"Fifteen men on a dead mans chest question..." Topic

Okay so we all know how rough this song is…

However upon reading it last night, I've a question…(two actually)…

1: One of the verses is…"Fifteen men all stiff and stark; Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum! Ten of them had the murder mark! Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!"

Okay so what happened to the other five?

2: Also in the Second to last verse there is mention of "where a woman had been"….Sooooo…what happened to her, or her body, (as was indicated by the bloody marks)…

Any ideas?

Some things man was not meant to know Murph.

Fifteen men on a dead man's chest
yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Drink and the Devil had done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum

I never realised that someone expanded on Stevenson's "Fifteen men….". link

I never realised that someone expanded on Stevenson's "Fifteen men…." link

"More was seen through a sternlight screen
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Chartings undoubt where a woman had been
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
'Twas a flimsy shift on a bunker cot
With a dirk slit sheer through the bosom spot
And the lace stiff dry in a purplish blot
Oh was she wench or some shudderin' maid
That dared the knife and took the blade
By God! she had stuff for a plucky jade
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

All fifteen men were after the gold. The woman involved was known to some of them. Ten were murdered by others each after the gold for themselves. Of the five left, the stuff they were drinking killed them. Poisoned by the wench who was in league with one of the five. The plan was for the wench and her lover to get the others to set upon each other, having convinced each individual that someone else was planning to kill them and get their portion of gold. Devious and distrustful minds see and hear significance where there is none – the tone of voice used, the way someone is looking at you, the other party "acting differently" could all be taken as "proof" that what they were told was true. Hence the murders.

That left the five – one plotter, four mooks, and the woman. The woman gives some poison to her lover and it is added to the rum they'll be drinking to "celebrate" or otherwise bid farewell to the ten departed shipmates. While he is off delivering the rum and getting things started, she also poisons her accomplices drink. He comes back, they are having a romp in the sack, when he starts to feel the poison kicking in. Before he dies, he is able to fumble for a dagger. Losing muscular control and sight quickly, he misses stabbing her, and only deals a glancing slice at her breasts. She is cut, but not fatally. She bandages her wound leaving the sliced and bloody garment behind. The body is dragged out to the shore and left with the others. The gold is left untouched, as the woman sees it to be as cursed as the men who stole it.

She has had her revenge for what they did to her family years ago. But the revenge is bittersweet, and she finds that all of these years of hate and searching for her foes has tainted her, and she too is filled with the desire for more bloodletting. She'd prove herself equal to, no better than all of them. The world would fear her. Her name would strike dread into the hearts of strong men and be used to scare misbehaving children.

She would become the most infamous pirate of all times.

Shelia Roberts took the cutlass and pistols she most liked from the dead, and then rowed out to her new ship to take command.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

and now you know…
the rest of the story!

And she is then called "The Dread Pirate Roberts?"

Jim

You've got it! She was the first.

And, even if you don't want to believe that part of it, I think the rest of it is a plausible explanation. Otherwise, the chest would be gone, she'd be in the bloody garment, and the song would be:

Fourteen men in a hole where the chest should be
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
One man's gone and we know who he be
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Saw all them dead, then killed his (word for lady of the night that sleeps with men for money and rhymes with the line two lines down).
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
We'll dog his trail forever more.
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

JJ

It has actual lyrics?

1. Fifteen men on a dead man's chest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
The mate was fixed by the bosun's pike
The bosun brained with a marlinspike
And cookey's throat was marked belike
It had been gripped by fingers ten;
And there they lay, all good dead men
Like break o'day in a boozing ken
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

2. Fifteen men of the whole ship's list
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Dead and be damned and the rest gone whist!
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
The skipper lay with his nob in gore
Where the scullion's axe his cheek had shore
And the scullion he was stabbed times four
And there they lay, and the soggy skies
Dripped down in up-staring eyes
In murk sunset and foul sunrise
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

3. Fifteen men of 'em stiff and stark
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Ten of the crew had the murder mark!
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
Or a yawing hole in a battered head
And the scuppers' glut with a rotting red
And there they lay, aye, damn my eyes
Looking up at paradise
All souls bound just contrawise
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

4. Fifteen men of 'em good and true
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Ev'ry man jack could ha' sailed with Old Pew,
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
There was chest on chest of Spanish gold
With a ton of plate in the middle hold
And the cabins riot of stuff untold,
And they lay there that took the plum
With sightless glare and their lips struck dumb
While we shared all by the rule of thumb,
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

5. More was seen through a sternlight screen
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Chartings undoubt where a woman had been
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
'Twas a flimsy shift on a bunker cot
With a dirk slit sheer through the bosom spot
And the lace stiff dry in a purplish blot
Oh was she wench or some shudderin' maid
That dared the knife and took the blade
By God! she had stuff for a plucky jade
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

6. Fifteen men on a dead man's chest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
We wrapped 'em all in a mains'l tight
With twice ten turns of a hawser's bight
And we heaved 'em over and out of sight,
With a Yo-Heave-Ho! and a fare-you-well
And a sudden plunge in the sullen swell
Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell,
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

isnt dead mans chest a rock in the virgin isles?

Yes, it is. Been there, seen it from the sea. A small, barren, rocky island so named from its resemblance to same when viewed from the see.

Interestingly, not too far from there an actual treasure chest with gold coins was found in a cave open to the sea just a few decades ago. A Fisherman took refuge there during a storm and made the very rewarding discovery. Norman Island. There is a small resort there, with the obligatory beachside bar and (very Piratically themed) gift shop.

Peter (vacationed on Tortola the past 2 years – have a "painkiller" at Pusser's Landing at Soper 's Hole!)

This line of thinking is punishable by death under the Articles of War!