Mr. Brown learned this song aboard a British freighter which ran from Bellingham, Washington, to Dublin, Ireland.
Mr. Brown was at sea for eight years, and started sailing when he was about 20 years old. Prior to this, he had worked in the lumber camps in Wisconsin, starting at the age of 14.
He sailed on the Eliza - an Italian ship with Genoa, Italy for a home port; the Donna Francisca - a four-masted vessel whose home port was London, and the Drummuir, another 4-masted vessel whose home port was Victoria.
Two crews of the ship Eliza had mutinied before Mr. Brown went aboard.