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The Bark Gay Head 
The Bark Gay Head 
Come all you young Americans And listen to my ditty It's all ahout a whaling bark That left New Bedford City The bark Gay Head it is her name She's known hoth far and near Her rules and regulations They are most awful queer 
cho: Cheer boys cheer for the Gay Head and crew For growling and soldiering when there are things to do; We never will, we never will, we never can he high We want three thousand barrels of oil, root hog or die. 
The place this noble bark was huilt Was Mattapoisett town The workrmen worked for a dollar a day The boss was Jonathan Brown She was launched upon July the tenth At eight o'clock P.M. And numerous crowds assembled round To see them dump her down. 
The Captain's name was Jenny From Mattapoisett town He walks upon the quarter-deck And there you'll see him frown He is the meanest captain That ever you did see He's crossed the Atlantic several times From New Bedford to Africee 
We'll cheer my nohle hearties For the larboard boat and crew Mr. Hazzard's their boat leader He's a gentleman good and true There's Hussy John and Taylor Dick And a hoatsteerer named Couch And when they lower in their boat They know what they're about 
And we will cheer my hearties For the starboard boat and crew For the blowing of their pulling Which is something they can do When they lower in their boat They do the hest they can Ryder he's the biggest blower And he's the smallest man. 
We have the noble waist boat Whose crew are very good Their boatheader is a Dartmouth man His name is Mr. Wood. And when they lower in their boat They don't make any noise But when you talk of pulling They are the very boys. 
We have another boat now It's called the bow boat. She's one of the jolliest crafts That ever yet did float Hiller pulls the bow oar And Blankenship the stroke Dexter pulls harpooner And Jenny heads the boat. 
From Songs the Whalemen Sang, Huntington Collected from the journal of Stella, 1860 tune is Root Hog or Die