"Sailor Ben Hope" (1884)
Sung by
Stanley Vernon
of Barlow, Wilson & Co's Minstrels
Words by Oswald.
Composed expressly for Stanley Vernon,
by W[illia]m. Warwick
Published by
S. Brainard's Sons
  Cleveland & Chicago.
Howes & Adams, Bloomington, ILL.
Lee & Walker, Philadelphia
C. J. Whitney, Detroit, MIch.
Dyer & Howard, St. Paul, Minn.
A. Waldteufel, San Francisco.
Wiley B. Allen, Portland, Oregon.
Phillips & Grew, Atlanta, GA
Conover Bros., Kansas City, MO
H. A. French, Nashville
W. J. Morgan & Co., Lith., Cleveland.
Plate No. 15851---3.
[Source: 183/041@Levy]

1. One dirty night, by the broken light of a wat’ry clouded moon,
We saw that the sky was as black as pitch, and looked for a big storm soon,—
And the skipper said as he shook his head,
We’re in far a rare old gale,
So be’s’ain pipe all hands on deck for we’re bound to shorten sail.

CHORUS [sung after each VERSE]
Reef topsails, lads, lay out the yard, yo ho, yo ho,
Reef topsails, lads, aloft aloft away we go!
Down, down comes the gale my lads, quick, shorten sail!
Reef, reef the topsails lads, yo ho, yo ho.

2. Up flew each hand at the Capt’s command, but the first was young Ben Hope,
The whole ship’s pride and as fine a salt as over yet handled rope,
But the yard snapped short with a loud report,
As the storm broke fierce and free,
And we stood aghast for Ben was cast right into the boiling sea.

3. We mourned our mate and his awful fate, and when all ashore we came,
I goes to tell his Poll the news and feels uncommon glum,
When out comes Ben as lively then,
As if he’d ne’er been drowned!
He’d been picked up and carried home, and he sings out safe and sound.