Rogue’s Gallery: The Art of the Siren, #30

Song: Martin Carthy & Family: Hog-Eye Man (2:45 minutes)
from Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys, ANTI- 2006.
Official artist site; song playlist.
Buy CD in Germany and elsewhere.
Image: Miss Marjorie Joesting: Rock On: 1926.
Marjorie, the future Mrs. Arthur Lange, was both Miss Washington, D.C., and a Miss America runner-up at Atlantic City in 1926.
National Photo Company Collection glass negative, August 2, 1926.

Lyrics:

1. Oh, hand me down my riding cane,
I’m off to meet my darlin’ Jane.

Chorus: And a hog-eye!
Railroad navvy with his hog-eye,
Steady on a jig with a hog-eye-o,
She wants the hog-eye man!

2. Oh, the hog-eye man is the man for me,
Sailin’ down from o’er the sea. — Chorus.

3. Oh, he came to the shack where Sally did dwell,
He knocked on the door, he rung a bell. — Chorus.

4. Oh, who’s been here since I been gone,
Railroad navvy with his sea boots on. — Chorus.

5. If I catch him here with Sally once more,
I’ll sling me hook, go to sea once more. — Chorus.

6. Oh, Sally’s in the garden sifting sand,
Her hog-eye man sittin’ hand in hand. — Chorus.

7. Oh, Sally’s in the garden, punchin’ dough,
The cheeks of her arse go chuff, chuff, chuff! — Chorus.

8. Oh, I won’t wear a hog-eye, damned if I do,
Got jiggers in his feet and he can’t wear shoes. — Chorus.

9. Oh, the hog-eye man is the man for me,
He is blind and he cannot see. — Chorus.

10. Oh, a hog-eye ship and a hog-eye crew,
A hog-eye mate and a skipper too. — Chorus.

Explanatory liner notes by ANTI-:

A hog-eye was apparently a type of barge used in the canals and rivers of America from the 1850’s onward. Thus, “hog-eye man” was used in derogation by the deep water sailors who used this chantey at the capstan. Many of the original verses to this chantey were far too obscene to have ever found their way into print.