A Famous Sea-Fight between Captain Ward and the
RAINBOW. Tune is, Captain Ward:
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STrike up you lusty Gallants,
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with Musick and sound of Drum,
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For we have descryed a Rower,
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upon the Sea is come,
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His name is Captain Ward,
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right well it doth appear,
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There has not been such a Rower,
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found out this thousand year.
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For he hath sent unto the King,
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the sixth of January,
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Desiring that he might come in,
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with all his company.
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And if your King will let me come,
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till I my tale have told,
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I will bestow for my ransome,
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full thirty Tun of Gold.
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O nay, O nay, then says our King,
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O nay this may not be,
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To yield to such a Rower
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myself will not agree.
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He hath deceiv'd the French-man,
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likewise the King of Spain,
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And how can he be true to me,
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that has been false to twain.
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With that our King provided,
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a Ship of worthy fame,
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Rainbow is she called,
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if you would know her Name.
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Now the gallant Rainbow,
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she Rows upon the Sea,
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Five hundred gallant Seamen,
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to bear her company.
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The Dutch-man and the Spaniard
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she made them for to flye,
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Also the bonny French man,
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as she met them on the Sea.
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When as th[i]s gallant Rainbow,
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did come where Ward did lye,
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Where is the Captain of this Ship?
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this gallant Rainbow did cry,
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O that am I says Captain Ward,
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there's no man bids me lye,
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And if thou art the Kings fair Ship
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thou art welcome unto me.
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I'le tell thee what sa[y]s Rainbow,
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our King is in great grief,
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That thou sh[o]uldst lye up[o]n the Sea,
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and play the arrant thief.
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And will not let our Merchants Ships,
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pa[s]s as they did before,
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Such tydings to our King is come,
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which grieves his heart full sore.
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With that this gallant Rainbow,
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she shot out of her pri[d]e,
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Full fifty gallant brass pieces,
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charged on every side.
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Altho[u]gh these gallant Shooters,
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prevaile[d] not a pin,
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Though they were br[a]ss on the out side
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yet Ward was was steel w[ith]in
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Shoot on, shoot on, says Captain Ward,
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your sport we[l]l pleaseth me,
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And he that first gives over,
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shall yield unto the Sea.
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I never wrong'd an English ship,
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but Turk and King of Spain,
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For and the jovial Dutch-man,
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as I met on the Main.
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If I had known your King,
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but one two years before,
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I would have sav'd brave Essex life,
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whose death did grieve me sore,
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Go tell the King of England,
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go tell him thus from me,
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If he reign King of all the Land,
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I will Reign King at Sea.
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With that the gallant Rainbow shot,
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and shot and shot in vain
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And left the Rowers Company,
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and return'd home again.
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Our Royal King of England,
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your ship's return'd again,
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For Wards ship is so strong,
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it never will be tane.
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O everlasting says our King,
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I have lost Jewels three,
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Which would have gone unto the seas,
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and brought proud Ward to me.
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The first was Lord Clifford,
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Earl of Cumberland,
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The second was the Lord Mountjoy,
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as you shall understand.
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The third was brave Essex,
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from field would never flee,
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Which would a gone unto the Seas,
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and brought proud Ward to me.
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