Traditional & Folk Songs with lyrics & midi music www.traditionalmusic.co.uk 
The Black Ball Line 
The Black Ball Line 
I served my time on the Black Ball line To me way-ay-ay O Ri-o On the Black Ball line I served my time Hurrah for the Black Ball line! 
The Black Ball ships they are good and true And they are the ships for me and you. 
For once there was a Black Ball ship That fourteen knots an hour* could clip. 
You will surely find a rich gold mine Just take a trip on the Black Ball line. 
Just take a trip to Liverpool To Liverpool, that Yankee school. 
The Yankee sailors you'll see there With their high-top boots and short-cut hair. 
*I know. A knot is a rate of speed, and a knot an hour is bad physics. Stan Hugill says that it was sung this way, though. RG Recorded by LLoyd and MacColl- Haul On the Bowline.