A New Garland/Captain Ward and the Rainbow

by Anonymous

For other versions of this work, see Captain Ward and the Rainbow.

Captain Ward and the Rainbow

Come all you jolly sailors,
who live by tuck of drum,
I'd tell you of a Robber,
 who on the seas is come;
His name is called Captain Ward,
 as you the truth may hear,
For there has not been such a Robber
 these hundred and fifty years.

First he beguil’d the wild Turk,
 and then the King of Spain;
Pray how can he prove true to us,
 when he prov'd false to them.
He wrote a letter to the King,
 on the fifteenth of July,
To see if he would accept of him,
 and all his jolly sailors bold,
And for a ransom he would give
 two thousand pounds in gold.

O no, O no, then said the king,
 for no such thing shall be,
For he has been a Robber,
 and a Robber on the sea.
O then said Captain Ward, brave boys,
 let's put to sea again,
And see what prizes we'll find out
 on the coasts of France and Spain.

Then we espy'd a lofty ship,
 a sailing from the West;
She was loaded with silk and sattins,
 and cambricks of the best.
Then we bore up to her straightway,
 they thinking of no such thing,
O we robb'd them of their merchandise,
 then bade them tell their king.

Now when the king had heard of this,
 his heart was grieved sore.
To think his ships could not get past
 as they had done before;
Then he caus'd build a worthy ship,
 and a worthy ship of fame;
O the Rainbow she was call'd,
 and the Rainbow was her name.

They rigged her, and freighted her,
 and sent her to the sea,
With a hundred and fifty mariners
 to bear her company;
They sailed east, they sailed west,
 but nothing could espy
Till they came to the very same port
 Where Captain Ward did lye.

O who is the owner of this ship?
 the Rainbow then did cry;
O here I am, says Captain Ward,
 let no man me deny!
What brought you here you cowardly dog,
 you ugly wanton thief?
What makes you ly in danger,
 and keep your king in grief?

You lie, you lie, says Captain Ward,
 so well's I hear you lie;
I never robb'd an Englishman,
 an Englishman but three:
As for the worthy Scotsmen,
 I love them as my own:
My chief delight is to pull
 the French and Spaniards down!

Then say'st thou so bold Robber?
 we'll soon humble thy pride;
And then they charg'd their great guns,
 and gave Ward a full broadside.
Fire on, fire on, says Captain Ward,
 I value you not a pin;
If you be brass in the outside,
 I am as good steel within.

They fought from eight in the morning
 till eight o'clock at night;
Till once the gallant Rainbow
 began to take her flight.
Go home, go home, says Captain Ward,
 and tell your king from me,
It he reigns king upon dry land,
 I will reign king on the sea.