In Burke's Saloon, among the crowd, 
I heard Bill Brewster boasting loud, 
Boasting loud and boasting long 
A lot of longshore stiffs among. 
And oh! The tales Bill Brewster told 
About his deeds both brave and bold, 
And how he tamed on his last trip 
A tough-nut, hard-case, blue-nose ship, 
Damned the skipper, licked the mate, 
And downed a bosun twice his weight, 
And had 'em eating from his hand, 
Within a week from losing land . . . 
And how he'd fought a whole saloon 
Of jealous Dagoes, to some tune, 
Armed to the teeth with guns and knives, 
And sent 'em howling for their lives, 
And all because the girls, you know, 
They just love Bill Brewster so! 
And somewhere else, off his bat 
He'd laid out six policemen flat, - 
For 'Boys,' said he, 'no fetal error, 
But when I'm roused I'm sure a terror!' 

So off he swaggered with his din 
To find more greenhorns to take in, 
And all his bunch of stiffs did follow 
With all their mouths stretched wide to swallow 
The guff Bill handed 'em, like beer . . . 
And sure enough Bill's yarns to hear 
You'd think no skipper'd stand his ground 
For half-an-hour when Bill was round, 
Nor any mate that sails the sea 
Would dare lay hands on such as he, 
Nor port from Bombay to Brazil 
But trembles just to hear of Bill. 

And yet when Bill's out at sea, 
Why, quite a different chap is he, - 
For he's the sort that likes to shirk 
Such nasty things as jobs of work, 
The sort that never tries to earn 
The pay he well knows how to burn, 
Or stand his trick, or pull his weight, 
Fair and fair like a good shipmate. 
The kind of thing that suits Bill more 
Is hanging round the galley door, 
And licking pots, and peeling spuds, 
And dobying other people's duds, 
And eating up the cabin scraps, 
And sneaking things off other chaps. 
And yet you'd never think how quick 
He'll stir himself to dodge a kick, 
Nor yet how smart aloft he'll shin 
At the sight of a belaying-pin. 
For Bill afloat's like plenty more 
That talk so big when they're ashore, 
And once at sea, you'll quickly find 
His valour's mostly . . . in his mind!