Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee

I like this poem and thought I would share it with you on International Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 17th)! Enjoy!

Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee
Mildred Plew Meigs


Ho, for the Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee!
He was as wicked as wicked could be,
But oh, he was perfectly gorgeous to see!
The Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee.

His conscience, of course, was as black as a bat,
But he had a floppety plume on his hat
And when he went walking it jiggled - like that!
The plume of the Pirate Dowdee.


His coat it was handsome and cut with a slash,
And often as ever he twirled his mustache
Deep down in the ocean the mermaids went splash,
Because of Don Durk of Dowdee.


Moreover, Dowdee had a purple tattoo,
And struck in his belt where he buckled it through
Were a dagger, a dirk, and a squizzamaroo*,
For fierce was the Pirate Dowdee.


So feaful he was he would shoot at a puff,
And always at sea when the weather grew rough
He drank from a bottle and wrote on his cuff,
Did Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee.


Oh, he had a cutlass that swung at his thigh
And he had a parrot called Pepperkin Pye,
And a zigzaggy scar at the end of his eye
Had Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee.


He kept in a cavern, this buccaneer bold,
A curious chest that was covered with mould,
And all of his pockets were jingly with gold!
Oh jing! went the gold of Dowdee.


His consience, of course it was crook'd like a squash,
But both of his boots made a slickery slosh,
And he went throught the world with a wonderful swash,
Did Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee.


It's true he was wicked as wicked could be,
His sins they outnumbered a hundred and three,
But oh, he was perfectly gorgeous to see,
The Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee.


Poem with illustration

*From "A Buccaneers Dictionary of Terms" by Hiram V. Noodlewhacker Jr:
"Squizzamaroo: (noun) a short pistol with eight (8) barrels fanned out, designed for shooting Albatrosses from a moving deck, but frequently used for hunting minnows and other small inedible fish for recreation. It was named after its inventor, Cuthbert Esqizamaro, which name most buccaneers could not properly pronounce. It was a favourite weapon of old Black Tooth, but was not particularly popular with anyone else."