Lyrics

Fathom the Bowl

Come all ye bold fellows that have to this place come,
And we’ll sing in the praise of good brandy & rum,
Let’s lift up our glasses, good cheer is our goal,
Bring in the punch ladle, we’ll fathom the bowl.

(Chorus)
We’ll fathom the bowl, we’ll fathom the bowl,
Bring in the punch ladle, we’ll fathom the bowl.

From France we do get brandy and from Jamaica comes rum,
Sweet oranges & lemons from Portugal come,
But stout, beer & cider are England’s control,
Bring in the punch ladle, we’ll fathom the bowl. (Chorus)

Oh, my wife she do disturb me as I lie at my ease,
She does as she likes and she says as she please,
My wife she’s the devil, she’s black as the coal,
Bring in the punch ladle, we’ll fathom the bowl. (Chorus)

Oh, my father he do lie in the depths of the sea,
No stone at his head, but what matters to he,
Here’s a gallon of strong cider, his death to console,
Bring in the punch ladle, we’ll fathom the bowl. (Chorus)

Song Notes

The earliest printed broadsides are Such (London, between 1863 and 1885), Fortey (London, between 1858 and 1885), Hedges (London) and Pitts (London).  The song was published in 1891 in a songbook, “English Folk Songs” by William Alexander Barrett. It was collected by Sabine Baring-Gould, Cecil Sharp (1907) and George Gardiner (Hampshire 1906). There is almost no variation in the text. It is also known as “The Punch Ladle” or “Bowl Bowl”.

It is a so-called “catalogue song”, similar to “(Good Luck to The) Barley Mow” and “All For Me Grog”.  This is a maritime-themed song, also, by virtue of the subject of the fourth verse.

This song was recorded my many folk and maritime musical artists, including The Watersons, Cyril Tawney, Cliff Haslam, Gillie McPherson, Tom & Chris Kastle, and others.  It is inappropriately included in “Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag (Sea Shanty Edition) and Johnny Depp’s “Rogues’ Gallery” – it is not a sea shanty.