High Barbary

There was a gallant English ship
A-sailing on the sea,
Blow high, blow low, and so say we;
And her Captain he was searching
For a pirate enemy,
Cruising down along the coast
Of the High Barbaree.

"Look ahead, look astern,
Look a-weather and a-lee,"
Blow high, blow low, and so say we;
"Aloft there at the masthead
Just see what you can see,"
Cruising down along the coast
Of the High Barbaree.

"There's nought upon the stern,
There's nought upon the lee,"
Blow high, blow low, and so say we;
"But there's a lofty ship to windward
And she's sailing fast and free,"
Cruising down along the coast
Of the High Barbaree.

"O hail her! O hail her!"
Our gallant Captain cried,
Blow high, blow low, and so say we;
"Are you a man-o-war
Or a privateer?" said he,
Cruising down along the coast
Of the High Barbaree.

"O I am not a man-o-war
Nor privateer," said he;
Blow high, blow low, and so say we;
"But I'm a salt-sea pirate
Whose a-looking for his fee,"
Cruising down along the coast
Of the High Barbaree.

O 'twas broadside to broadside
A long time lay we,
Blow high, blow low, and so say we;
Until we shot her masts away
And blew them in the sea,
Cruising down along the coast
Of the High Barbaree.

Not, strictly speaking, a shanty, 'High Barbaree' was really a forecastle song. Many versions exist but its main theme, an encounter between the English and Barbary pirates, places it roughly in the early eighteenth century while its variants suggest that it was popular enough to be altered considerably through use.