's Index is a combination of the Broadsid ...

V23285) is a traditional naval song that has been sung by British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

sailors since the 19th century.

Versions

First version

The song was written by Richard Creagh Saunders (1809–1886), who enlisted in the navy as a Schoolmaster on the 11th of July, 1839. It was recorded in

Charles Harding Firth Sir Charles Harding Firth (16 March 1857 – 19 February 1936) was a British historian. He was one of the founders of the Historical Association in 1906. Esmond de Beer wrote that Firth "knew the men and women of the seventeenth century much ...

's ''Naval Songs and Ballads'' (1908) in a slightly different form from the one popularized in cinema, where its opening verse has been omitted, and with

quatrain A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four Line (poetry), lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India ...

stanzas instead of

couplets In poetry, a couplet ( ) or distich ( ) is a pair of successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (closed) couplet, each of the two lines is end-stopped, implying that there ...

. The first version opens with the following quatrain: :''We're the boys that fear no noise,'' :''Whilst the thundering cannons roar,'' :''And long we've toiled on the rolling wave,'' :''And now we're safe on shore.'' :''Folderol, etc.'' The rest of the song as presented by Firth does not differ substantially from the popular version presented below, but a few lines are inverted or have slight alterations to word order.

Popular ''Master and Commander'' version

The version sung in the film was arranged in 1978 by Jim Mageean from his album 'Of Ships... and Men.' The song is sung in the

wardroom The wardroom is the mess, mess cabin or compartment on a warship or other military ship for commissioned naval Officer (armed forces), officers above the rank of midshipman. Although the term typically applies to officers in a navy, it is also ...

scene of '' Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'', and is still sung aboard surface combatant ships of the

. :'' Safe and sound at home again, let the waters roar, Jack.'' :''Safe and sound at home again, let the waters roar, Jack.'' :''Chorus'' :''Long we've tossed on the rolling

main Main may refer to: Geography *Main River (disambiguation), multiple rivers with the same name *Ma'in, an ancient kingdom in modern-day Yemen * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *Spanish Main, the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territ ...

, now we're safe ashore, Jack.'' :''Don't forget yer old shipmate, faldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-doe!'' :''Since we sailed from

Plymouth Sound Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a deep inlet or sound in the English Channel near Plymouth in England. Description Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point in Devon, a distance of abo ...

, four years gone, or nigh, Jack.'' :''Was there ever chummies, now, such as you and I, Jack?'' :''Long we've tossed on the rolling main, now we're safe ashore, Jack.'' :''Don't forget yer old shipmate, faldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-doe!'' :''We have worked the self-same gun,

quarterdeck The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on bo ...

division.'' :'' Sponger I and loader you, through the whole commission.'' :''Long we've tossed on the rolling main, now we're safe ashore, Jack.'' :''Don't forget yer old shipmate, faldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-doe!'' :''Oftentimes have we laid out, toil nor danger fearing,'' :''Tugging out the flapping sail to the

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmo ...

earing In sailing, an earing is a small line (rope) used to fasten the corner of a sail to a spar or yard. Background In the Age of Sail, a position at the Weather Earing (the earing at the windward side of the ship) was considered a place of honor fo ...

.'' :''Long we've tossed on the rolling main, now we're safe ashore, Jack.'' :''Don't forget yer old shipmate, faldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-doe!'' :''When the middle watch was on, and the time went slow, boy,'' :''Who could choose a rousing

stave Stave may refer to: Music * Stave (music), used in musical notation * Stanza * The Staves, an English folk rock trio People * Bruce M. Stave (1937–2017), American historian * Joel Stave (born 1992), American football quarterback Place ...

, who like Jack or Joe, boy?'' :''Long we've tossed on the rolling main, now we're safe ashore, Jack.'' :''Don't forget yer old shipmate, faldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-doe!'' :''There she swings, an empty

hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk ...

, not a soul below now.'' :''Number seven starboard

mess The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...

misses Jack and Joe now.'' :''Long we've tossed on the rolling main, now we're safe ashore, Jack.'' :''Don't forget yer old shipmate, faldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-doe!'' :''But the best of friends must part, fair or foul the weather.'' :''Hand yer flipper for a shake, now a drink together.'' :''Long we've tossed on the rolling main, now we're safe ashore, Jack.'' :''Don't forget yer old shipmate, faldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-doe! ''

References

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Media

British patriotic songs Works about the Royal Navy Songs about sailors Royal Navy traditions Sea shanties Songs with unknown songwriters Year of song unknown