"THE MUTINY"

by Keith Lancaster

We were all bound for breadfruit land
The place of sun and sea and sand
With Captain Bligh in charge of our ship
Through the tropics we did dip.

Storm and tempest we went through
Our tiny ship, with our little crew,
No one new our prospects then,
If they did.. well, we'd begin again.

The storms got worse and tempers frayed
Captain Bligh, was never afraid,
Stood his ground through thick and thin
Nothing seemed to worry him.

At last the shore, was in sight for us
We cheered and prayed and made a fuss,
Soon girls and love were in pursuit
We were in the land, of Bread Fruit.

We were so happy on that little Isle,
Why I swear I even saw the C'ptain smile,
But "time" the "leveller" made us leave,
So we boarded our ship and left at speed!

The men were miserable angry and sad,
They were thinking of the things they had
While they were in Tahiti, that Isle of love,
..Some even prayed to God above!

Discontent and anger soon began,
Bligh started behaving like a possessed man,
He'd rant and rave and moan forever
He got worse, and so did the weather!

Mutiny was mentioned, and then forgot,
Relationships were blowing cold then hot.
I realised then that there was no way,
...Bligh was finished, he'd had his day.

The time was set for the Mutiny to begin,
Fletcher was in charge, he wanted to "sin",
Each one of us there, that wanted to "burn"
Knew that to England now, could he never return!

We cast the captain over the side,
With a boat and the sun for his only guide,
We dared not look hard at this broken man
We all knew somehow,.. he'd made a plan!

We watched the boat pull away from our ship
We saw the oars in the water dip,
We knew in our hearts, that we were wrong,
He hadn't deserved this, he was strong !

We sailed the Bounty on the foam
Our destination was complete unknown,
We had no idea where we should go,
Don't they say, "You reap as you sow?"

The crew were quiet, didn't say much now
We just wanted to land,.. somewhere,.. anyhow,
We stood most days before the masts,
The rebels, the mutineers, the outcasts.

But our deed was done, there was no going back,
For us it was life, or the hangman's sack,
We had to find an Isle, that was so secure
Where no one could find us, anymore.

So be it, one day came a shout
That made the crew stand all about,
"Land Ahoy", was the call of the day,
I wondered if Bligh, had found his way ??

The men went berserk, there was much joy,
Some had even kissed the midship's boy,
There was laughter and singing, from all around,
But from me,.. you couldn't hear a sound.

For I knew that our journey had just begun
And I felt so sad, I just wanted my Mum,
I wanted to see my family again
Not sail on the sea of the Spanish Main!!

We arrived in Pitcairn, like thieves in the night
Not knowing the dangers, not knowing the fright,
We just felt elated, to be on dry land
But the timer was turned, we were out of sand!

We were men that were cursed and that was the truth,
There was no going home to visit sweet Ruth,
No kiss from my Mum or moan from my Dad
So all in all we were so sad!!

Now I've been on this Isle for many a day,
And I so miss my family, all of the way,
I want to go home, back to my land
Back to my heart, my life, my Mand'.

The Bounty was burned on that overcast day
We all watched that ship's fire, what could we say ??
We were here, marooned, like rats in a trap
Running the final race,.. the last lap.

God knows, how we managed to ever cope!
No England, no London, no fog, no smoke,
I prayed every night to be rescued or saved
Lusted for home, longed for it,... craved!!

Well I'm right up to date with our terrible deed
Looking back on it now, "Was there any need?"
I think somehow, I should have stayed with Bligh
Should I say that now, or tell a lie?

I'm getting older and I want to go home
Away to England, across the foam,
To see my wife, my child, my bairn,
Instead of being here, marooned on Pitcairn!!