''Twas on the _Saucy Soup Tureen_,
That Sam was foremast hand,
When on the quarter-deck was seen
A maiding fit to be a Queen
With her old Uncle stand.
'And Sam at once was sunk all
In passion deep and grand,
But this here aged Uncle
He was the Hearl of Buncle
And Sam a foremast hand.
'And Sam he chewed salt junk all
Day with grief forlorn,
Because the Hearl of Buncle,
The lovely maiding's Uncle,
Regarded him with scorn.
'When sailin' by Barbado,
The _Saucy Soup Tureen_,
Before she could be stayed-O
Went down in a tornado,
And never more was seen.
[Illustration]
'The passengers were sunk all
Beneath the ragin' wave,
The maiding and her Uncle,
The Noble Hearl of Buncle,
Were saved by Sam the Brave.
[Illustration]
'He saved the Noble Buncle
By divin' off the poop.
The maiding in a funk all
He, saved along with Uncle
Upon a chicken coop.
'And this here niece of Buncle,
When they got safe to land,
For havin' saved her Uncle,
The Noble Hearl of Buncle,
She offered Sam her hand.
'And that old Uncle Buncle,
For joy of his release,
On Burgundy got drunk all
Day in Castle Buncle,
Which hastened his decease.
'The lovely maiding Buncle
Inherited the land;
And, now her aged Uncle
Has gone, the Hearl of Buncle
Is Sam, the foremast hand.'
[Illustration]
'Of course,' said Sam modestly, 'the song goes too far in sayin' as how
I married the Hearl's niece, because, for one thing, I ain't a marryin'
man, and for another thing, what she really sez to me when we got to
land was, "You're a noble feller, an' here's five shillin's for you, and
any time you happen to be round our way, just give a ring at the
servants' bell, and there'll always be a feed waitin' for you in the
kitchen." However, you've got to have songs to fill in the time with,
and when a feller's got a rotten word like Buncle to find rhymes for,
there's no sayin' how a song'll end.'
'The exigencies of rhyme,' said Bunyip Bluegum, 'may stand excused from
a too strict insistence on verisimilitude, so that the general gaiety is
thereby promoted. And now,' he added, 'before retiring to rest, let us
all join in song,' and grasping each other's hands they loudly sang--