Come all ye maids both near and far
And listen to my ditty
'Twas near Gravesend there lived a maid
She was both neat and pretty.
Her true love he was pressed away
And drowned in some foreign sea
Which caused this fair maid for to say
"I'll be a rambling sailor.""
This maid she was resolved to go
Across the foaming ocean,
She was resolved to let them know,
How she could gain promotion.
With jacket blue and trousers white,
Just like a sailor neat and tight,
The sea it was the heart's delight
Of the female rambling sailor.
In storm upon the raging sea
She was ready at her station
Her mind was calm as calm could be
She loved her occupation
When in the calm this damsel young
She charmed the sailors with her tongue
As she walked the deck and sweetly sung
This female rambling sailor
Though never did her courage fail
'Twas stormy seas and winter gale
O'er this fair maiden did prevail
This female rambling sailor
From stem to stern she freely went
Where oft-times she'd been many
Her hand did slip and down she fell
She calmly bade this world farewell.
When her lily-white breast in sight it came
It appeared to be a female frame
Rebecca Young it was the name
Of the female rambling sailor.
On the River Thames she's known real well
No sailor there could her excel
One tear let fall as a last farewell
To the female rambling sailor.
