Antiguan Graveyard

This track is an original by The Teacups, friends of the Longest Johns and a fantastic band in their own right. It was written by the The Teacups' own Kate Locksley and released on their 2015 album Of Labour and Love.

Of the song, Kate has said:

Antigua was under British rule in the eighteenth century and its sugar plantations were crucial to British trade. It sits between islands that were held by Britain's deadly rivals, the French. As such, it needed protection, and it was every seaman's worst nightmare to be posted there; if the yellow fever didn't get you, you could look forward to being poisoned by the rum, which was bottled in lead. I wrote this song after watching a documentary which told how a recent monsoon had uncovered a graveyard full of British sailors on the island. The tune is inspired by an Irish jig, 'Coleraine'.

Lyrics

To Antigua our valiant ships they do sail
Through dangerous waters and many a gale
To lay in English Harbour, off Galleon Beach
The furthest west corner of our empire to reach

To serve George, our king, and protect British trade
From the Frenchman's loud cannon, and the Spaniard's sharp blade
Now Englishmen all they have no need to fear
For the tropical waters of our empire's frontier

{Chorus}
We're off to Antigua all on the salt sea
Though we care not for coffee, nor chocolate, nor tea
We'll drink up our rum for it renders us numb
And we'll hope to be home by the end of the year

Now our anchor is lowered upon the sea floor
And we live aboard ship, never stepping on shore
The sea is a sewer, for there is no tide
And without any shore leave where can we hide?

A fiery furnace burns tar on the land
And we're trapped in our ship at the captain's command
The air thick with brimstone, it burns in our throats
In this far away prison, we find that hell floats

{Chorus}

Antigua's plantations, they grow thick with gold
A sea of cane sugar brings fortune untold
And we sailors all do our best to survive
While hundreds and thousands of slaves they do drive

There's a stench on the gun deck, no fresh air or light
And the heat never leaves us come day or come night
Our food, it is rotten, the water is green
Such torment around us you never have seen

{Chorus}

The sugar cane's crushed and the rum, it flows free
Stored in lead bottles, we drink it with glee
It makes our heads sore and our bellies do ache
Our sea legs desert us, our hands, they do shake

And then comes the fever no man can escape
If your skin, it turns yellow, by then it's too late
Chills in your body and aches in your back
It is the foul curse of every poor Jack

{Bridge}

Farewell to our comrades, we'll see them no more
They're wrapped in their hammocks to be buried on shore
It's fever, not fighting, takes sailors away
And leaves many a ghost ship afloat in the bay

{Chorus x2}

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