Mad Jenny

It’s no other but Mad Jenny, with her fist raised to the sky.
On moonlit nights she walks the strand to curse the ships she spies.
She mutters low so no one hears, and the winds begin to moan
And sure’n the clouds’ll cover the stars, the storm starts in to blow.
Chorus:
Oh, the waves, they can be wicked when Mad Jenny’s on a tear.
You can hear the sailors bellow as they bring their ships to bear.
And the widows light a candle and kneel down beside their bed,
For Jenny’s on the strand tonight; tomorrow we’ll count the dead.
Once she was a beauty. She was courted all around,
But her heart was won by a sailor whose ship was outward bound.
He was gone not seven days when word came from abroad
This sailor had deceived her, his love had proven false.
Well, Jenny’s face grew dark as death, her eyes they flashed with fire,
With venom on her lips she cursed the life of every sailor.
And woe to them who sail too close when Jenny’s been about.
It’s dashed upon the rocks they’ll be before the night is out.
Chorus
The townsfolk tried to hang her, but the priest begged her reprieve
And no one could quite prove it, although everyone believes
That she does the devil’s business on the night the storms do blow
And she it is that wrecks the ships and lays those sailors low.
Now sailors are a sorry lot, what little care have they?
They steer their courses 'round the world astride the salty spray.
They take a girl in every port, little caring how it ends,
But there’ll be another story when Mad Jenny takes revenge.
Oh, the waves, they can be wicked when Mad Jenny’s on a tear.
You can hear the sailors bellow as they bring their ships to bear.
And the widows light a candle and kneel down beside their bed,
For Jenny’s on the strand tonight; tomorrow we’ll count-
Tomorrow we’ll count the dead.