Ruben Ranzo, an inexperienced sailor is shanghaied aboard a whaling ship. The captain’s daughter takes pity on him, teaches him navigation and the finer points of sailing, marries him and he becomes the finest sailor on the seas.
It has been suggested that Ranzo is a corruption of the name Lorenzo. American whaling ships often recruited Portugese seamen in the Azores, and Ranzo may have been one of these.
* The holy stone resembled a vacuum cleaner in shape, but weighed around twenty-five pounds. A round stone was at the end of a handle. Sand was put on the deck and sailors scrubbed to get the gunk out of the wood.
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
Oh, poor old Ruben Ranzo,
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
Oh, Ranzo was no sailor,
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
He was a New York tailor
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
He was a New York tailor
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
Shanghaied aboard a whaler,
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
They put him holy-stonin’ *
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
And cared not for his groanin’
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
They gave him lashes thirty
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
Because he was so dirty
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
They gave him lashes twenty
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
That’s twenty more than plenty
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
Ah Ranzo nearly fainted
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
When his back with oil was painted
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
The captain gave him thirty
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
His daughter begged for mercy
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
She took him to her cabin
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
And tried to ease his moanin’
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
Oh, she give him rum and water,
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
And a bit more than she ought to,
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
She gave him education
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
And taught him navigation
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
She made him the best sailor
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
On board that New York whaler
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
He married the captain’s daughter
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
And still sails on salt water
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
Now he’s known wherever them whale-fish blow,
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo
As the toughest whaler on the go,
Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo