Roll Boys Roll This song was a West Indian halyard shanty. It is one of the best of the many 'Sally Brown' shanties. The lyrics shown below are from a version Stan Hugill had. According to Hugill, the earliest reference to this shanty was in the 1830s. As with many old shanties, there were evidently several obscene verses in some of the 'Sally Brown' songs. Sally is usually referred to then as a 'bright mulatter' or a 'coloured lady'. The second verse line below "with a bone in her mouth, boys" refers to one of the sails which is slung low in the front of a ship. If you are looking at a ship head on when that sail is up it looks like the figurehead is holding something in her mouth. The phrase "with a bone in her mouth, boys" became a specific reference to heading southward with all sails up. The beginning of a voyage. Music by - Nils Brown, Michiel Schrey, Sean Dagher Lyrics Sally Brown, she's the girl for me, boys Roll boys, roll boys roll Sally Brown, she's the girl for me, boys Way high, Miss Sally Brown Oh way down South, way down South boys Roll boys, roll boys roll Oh bound away, with a bone in her mouth boys Way high, Miss Sally Brown Oh we're rollin' down to Trinidad to see Miss Sally Brown Roll boys, roll boys roll Oh rollin' down to Trinidad to paint the bleedin' town Way high, Miss Sally Brown She's lovely up aloft, an' she's lovely down below Roll boys, roll boys roll She's lovely all the way, me boys, it's all you want to know Way high, Miss Sally Brown She's lovely on the foreyard, lovely on the main Roll boys, roll boys roll She's lovely in the summertime, she's lovely in the rain Way high, Miss Sally Brown Ol' Captain Baker, how do you store yer cargo Roll boys, roll boys roll Some I stow for'ard, boys, an' some I stow aft'er Way high, Miss Sally Brown Oh, there's forty fathom or more below, boys Roll boys, roll boys roll Oh, forty fathom or more below, boys Way high, Miss Sally Brown Oh, way high ya, an' up she rises Roll boys, roll boys roll Oh, way high ya, the blocks is different sizes Way high, Miss Sally Brown Oh, one more pull, don't ya hear the mate a-bawlin? Roll boys, roll boys roll Oh, one more pull, that's the end of all the hawlin' Way high, Miss Sally Brown MAIN MENU / NEXT SONG 
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