Oh there was a lofty ship and she sailed upon the sea
And the name of the ship it was the Golden Vanity
She feared she would be taken by her Turkish enemy
As she sailed by the lowland sea…
Up steps the cabin boy just the age of twelve and three
And he says to the skipper what will you give to me
If I swim along the side of our Turkish enemy
And I sink her by the lowland sea…
Now I will give you silver and I will give you gold
And the hand of my daughter if you should be so bold
As to swim along the side of our Turkish enemy
And you sink her by the lowland sea…
The boy he made all ready and then over board jumped he
And he swam along the side of our Turkish enemy
And with his little drilling tool he bore her holes three
And she sank by the lowland sea…
The boy he turned around and then back again swam he
And he called to the skipper, hey haul me from the sea
But the skipper did not heave for his daughter he did need
And he left him in the lowland sea…
The crew they hauled him up but upon the deck he died
So they wrapped him in his blanket so very soft and wide
And they cast him overboard to drift upon the tide
But he sank by the lowland sea…
Now there is a lofty ship and she sails on the sea
But she sails without her cabin boy the age of twelve and three
She fears she will be taken by her Turkish enemy
As she sails by the lowland sea…
Traditional, arranged by Trevor Mills, SOCAN