Hoorah for a Race Down the Lakes
Ivan H. Walton - Windjammers: Songs of the Great Lakes Sailors
Ivan H. Walton - Windjammers: Songs of the Great Lakes Sailors
Oh, we towed out the Moonlight, dropped the tug in the gale,
With the Porter before us and the Law on our tail, See her canvas going on to a hearty halyard song, Hooray for a race down the Lakes! Hooray for a race down the Lakes – down the Lakes, Hooray for a race down the Lakes. See her canvas go on to a hearty halyard song, Hooray for a race down the Lakes! Oh, the wind’s northwest and a’blowin’ all the night, See them big seas roll with their bonnets all white – And off our sta’b’rd rail are half a hundred sail, Hooray for a race down the Lakes! To the windw’rd of the Law we points her long jib boom, An’ high atop her main truck goes the old cabin broom – Oh, we’ll never shorten sail ‘til we bury her lee rail, Hooray for a race down the Lakes! The rainbows playing forward and the foaming wake aft, An’ her decks all aslant beneath her groaning masts – See the old man grin as she bullies in the wind, Hooray, for a race down the Lakes! See us walk upon the foremast, o’er our stern the dimming shore, As we leave the Law, the Danforth and others by the score – See us gaining to the lead and pay the groaning masts no heed, Hooray for a race down the Lakes! Oh, we’ll skirt the western shore, for ahead is Milwaukee, An’ all day and night we'll drive her, ‘til the Straits are on our lee – Let the old ponds roar as they’ve often done before, Hooray for a race down the Lakes! Hooray for a race down the Lakes – down the Lakes, Hooray for a race down the Lakes. See her canvas going on to a hearty halyard song, Hooray for a race down the Lakes! |