THE KING MUST BE DESPERATE

(Tune "All Things Are Quite Silent" as performed by Steeleye Span)

My love and I were walking one evening in spring
And the bat and the night-owl so sweetly did sing
When they leapt on my true love and knocked him out cold
And they pressed him into service as a sailor so bold.

I could not prevent them, my love they did take,
But they'll get a surprise when at last he doth wake
O the king must be desperate for to press such as he
For my love is not fitted to plough the salt sea.

With his boots lined with earth sure the sea he'll not fear
He'll be glad he adopted that foreigner's idea
But they'll have to get used to his quaint little ways
'T is a strange kind of sailor who sleeps through the days

O my love is a patriot, both loyal and true,
And to fight for his country there's naught he won't do,
But the king, etc.

If he climbs on the rigging they'll marvel at his grace
When he comes down head first with a smile on his face
And the winds he will conjure so strong and so fair
With my love at the helm they'll be safe anywhere

With his skills and his talents through the ranks he will rise
And he'll silence all doubts with one glance of his eyes
Sure the King, etc.

And when he's a captain with a ship of his own
He'll come back for me and together we'll roam
And we'll fight for our nation without any fears
Just as long as the Frenchmen don't fire wooden spears.

O I would they'd not pressed him away for so long
But a vampire in the Navy cannot go far wrong
And the king may be glad that he pressed him to sea
For the flower of the Navy my true love will be.