IN LOWESTOFT a boat was laid
Mark well what I do say
And she was built for the herring trade
But she has gone a-rovin’, a-rovin’, a-rovin’,
The Lord knows where !

They gave her Government coal to burn,
And a Q.F. gun at bow and stern,
And sent her out a-rovin’, a-rovin’, a-rovin’,
The Lord knows where !

Her skipper was mate of a bucko ship
Which always killed one man per trip,
So he is used to rovin’, a-rovin’, a-rovin’,
The Lord knows where !

Her mate was skipper of a chapel in Wales,
And so he fights in topper and tails -
Religious tho’ rovin’, a-rovin’, a-rovin’,
The Lord knows where !

Her engineer is fifty-eight,
So he’s prepared to meet his fate,
Which ain’t unlikely rovin’, a-rovin’, a-rovin’,
The Lord knows where !
Her leading stoker’s seventeen,
So he don’t know what the Judgements mean,
Unless he cops them rovin’, a-rovin’, a-rovin’,
The Lord knows where !

Her chef was cook in the Lost Dogs’ Home,
Mark well what I do say
And I’m sorry for Fritz when they all come

A-rovin’, a-rovin’, a-roarin’ and a-rovin’,
Round the North Sea rovin’,
The Lord knows where !