"The Handsome Cabin Boy", also known as "The Female Cabin Boy" is a ballad that is popular in all parts of Britain. Cecil Sharp noted a version in Somerset in 1905; Ord printed a version in his Scottish Bothy Ballads. The theme of the female sailor or soldier is a common one in folk song. It has been recorded by Ewan MacColl, A.L. Lloyd, Martin Carthy, Louis Killen, Roberts and Barrand, Garcia and Grisman, and Cyril Tawney among others. These lyrics are from the A.L. Lloyd recording. I think I learned it from the Roberts and Barrand recording Mellow With Ale From the Horn (1975).