Skipper Jan Rebek

Said to have been written by the late Gus Russell, about whom I have been able to find out absolutely nothing! He was probably from North East England. Is it about Jan van Riebeeck, the Dutchman who founded and was first Governor of Cape Town? He seems not to have been a very nice man…

 

Skipper Jan Rebek
 
Who’s the king of the fighting Dutch?
          ‘Skipper Jan Rebek’
And who do the sailors fear so much?
          ‘Skipper Jan Rebek’
 
‘And it’s
Ja Ja leave your hammocks
Ja Ja hands on deck
Ja Ja break yer backs for Skipper Jan Rebek’
 
And when he got a boat of his own
It was brute force kept him on the throne
 
And who can drink his weight in beer
And only takes two baths a year
 
And who brought all the tea from China?
And sold it all in the Carolina
 
Who’s the king of the fighting Dutch?
And who do the sailors fear so much?