Down Trinidad

Said to be collected from a Welsh Sailor by James Madison Carpenter, there is much speculation about the words of some of the verses!  Carpenter noted that the song was widely sung in Barbados and explained that a burton is a term used for a block & tackle used in hoisting, particularly among longshoremen. “Booch free” and “in the archway” may refer to how barrels were stored in the hold of a ship, or possibly when unloaded.


Down Trinidad

 

Oh Tell me master stevedore, how you stow your cargo?
Way-hay-hay sing Sunnydore
Oh Tell me master stevedore how you store your cargo?
Bound down Trinidad to look for Sunnydore 

So booch free me bully boys, a burton in the archway
Way-hay-hay sing Sunnydore
Said booch free me bully boys, a burton in the archway
Bound down Trinidad to look for Sunnydore 

Oh Trinidad, Oh Trinidad you pretty little harbour
Trinidad, Oh Trinidad you pretty little harbour

What will you do with Sunnydore if ever you should find her
Roll her in the grass my boys, all among the clover

Well tell me mister barber, how do you shave your customers?
I take 'em by the noses and scrape 'em neath the chin-e-os

So hoist em high, an let em dry, the old man's all in clover
Said hoist em high, an let em dry  come rock an roll me over

So tell me mister stevedore, how you stow your cargo?
Oh Tell me mister stevedore how you store your cargo?

 

So booch free me bully boys, a burton in the archway
Way-hay-hay sing Sunnydore
Said booch free me bully boys, a burton in the archway

Bound down Trinidad to look for Sunnydore  (repeat x 3)