Sheep on the Deep
Hymnal Index | Ship's Company Website

When I was once in Baltimore
A man came up to me and cried,
"Come, I have eighteen hundred sheep
To Glasgow bound on Tuesday's tide."

Sheep, sheep, do you know the tide?
Yes, yes, we know the tide.
Sheep, sheep, do you know the tide?
Oh yes, we know the tide.


The first night we were out at sea
Those sheep were quiet in their mind.
The second night they cried with fear--
They smelt no pastures in the wind.

Sheep, sheep, don't you know the wind? (etc.)

They sniffed, poor things, for their green fields,
They cried so loud I could not sleep.
They would not eat, they would not drink,
But bleated o'er the salt sea deep.

Sheep, sheep, don't you know the deep? (etc.)

To sort the living from the dead,
Inside the pens we crawled each day,
And ere we came to Glasgow town,
Five hundred sheep had passed away.

Sheep, sheep, don't you know the way? (etc.)

For all of fifty shillings down
I sailed across the salt sea deep.
For fifty thousand shillings down
I would not sail again with sheep.

Sheep, sheep, don't you know the sheep?
Oh yes, we know the sheep.
For fifty million shillings down
I would not sail again with sheep.

Sheep, sheep, don't you know the tide
Oh yes, we know the tide.
Sheep, sheep, you're bound to ride
Sheep on the deep and how they cried--
Sheep on the deep and how they cried.