written Leighroy Marsh - AUTHOR/SONGWRITER
There is an old pirate called 'One Legged Steve'
Who lives in the same part of town that I do
There’s a sad sorry tale behind the strange name
And the reason that Stephen needs only one shoe!
Was it eaten by sharks?
Or
Lost in the park?
Or
Dropped down a well that was cold, wet and dark?
No!
The truth is more scarier, and really quite sad
And once you have heard it, you may understand
How this unlucky pirate, who wasn’t all bad
Never again, set foot off dry land.
Are you with me my crew? (arrgh)
Well listen close
And I’ll tell you of One Legged Steve and the Ghost
On a dark stormy night, far out in the sea
Cap’n Steven was leaving the heaving to me,
I heaved and I ho’d like a good pirate should
But the storm was too fierce, and it split both the masts
Are you with me my crew? (arrrgh) they all said
And off we were carried, away from our course
Whilst I and the Captain held tight and stood fast
All through the night, the stormy wind blew
It took us away from the places we knew
Until close to an island our good ship did sink
And the captain and crew ended up in the sea
Swimming for shore, as fast as we could
With the clothes on our back and the shoes on our feet
But with nothing to drink - and no food to eat
As I gathered the crew who lay on the beach
Capt’n Stev’n was grieving his loss to the sea
It’s time to set forth and find us some bread
Are you with me my crew? (arrrgh) they all said.
With the beach to the east and the beach to the west
none of us knew - which way we should go.
So the rest of the pirates went straight for the trees
With the Capt’n and I as we thought that was best
We walked through the woods for almost a day,
With no map to guide us or show us the way
Capt’n Steven and I were left in the dark
When on the horizon the sun disappeared
And into the darkness we stumbled and fell
Without any torches, nor flint to make fire
We were lost, that is true with nowhere to hide
Are you with me my crew? (aaargh) they replied
We came to a clearing and laid down our bones,
On the cold, lumpy ground and tried to find rest
I couldn’t find ease on the un-comfy stones
We were tired, we were hungry, we mumbled and moaned
Then we saw in the woods, a strange eerie glow,
I soon felt the fear building up in my chest
As it spat from its lips….a spine chilling groan
It soon came upon us and in the moonlight
We saw its full terror – a hideous sight
Standing 3 meters tall, the ghost of a man
A pirate no less with a patch on his eye,
An earring of gold - the size of a hand
A cutlass as long as the oars in a boat
Are you with me my crew? (arrrrrrrrrrrghh) and we ran
But the half decayed ghost was after our souls
And our tired hungry limbs, were no match for his
He screamed and he wailed and pursued us with rage
As we stumbled and bumped our way back through the wood
Screams from my crew – as they fell to his sword
(aaarrgh) cried the first
The second was worse
The third and fourth fell down dead with a curse
The fifth met his end, impaled on a tree
Until all that was left was the Captain and me
Then, the Skeletal Pirate had me in his sights
I ducked and I dodged and I bobbed and I weaved
I was too quick for him, and just out of reach
By chance, we found a way, out of the wood
And back to the wreckage washed up on the shore
To a small wooden boat which survived the mad storm
And we frantically searched for a paddle or oar
We pushed out the boat and tried to climb in
But the ghost caught a hold of the poor Captains Leg
He dug in his nails, and I recoiled in horror
As he dragged the poor Captain back onto the beach
I raised up the oar that I held in my hand
And brought it down quick on the skeletal arm
It snapped like a twig and the Captain was free
And I dragged him away from the Ghost Pirate’s reach.
We rowed for our lives, without stopping for breath
Til’ the Ghost on the Island was all but a speck
Then I looked at the wounds on the poor Captains leg.
Five puncture holes, at the base of the knee
A terrible wound, like nothing I’d seen
Blackened like frostbite, but warm to the touch
Oozing out puss, with the stench of gangrene
The poor captain’s life was slipping away
If I didn’t act quick, He couldn’t be saved
I sharpened the oar on the side of the boat
And looked my poor Captain, straight in the eyes
“It’s time to be brave, my Cap’n” I said
And without any rum and for over an hour
I suffered his wails and his tears and his cries.
Each night ever since, the Captain awakes
In a feverish sweat, tormented by dreams
He is chased through the night by a skeletal ghost
And he stumbles on crutches, through dark lonely woods
With no-one to help him or stand at his stead
He cries out aloud “ Are you with me my crew”
(Aaaargh ) they reply – As they rise from the dead.
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Posted by Kul Cuthbert
