Chorus:
So blow ye winds, heigh-ho
A-roving I will go,
I’ll stay no more on England’s shore,
so let the music play-ay-ay,
I’m off on the morning train,
I’ll cross the bounding main.
I’m off to my love with a boxing glove,
ten thousand miles away.

The Bosun’s mate was very sedate,
yet fond of amusement too.
He played hop-scotch with the starboard watch,
while the Captain tickled the crew.
The gunner we had was apparently mad,
for he sat on the after ra-a-ail,
and he fired salutes with the Captain’s boots
in the teeth of the booming gale.  (Chorus.)

The Captain sat on the Commodore’s hat
and dined in a royal way,
off roasted pigs and pickles and figs,
and gummery bread each day.
The Cook he was Dutch and behaved as such
for the diet he gave the crew - oo - oo,
was a couple of tons of hot-cross buns
served up with sugar and glue.  (Chorus.)

And we all felt ill as mariners will
On a diet that's cheap and rude;
And we shivered and shook as we dipped the cook
In a tub of his gluesome food.
Then nautical pride we laid aside,
And we cast the vessel ashore [or-or]
On the Gulliby Isles, where the Poohpooh smiles,
And the Anagazanders roar.  (Chorus.)

This is a charming and befuddled song about a ship of fools. Maggie’s Mom, Anne, recalled this song from her memories of her childhood, one of the favorites sung at summer camp. This may be from a British music hall performance. In the 1920’s, British music hall performances were done in Gilbert-and-Sullivan style and were enormously popular.

Additional lyrics gathered by Donald A. Duncan from his website:  Poetry of the Sea.  He notes that the chorus of this song is borrowed from another song, "Ten Thousand Miles Away."