There was a ship of Rio Sailed out into the blue, And nine and ninety monkeys Were all her jovial crew. From bo'sun to the cabin boy, From quarter to caboose, There weren't a stitch of calico To breech 'em -- tight or loose; From spar to deck, from deck to keel, From barnacle to shroud, There weren't one pair of reach-me-downs To all that jabbering crowd. But wasn't it a gladsome sight, When roared the deep-sea gales, To see them reef her fore and aft, A-swinging by their tails! Oh, wasn't it a gladsome sight, When glassy calm did come, To see them squatting tailor-wise Around a keg of rum! Oh, wasn't it a gladsome sight, When in she sailed to land, To see them all a-scampering skip For nuts across the sand!
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Confirmed with Peacock Pie. A Book of Rhymes by Walter de la Mare, London: Constable & Co. Ltd., [1920], page 32.
Text Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), appears in Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes, in 1. Up and Down, no. 18, first published 1913 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Edward Allam , "The ship of Rio", published <<1956 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mark Andrews (1875 - 1939), "The ship of Rio", published 1932 [ voice and piano ], in Music of Many Lands and Peoples [sung text not yet checked]
- by Violet Balestreri Archer (1913 - 2000), "The ship of Rio", <<1952 [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "The ship of Rio", 1932, note: early school-song  [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Vance Campbell , "Nine and ninety monkeys", published <<1940 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Theodore Ward Chanler (1902 - 1961), "The Ship of Rio", published 1940, from Four Rhymes from Peacock Pie, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bainbridge Crist (1883 - 1969), "The ship of Rio", published <<1940 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Brian Blyth Daubney (b. 1929), "The ship of Rio", published 1958 [ unison chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Dorothy Dushkin , "The ship of Rio", published 1955 [ SSA chorus, woodwinds (trio) or piano ], from Three Songs for Women's Voices and Woodwind Trio or Piano [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "The ship of Rio", 1932, published 1933 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Terence Greaves (b. 1933), "The ship of Rio", published 1965 [ 2-part chorus and piano ], from Follow my leader [sung text not yet checked]
- by Archibald Jacob , "The ship of Rio", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by J. Frederick Keel (1871 - 1954), "The Ship of Rio" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Anthony Francis Dominic Milner (b. 1925), "The ship of Rio", published 1959 [ SSA chorus a cappella ], from Peacock Pie [sung text not yet checked]
- by George Norman Peterkin (1886 - 1982), "Nine and ninety monkeys", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michael Edward Rose (b. 1934), "The ship of Rio", published 1967 [ women's or children's chorus in unison and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Edwin M. Smith (b. 1938), "The ship of Rio", published 1936 [ women's chorus or boys' chorus in unison and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Gillies Whittaker (1876 - 1944), "The ship of Rio", published 1919, Curwen [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 133