author
Young Ewing Allison
1853–1932
Remembered for the famous pirate-chorus lines associated with "Fifteen Men on the Dead Man’s Chest," he was a Kentucky writer and editor whose lively career moved between journalism, poetry, and public life.
2 Audiobooks
On the Vice of Novel Reading. Being a brief in appeal, pointing out errors of the lower tribunal.
by Young Ewing Allison
The Delicious Vice
by Young Ewing Allison
About the author
Born in Henderson, Kentucky, in 1853, he became partially deaf as a child and turned into an avid reader. He began working in newspapers young, helped edit the Henderson News, and later founded the Henderson Chronicle, the county’s first daily paper.
His journalism career took him to Evansville, Indiana, and then Louisville, where he worked for major papers including the Courier-Journal. Alongside newspaper work, he wrote poems, stories, and essays, and he is especially remembered for "The Derelict," the poem that popularized the refrain often linked with Treasure Island: "Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest—Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"
He also took an active interest in civic and cultural life in Kentucky, serving on the Kentucky State Racing Commission and supporting historical and literary causes. He died in Louisville in 1932, leaving behind a reputation as a colorful man of letters with deep ties to Kentucky journalism and culture.