Ian Bell 2003
A biography of Bell’s acquaintance Trevor Hodge
In Bristol, just before the war, the tankers loomed along the shore And I would hang about the door of a shop down by the quay It was there, when I was just a lad, I took the trade I’ve always had And where the hand of my first master made its mark on me Chorus: The Union Jack, the rose and crown, the mermaid and the swallow A dagger and an anchor, and a cock upon the knee ?And when the bombers droned above we inked the names of the girls they loved In hearts, upon the hearts of oak who’d soon put out to sea I was a little older when the war was over, even then The Navy still had need of men and so I signed aboard In engine rooms, and on the grates I plied my trade among my mates Gave them the mark they wanted most for what they could afford Chorus ?And down there, in the oily dark on arms and backs I left my mark Forever etched in indigo on sailor boys at sea And then one day I came to land, across the western ocean I shipped out of Halifax, and sailed the inland seas And sometimes when I’d step ashore I used to take the notion That I was not as young a man as once I used to be. Chorus ?From the awning of my pitch the seaway’s like a muddy ditch As from this country fair I watch ships gliding towards the sea And now the canvas I sail under promises a “World of Wonder” Step right up, I’ll make my mark at a price that you can pay In the dying days of August, captain in a sea of sawdust But the fancies of a sailor’s life are out of style today Chorus ?But where my shirt sleeve meets my skin I see a map of where I’ve been And where the hand of my first master made its mark on me