It's no other but Mad Jenny, with her fist raised to the sky
On moonless nights she walks the strand to curse the ships she spies
She mutters low so no one hears, and the winds begin to moan
And sure'n the clouds'll cover the stars, the storm starts in to blow.
Oh the waves they can be wicked when Mad Jenny's on a tear
You can hear the sailors bellow as they bring their ships to bear
And the widows light a candle and kneel down beside their bed
For Jenny's on the strand tonight; tomorrow we'll count the dead.
Once she was a beauty and was courted all around
But her heart set on a sailor whose ship was outward bound
And he was gone not seven days when word came from abroad
Her sailor had deceived her, his love had proved a fraud
Jenny's face grew dark as death, her eyes they flashed with fire
With venom on her lips she cursed the life of every sailor
And woe to them who sail too close when Jenny's been about
It's dashed upon the rocks they'll be before the night is out.
The townsfolk tried to hang her, but the priest begged her reprieve
And no one could quite prove it, though everyone believes
She does the devil's business on the night the storms do blow
And she it is that wrecks the ships and lays the sailors low.
Now sailors are a sorry lot, what little care have they
They steer their coursers 'round the world astride the salty spray
They take a girl in every port, little caring how it ends
But there'll be another story, when Mad Jenny takes revenge.