Don Bryn’s setting of The Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee is a playful, theatrical romp through the high seas of imagination. Bursting with rhythmic swagger and colorful flair, the music captures both the daring mischief and irresistible charm of this comically villainous pirate. With jaunty melodies, dramatic shifts, and tongue-in-cheek musical flourishes, Bryn’s score highlights every swashbuckling twist of the poem—from the jiggling plume to the jingling gold.
Listeners will delight in the musical surprises that bring Don Durk to life in all his roguish glory. Though he’s “wicked as wicked can be,” the music makes clear that this pirate is more amusing than alarming—a fabulous figure of fantasy whose sins are outnumbered only by his style. A perfect musical adventure that captures both the fun and the folly of falling under a pirate’s spell.
Ho, for the Pi-rate Don Durk of Dow-dee!
He was as wick-ed as wick-ed could be,
But oh, he was perfectly gorgeous to see!
The Pi-rate Don Durk of Dowdee.
His con-science, of course, was as black as a bat,
But he had a flop-pe-ty plume on his hat
And when he went walking it jiggled – like that!
The plume of the Pi-rate Dow-dee.
His coat it was handsome 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 Dow-dee.
Moreover, Dowdee had a purple tat-too,
And struck 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.
He kept in a cavern, this buccaneer bold,
A curious chest that was covered with mould,
And all of his pockets were jingly with gold!
Oh jing! went the gold 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,
The Pi-rate Don Durk of Dowdee.
