The Song of the "Sea Slugs" or "Them Hells"

An amusing song, which Nutting included in his Cinderellas of the Fleet. It appears to have had a bit of a complicated history—one which seems to reflect the British vs. American feelings about the ML and its story. As noted in The Yachting Monthly:
Under the impression that it was an American production we published the "The Song of the M.L.," in August, merely attributing it to "The Rudder," our contemporary. It would appear, however, that the song was written by Lieut. A.L.D. Skinner, R.N.V.R., and the ecclesiastical setting done by various members of the R.N.V.R. In the American version there was a stanza praising the boat and her builders which we deleted; in the original, the one we now give with due acknowledgement, there is again a stanza deleted, one which deals with the boat and her builders. Dismissing these as, shall we say, controversial matter, we offer the following as the one and only version of "Them Hells," together with the music, both published now for the first time in any language.

The Yachting Monthly, March, 1918

The Song of the "Sea Slugs"
(Anonymous)

Sing me a song of a frail M.L.
May the Lord have mercy upon us;
Rolling along in an oily swell,
May the Lord have mercy upon us;
Out on a high explosive spree,
Petrol, Lydite, and T.N.T.,
Looking for U-Boat 303,
May the Lord have mercy upon us.

Sing me a song of a bold young "Lieut."
May the Lord have mercy upon us;
Two gold hands on an "Owed for suit,"
May the Lord have mercy upon us;
Ship the cable and full ahead,
Hard a starboard and heave the lead,
The detonators are in my bed,
May the Lord have mercy upon us.

Sing me a song of a bright young "Sub."
May the Lord have mercy upon us;
A terribly ignorant half-baked cub,
May the Lord have mercy upon us;
Of the King's Regulations he knows not one,
He has left undone what he ought to have done,
And Oh! My Lord, when he fires that Gun,
May the Lord have mercy upon us.

Sing me a song of a CMB (Engineer),
May the Lord have mercy upon us;
Bred in a garage and sent to sea,
May the Lord have mercy upon us;
Taken away from the motor trade,
Seasick, sorry and sore dismayed,
But a hell of a "Knut" on the Grand Parade,
May the Lord have mercy upon us.

Sing me a song of the M.L. Cook,
May the Lord have mercy upon us;
With a Petrol stove in a greasy nook,
May the Lord have mercy upon us;
Our meals a lukewarm lingering death,
We'll praise the Hun with our final breath
If he'll strafe our Galley and slay our Chef,
May the Lord have mercy upon us.

Sing me a song of a North Sea Base,
May the Lord have mercy upon us;
A dirty forgotten one horse place,
May the Lord have mercy upon us;
When the wind blows West how brave we are!
When the wind blows East, it's different far,
We wish we were back in the Harbour Bar,
May the Lord have mercy upon us.

"Them Hells"
Lieut. A.L.D. Skinner, R.N.V.R.

Sing me a song of a frail M.L.
Lord ha' mercy upon us;
Rolling about in a heavy swell,
Lord ha' mercy upon us;
Out on a high explosive spree,
Petrol, lyydite, and T.N.T.,
Looking for U-Boat 333,
Lord ha' mercy upon us.

Sing me a song of a two-ringed Lieut.,
Lord ha' mercy upon us;
With a Pegamoid coat and a long cheroot;
Lord ha' mercy upon us;
Ship the cable and heave the lead;
Hard-a-starboard and full ahead
The detonators are in my bed
Lord ha' mercy upon us.

Sing me a song of a good young Sub.,
Lord ha' mercy upon us;
A neat little, nice little, unlicked cub;
Lord ha' mercy upon us;
"Of the King's Regulations I know not one;
I have left undone what I ought to have done;
And Oh! My God, when I fire that gun!"
Lord ha' mercy upon us.

Sing me a song of a C.M.M.,
Lord ha' mercy upon us;
An inland garage's pride and gem,
Lord ha' mercy upon us;
Taken away from the motor trade,
Seasick, sorry and sore dismayed,
But, oh what a nut on the South Parade!
Lord ha' mercy upon us.

Sing me a song of an M.L. Cook,
Lord ha' mercy upon us;
With a Mother Beeton's cookery book;
Lord ha' mercy upon us;
Half-stewed steak with a paraffin breath,
Lingering eggs far worse than death,
And this is the grace the C.O. saith-
"Lord ha' mercy upon us!"

Sing me a song of the Greenwich school-
Lord ha' mercy upon us;
Compass, sextant and sliding rule;
Lord ha' mercy upon us;
It's two by honours and four by tricks
If the ship is aground by half-past six
Without the aid of a "running fix";
Lord ha' mercy upon us.

Sing me a song of a Naval Base-
Lord ha' mercy upon you;
A little, forgotten, one-horse place;
Lord ha' mercy upon you;
Where we sit on the lee of a horned mine,
With a hydrophone and 5.9,
So pleased to see Fritz if he'll come to dine-
Lord ha' mercy upon you.