Blow, me bully boys, blow (2025)

There once was a ship that put to sea
And the name of that ship was the Billy o’ Tea
The winds blew hard, her bow dipped down
Blow, me bully boys, blow (Huh!)

Source: a song called Wellerman by The Longest Johns

Hello,
I cannot understand the bold written "blow".
I only use that word for blowing a birthday candle.

What does it mean in my context?

Thank you.

He is calling on favourable winds to blow into his sails.

But in the end, it's just a standard rhythmical phrase used as a refrain in this type of song, to accompany physical effort by the sailors. Similar:

Away high ho!​

Haul away for San Francisco-O!​

Hey, ho and a bottle of rum!​

Don't expect sea shanties or folk songs to make sense.

Eg: with a roly-poly gammon and spinach, heigh-ho! says Anthony Rowley.

sb70012 said:

So bully boys refers to winds? Not bad guys?

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This is bully in its earlier sense. It means brother, companion. It doesn't mean terrorising smaller people.

it refer to winds? Not necessarily. The refrain might be directed towards the winds (blow!) and asking them to blow him and the other sailors (my bully boys). Just think of it as a nice noise to sing.

Loob said:

I thought the "bully boys" were the sailors and "blow" an exhortation to row.

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The single syllable chorus word in shanties is usually an exhortation to pull, sometimes to push. I suspect the version sung by the Longest Johns is a modernised version. For practical use it would need to be along the lines of

There once was a ship that put to sea
Blow, me bully boys, blow
And the name of that ship was the Billy o’ Tea
Blow, me bully boys, blow
The winds blew hard, her bow dipped down
Blow, me bully boys, blow

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I agree that the bully boys are the sailors being exhorted by the shantyman.

The song is a shanty*. Shanties were sung by the sailors aboard sailing ships to keep morale high. They usually had a beat and rhythm that coincided with the work being done.

Blow (imperative verb) = Let the wind blow hard
me (informal/colloquial) = my
bully (adjective and interjection) = excellent, very good, admirable, fine, etc.
boys (informal) = men

*shanty - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

Blow, me bully boys, blow

In simple words, it means "Hey winds, please blow towards my sailor friends, blow".

Am I right?

Is the singer asking the winds to blow his friends? If yes, then it won't make sense since his friends are sailors, not sails (boat cloth). Then how can winds blow people?

This is my confusion.

sb70012 said:

Is the singer asking the winds to blow his friends?

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No. The verb to blow is intransitive here. He just wants the wind to blow because he is on a sailing ship.

Then why is he calling his friends between the 2 "blow"?

Blow, me bully boys, blow

sb70012 said:

Then why is he calling his friends between the 2 "blow"?

Blow, me bully boys, blow

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He isn't.

Let the wind blow hard, [we do not care about the wind's strength] my friends, let the wind blow hard!

"My friends" is a parenthetical vocative. It tells us who the singer is speaking to as he gives his exhortation to the wind.

Loob said:

I thought the "bully boys" were the sailors and "blow" an exhortation to row.

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sb70012 said:

And the name of that ship was the Billy o’ Tea
The winds blew hard, her bow dipped down

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The Billy o’ Tea is a ship not a boat. I can't see that a ship would be rowed.

OED Bully Boy:

Etymology: < bully n.1 + boy n.1
bully boy, n. 1. A young male associate whose company or friendship one values greatly; a good fellow; a good friend.

The OED notes that bully is commonly used of crews, but also for gangs, miners, teams, etc.

PaulQ said:

The Billy o’ Tea is a ship not a boat. I can't see that a ship would be rowed. ...

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I'm not saying I'm right, only that it's possible.

Didn't whaling ships tend to use whaleboats with oars to do the actual catching of the whales?

I think we've all been misled by sb70012's understandable search for logic. This is a sea shanty: it's governed by emotion and rhythm, not by logic. It could just as easily read:

Blow, me bully boys, blow (Huh!)​

Pull, my hearties, pull (hey!)​

Swing, you lubbers, swing (hoy!)​

Heave, my jolly lads, heave (ho!).​

They are all rhythmical chants designed to accompany a crew of sailors pulling on ropes, oars or capstan.

Loob said:

I thought the "bully boys" were the sailors and "blow" an exhortation to row.

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The bully boys are the sailors but "to blow" meaning "to row" seems to be pulled out of thin air. If that were the case, why not just sing "Row, me bully boys, row"? Is there any evidence anywhere for "blow" being a synonym of "row"?

We can all guess: For instance I could suggest that "blow" means "Breathe hard" as in "Exert yourselves!"

However, I agree with PaulQ as to the likely meaning and with Keith Bradford in the sense that we don't really need to know.