The Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee

by Mildred Plew Meigs.

Artist Christiny Hess.

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 crimson 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 stuck in his belt where he buckled it through

Were a dagger, a dirk and a squizzamaroo,

—For fierce was the Pirate Dowdee.

So fearful 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.

His conscience, of course, it was crook'd like a squash,

But both of his boots made a slickery slosh,

And he went through 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,

—Did Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee.