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Andrew Ross (Andrew Rose) 
(alternate:) 
Andrew Ross (Andrew Rose) 
Come all you seamen and give attention And listen for a while to me While I relate of a dreadful murder Which happened on the briny sea 
Andrew Ross*, an Orkney Sailor Whose sufferings now I will explain While on a voyage from Barbado On board the vessel, Martha Jane 
Oh think of what a cruel treatment Without a friend to interpose They whipped and mangled, gagged and strangled The Orkney sailor, Andrew Ross 
The mate and captain daily flogged him With whips and ropes, I'll tell you true While on Andrew Ross' bleeding body Water mixed with salt they threw 
For twenty days thus ill they used him Oh think, what sorrow, grief and shame Was suffered by this gallant sailor On board the vessel Martha Jane 
The captain trained his dogs to bite him While Ross for mercy he did pray And on the deck, his flesh in mouthfuls Torn by the dogs they lay 
Then in a water tank they put him For twelve long hours they kept him there 
While Ross for mercy he was pleading The captain swore none should go near 
The captain ordered him to swallow A thing thereof I shall not name The sailors all grew sick with horror On board the vessel, Martha Jane 
When nearly dean they did release him And on the deck they did him fling In the midst of pain and suffering "Let us be joyful," Ross did say 
The captain swore he'd make him sorry He chained him with an iron bar Was that not a cruel treatment For an honest British tar 
A timber hitch the captain ordered All on a rope to be prepared And Andrew Ross' bleeding body Was then suspended in the air 
Justice then did overtake them Into Liverpool they came And there found guilty of the murder Committed on the briny ocean 
Oh think of what were the captain's feelings When both his mates they were released To think that he alone should suffer He could not for a while believe 
"Oh God," he cries, "Is there no mercy Must my poor wife and children dear Be hounded out by public scorn It nearly drives me to despair 
"Soon after that an hour arrived Captain Rodgers had to die To satisfy offended justice And hangs on yonder gallows high 
I hope his fate will be a warning To all such tyrants who may suppose Who would treat an Orkney sailor As what was done to Andrew Ross 
Note: Rose rhymes better. The third verse was sometimes used as a chorus; first line of that verse sometiomes sung as: "Wasn't that most cruel usage?" RG Tune from Oxford Book of Sea Songs, Palmerrecorded on Folk Songs of Britain Vol 6 
SOF