Flower Boat Song
Tune: Not recorded.

In 1986 HMS Illustrious was programmed to go around the world via Hong Kong and Australia as part of the Global 86 tour. Needless to say there was some anticipation towards this, and the more responsible sailors were busy saving their spare pennies to make the occasional visits ashore more worthwhile.  Unfortunately on the night of sailing from Portsmouth, the ship experienced one of the nastiest boiler fires known in a ship of that size, and instead of a trip around the world, the sailor’s talked of their trip round the Isle of Wight. The global tour was consequently delayed for repairs and the itinerary considerably shortened missing out most of the Far East visits. When this was announced one of the ‘steamies’ taunted us of tales of what we were missing and coming out with this song, which I hastily copied down as best I could, but was unable to get the tune. I never met this chap more than once or twice around the ship and despite asking him to repeat it was told he couldn’t remember it.
From his ‘black-cat yarn’ He was telling us about the girls who contracted to paint the ships side. The harbour girls and those on the floating boat cities.

Flower boats are the barges that carried the night soil of Hong Kong out to sea each day. But in this case it would appear that they are as  Stan Hugil notes in his books - ‘joyboats’ or floating brothels with their fa nyu or ‘flower girls.’ 

Me have got a flower boat,
I sail it down caying(?).
Sampan girlie play to you,
All the same sing-song.
?
But sailor if you likee me
Then I be velly good

Other Versions
See Stan Hugil Sailortown p.294 gives three verses of this ‘Ya-ya or pidgin English song. The first verse of which he notes ‘Me have got a flowr boat, Come sailing down Chu-Kiang, Sampan girlie play to you, all the same sing-song.’ &c.