“Oh, do let us hear it, Captain!” urged the children.
With deprecatory coughs and some clearings of the throat the Captain began singing in a nasal tenor the ballad of Bold Manum, a curious rhyme with a salty flavour:
BOLD MANUM
Bold Manum went to sea one day
And it was dreary too,
The dreariest day that ever was seen—
All in the foggy dew.