Christmas at Sea The Longest Johns

The sheets were frozen hard, and they cut the naked hand;
The decks were like a slide, where a seamen scarce could stand;
The wind was a nor'wester, blowing squally off the sea;
And cliffs and spouting breakers were the only things a-lee

They heard the surf a-roaring before the break of day;
But 'twas only with the peep of light we saw how ill we lay
We tumbled every hand on deck instanter, with a shout
And we gave her the maintops'l, and stood by to go about

All day we tacked and tacked between the South Head and the North;
All day we hauled the frozen sheets, and got no further forth;
All day as cold as charity, in bitter pain and dread
For very life and nature we tacked from head to head

We gave the South a wider berth, for there the tide-race roared;
But every tack we made we brought the North Head close aboard:
We saw the cliffs and houses, and the breakers running high
And the coastguard in his garden, with his glass against his eye

The frost was on the village roofs as white as ocean foam;
The good red fires were burning bright in every 'long-shore home;
The windows sparkled clear, and the chimneys volleyed out;
And I vow we sniffed the victuals as the vessel went about

The bells upon the church were rung with a mighty jovial cheer;
For it's just that I should tell you how (of all days in the year)
This day of our adversity was blessed Christmas morn
And the house above the coastguard's was the house where I was born