“‘To South Australia we’re bound to go—
Heave away, heave away.
Let the wind blow high or low—
We’re bound to South Australia.
We’re going home and don’t give a damn—
Heave away, heave away.
For the captain, the mate or any other man—
We’re bound to South Australia.’
“‘Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest’ never was used as a chanty. It would require too much bass; but it was used as a drone, which it is. An abstracted man would use a line, or may be, the whole verse, or the first line, used as derision. For illustration:
“When I was last at the Press Club a question pertaining to the sea came up. One man sought the dictionary. To express my contempt I repeated the first line. ‘We have no use for the dictionary. To hell with it,’ expresses the idea. We sailors have a language of our own. It is ours, it is up to us to put you right when the impossible is said. I quote two such lines: