The Frigate Abigail Options

[4rum]

The Frigate Abigail

Bad omen sail wi’ the Abigail
Broke her back off Pawcatuck
By her story do a sailor pale
Tis a tale of tainted luck

After war her keel were lain
To haul from found’ries at Vergennes
Wi’ plankin’ left back from Lake Champlain
She were bilt fer gent’ler excursions

W’ite oak an’ red felled an’ hewed
Wi’ trunnels o’ hick’ry an’ gum
Her masts all tall an’ straight an’ good
From Otter Creek they come

Her boardin’ cap’n be Jacob Cawl
A dandy wi’ breath o’ the brew
An’ Cap’n Cawl would turn the fall
O’ vessel, kit and crew

Fer he brung aboard a scut’led lass
From Plattsburgh’s rummy row
An’ hid her ‘neath the furlin’ mast
Til he could hide her below

When to the capn’s cabin pressed
The harlot were n’er more seen
Save fer that bla’gards fest
As the Abigail took to the sea

By all the weight she was laden
Her timbers they fairly groaned
Fer the voyage be her maiden
An’ wi’ a crew never honed

A sailors lot in trial ‘er truck
Tell a woman aboard be bad
On a workin’ ship, bring bad luck
Wi’ no good fortune had

An’ so it were wi’ the Abigail
Scarce a half day out
Flounder’d runnin’ ‘afore a gail
Fer she were not bilt so stout

Laid to ride on Champlain’s calm
She were fit wi’ out her knees
Off Pawcatuck set by storm
She learn’t of angry seas

On inland water, good she were
But of ocean she were not
As nor’easter now unsettled her
The hand of fate were wrought

Fir’s mate’s w’is’le brung Cawl on deck
From the crew came an angry cry
To himself their cap’n owe this wreck
Twas him a’fore Gods eye

The whore in fear run topside
An’ the rest they fin’ly knowed
The deed the cap’n tried to hide
Whilst below he had her stowed

Now plankin’, deck an’ gunnel
Midships, fore and aft
Tore an’ brake each trunnel
An’ loose the helpless craft

A hunnert twenty foot she were
Bilt in thirty two days
Sailin’ under a trait’trous curr
She sank beneath the waves

This one hand were brung ashore
One left to pass this tale
Of omens bite proved once more
On the frigate Abigail.

[mike in brooklyn]

Arrrrgh!

Shiver my timbers - wimmen and ships don't mix.

Liked the poem - was the ship built in Plattsburg?

[Guest_Ellen_*]

You write well in dialect. I was married to a captain in the fishing business and a lot of fishermen and sailors still think a woman is trouble aboard a ship. And indeed it can be so especially when the captain's wife catches her aboard him. This was really an enjoyable read.