My Johnny Was a Shoemaker

The earliest record of this song appears to be from the singing of W J Florence, an artist touring the UK from America in the 1860s. He may have written it, but there is much speculation that he modelled the tune on a pre-existing one.  It is known to have been sung on board merchant ships (in the foc’sle) and also turned up in the Antipodes in the mid 1800s.  It was made popular in the folk revival by Steeleye Span.  It would appear that “Johnny” was press ganged.

My Johnny Was a Shoemaker


My Johnny was a shoemaker,
And dearly he loved me
My Johnny was a shoemaker,
But now he's gone to sea;
With nasty pitch to soil his hands
And to sail across the stormy sea,
My Johnny was a shoemaker.

His jacket was a deep sky blue,
And curly was his hair ,
His jacket was a deep sky blue,
It was, I do declare;
To reef the topsail now he's gone,
And to sail across the stormy sea
My Johnny was a shoemaker.

And he will be a captain by and bye,
With a brave and gallant crew,
And he will be a captain by and bye,
With a sword and a spyglass too,
And when he is a captain bold,
He'll come back to marry me,
My Johnny was a shoemaker.