104 The Sailor Boy
This song was printed by Catnach and Such and probably by other ballad printers in England in the last century and is widely known and sung. See BSM 186, and add to the references there given Maine (MWS 56-9), Virginia (FSV 108-11, 118), North Carolina (BMFSB 24-5, SFLQ v 146), Arkansas (OFS I 300), Missouri (OFS I 296-300), Ohio (BSO 97-103), Indiana (BSI 269-70), Illinois (JAFL XL 235-6), and Michigan (BSSM 94, blended with 'The Butcher Boy'). Barry listed it among the ballads in his collection from the North Atlantic States but did not print it. Like other items of the folk song of unhappy love its content is likely to vary; with its central images of the girl bidding her father build her a boat and later demanding of the sailors she meets news of her sailor boy may be combined motives from 'The Butcher Boy,' 'Little Sparrow,' 'The Lass of Roch Royal,' or an elaborate preliminary story may be provided as in version L below.
A. 'Oh, Father, Go Build me a Boat.' Contributed by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county, in 1915 as "written down by Miss Mae Smith, Sugar Grove, N. C, from the singing of Mrs. Mary Smith. Part of the above song has been sung also by several people living in Watauga." Stanza 4 has been taken over from 'The Butcher Boy.'
1 'Oh, father, go build me a boat,
That over the ocean I may float,'
The father built her a boat
And over the ocean she did float.
2 She halted two captains as they passed by,
She halted each captain
'Say, did you sail with my sailor boy?'
'No, my dear; he was killed at the head
Of Rocky Island as we passed by.'
3 She fell upon the boat
I thought that woman's heart was broke.
4 She called for a stool to sit upon.
Pen and ink to write it down.
At the end of every line she dropped a tear,
At the end of every verse she cried out 'Oh, my dear!'
B. 'Captain, Captain, Tell me True.' A fragment of only two stanzas reported by Thomas Smith as sung to him by E. B. Miller of Boone, Watauga county, in May 1915. "Mr. Miller heard this song sung during the Civil War by a Mrs. Parsons of Wilkes county."
1 'Captain, captain, tell me true,
Did my sweet William sail with you?
Answer me quick to give me joy,
There's nary one I'll love but my sweet soldier boy.'
2 'No, kind lady, he is not here,
He was killed in the battle, my dear.'
'Every ship that I pass by
There I'll inquire for my sweet soldier boy.'
Mrs. Polly Rayfield of Zionville, who had heard the song sung during the Civil War, gave the following lines as belonging to it:
As I rode upon the main,
I saw three ships a-comin' from Spain.
C. 'Oh, Captain, Captain, Tell me True.' Junius Davis of Wilmington, New Hanover county, reported the following in 1915. Only one of the three stanzas really belongs to 'The Sailor Boy' ; the other two have been imported (the second with something of a wrench) from 'The Butcher Boy.'
1 'Oh, captain, captain, tell me true.
Does my sweet William sail with you?'
*Oh. no, oh, no, he is not here;
He is drownded in some deep, I fear.*
2 The postboy, he came riding by
And spied her on a tree so high.
He took an ax and cut her down,
And on her breast these words he found:
3 'Go, dig my grave both long and deep.
Place a marvil stone at my head and feet
And on my breast a turkle dove,
To show to the world that I died for love.'
D. 'Captain, Oh Captain, Tell me True.' From the manuscript notebook of Mrs. Harold Glasscock of Raleigh, lent to Dr. White in 1943. The songs in this book Mrs. Glasscock learned from her parents. Her text of our song is like C a composite of 'The Sailor Boy' and "The Butcher Boy.' The first and the last of its three stanzas are as in C; the intervening six lines use a different element from 'The Butcher Boy':
She wrung her hands and tore her hair
Like a maiden in despair;
She called for a chair to sit upon.
Pen and ink to write it down.
At the end of every line she dropped a tear,
At the end of every verse cried 'Oh, my dear!'
E. 'Sweet Willie.' From the manuscript book of songs of Miss Edith Walker of Boone, Watauga county. Four stanzas, in the first of which she demands news from the captain and in the second bids her father build her a boat. The other two belong to the 'Little Sparrow' tradition:
3 I wish I were a little bird,
A darling, darling little bird ;
Right to Sweet Willie I would fly
And there I'd lay me down and die.
4 Girls, oh, girls, you'd better mind;
A good true boy is hard to find.
When you find one that's just and true
Change not the old one for the new.
F. 'Oh, Father, Father, Go Build me a Boat.' Contributed by W. Amos Abrams from a student, Mary Bost, at Boone, Watauga county. Three stanzas only ; the first two the regular order for a boat and questioning of the captain, the third a stanza from 'The Butcher Boy' similar to the fourth stanza of A.
G. 'There is a Town Where I did Dwell.' Secured by Julian P. Boyd from Jeannette Tingle, one of his pupils at the Alliance school in Pamlico county. Four stanzas, of which the first two are a modified form of the opening of 'The Butcher Boy' and the other two are the regular queries of our song, except that she asks, not her father, but the captain to build her a ship:
3 'Oh, captain, captain, tell me true.
Does my dear sailor boy sail with you?'
'No, no, he does not sail with me;
I fear he's drowned in the sea.'
4 'Oh, captain, captain, build me a ship
That I may sail the ocean wild
And search each ship that passes by,
And be a sailor boy till I die.'
H. 'Sweet Willie.' Contributed by Austin L. Elliott of Randolph county. A highly composite text. Of its five stanzas and chorus only stanza 3 belongs to 'The Sailor Boy.' The chorus is from 'The Blue-Eyed Boy' (see volume III) ; the first two stanzas are the familiar question and answer from 'The Lass of Roch Royal' ; and the last two, belonging to the tradition of 'The Inconstant Lover,' run:
4 Oh, yonder sits a turtle dove ;
They say he's blind and cannot see.
I wish to the Lord it had been me,
Before little Willie crossed the sea.
5 Remember well and bear in mind
That a true friend is hard to find.
But when you find one that's true
Change not the older for the new. [Butcher Boy]
I. 'Susie's Search for Her Lover.' Under this title Mrs. Sutton reports a two-line fragment which pretty certainly belongs to 'The Sailor Boy':
She saw two ships a-sailin' on the main.
Two white ships a-comin' from Spain.
J. 'Oh, Captain, Captain, Tell me True.' Secured by L. W. Anderson from Alva Wise, one of his students at Nag's Head, Dare county. This wanders a good deal from the basic form of the song. The first two stanzas belong to 'The Sailor Boy,' the rest are an accretion.
1 'Oh, captain, captain, tell me true,
Does my sweet Willie sail with you?'
'Ah no, he does not sail with me.
For he is over the deep blue sea.'
2 'Oh, father, father, build me a boat,
So on the ocean I can float,
And every ship that I pass by
I think I hear my Willie cry.
3 'Oh, gypsy, gypsy, tell me true.
Please tell me something I can do.
I'll travel over this whole wide world
To keep him from another girl.
4 'He told me that he loved me so.
But on a voyage he must go ;
And some day he would return to me
And then how happy I would be.
5 'When over the ocean he had roamed
He'd come drifting back to home.
He'd fall into my waiting arms
And I'd be happy with his charms.
6 'Since first you came into my life
I often dreamed that I was your wife.
But you have been untrue to me
And gone to sail the deep blue sea.
7 *I see no pleasure without you.
You know you said what you would do,
You said a letter you would write,
That one I pray for every night.
8 'The days are very dark and blue ;
I see and dream of only you.
And pray that you'll return again
So in my heart there be no pain.'
K. 'Oh, Captain, Captain, Tell me True.' From the John Burch Blaylock Collection. This text is the same as J.
L. 'The Prentice Boy.' Contributed in 1923 by Mrs. Charles K. Tillett of Wanchese, Roanoke Island. Here the story of 'The Sailor Boy' is combined with or rather added to the stall ballad of 'The Prentice Boy,' reported — but without the 'Sailor Boy' element — from Nova Scotia (SENS 304-5) and (with a quite different text but still without the element from our song) from Missouri (OFS i 429-31)- In the closing stanzas it drifts into 'The Butcher Boy.'
1 The prentice boy and he was bound
To sail the raging seas around;
And just before [he be] came twenty-one
He fell in love with a fine young girl.
He went to the captain and begun to tell,
About this lady he loved so well:
'I love her as I do my life,
And what would I give she was my wife !'
2 'Oh hush, oh hush, you silly boy.
You love a girl you'll never enjoy;
For she has lovers one, two, three,
And she'll be married before you're free.'
'Anyhow, I'll go and see ;
Perhaps that girl will fancy me.'
He bought fine rings, he bought fine gloves,
The prentice to enfent[] his love.
3 She was not ashamed among them all
To take them from the prentice boy.
She was not ashamed among them all
To own she loved the prentice boy.
The very last time he saw his love
She was standing on Potomac shore.
With her bright hair and sparkling eyes
For him she lives, for him she dies.
4 'Oh, father, oh, father, go build me a boat
That on this ocean I may float,
And hailing ships as they pass by,
Inquiring for my prentice boy.'
She hadn't been sailing very far
Before she met a man of war,
Crying, 'Captain, captain, tell me true.
Does my sweet Willie sail with you?'
5 'What color was your Willie's hair.
What color clothes did your Willie wear?'
'His hair is light, his clothes are blue,
And you may know his love is true.'
'No, gay lady, he's not here.
But in the deep, I'm a-fear;
For as Green Island we passed by
We lost five men and your sailor boy.'
She wrung her hands and she tore her hair,
Like a pretty fair maid all in despair.
Against wild rocks her boat she flung.
Saying, 'How can I live and my Willie gone?
Now, captain, bring me a chair and set it down' —
With pen and ink she wrote it down.
On every line she dropped a tear.
And every verse cried, 'Oh, my dear!'
'Now dig my grave both wide and deep,
A marble tomb at my head and feet;
A turtle dove put on my grave,
To let the world know that I died of love !'
* So the manuscript seems to read. Is it for "enchant" ?
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104. The Sailor Boy (Brown Collection Part 4, 1956)
4A. 'Oh, Father, Go Build Me a Boat.' Sung by Mrs. Nora Hicks. Recorded at Mast's Gap, Watauga county, August 28, 1940.
The text of this ballad is practically identical with the third stanza of 'Sweet William,' SharpK 11, 84, No. 106A. This version combines the text of the first two lines of version A with the last two of the second stanza of version B.
This tune presents several problems. First, the extraordinary range of one octave and a fifth. Second, the question whether or not something happened to the singer, which made her uncertain about the right pitch or interval. (Unfortunately, only one stanza was recorded.) Attention is called to the beginning of the repeating phrase "Ev'ry ship that I pass by." The preceding phrase ends on the lowest tone of the total range, but, without much ado, the line jumps twice, via the intervals of a seventh plus that of a sixth, thus traveling the entire range. These most unusual skips raise considerable doubt about the correctness of the melodic line and the pitch level in general. There is one more reason for this. Usually, when a text line is repeated, its musical equivalent is likewise repeated. Compare even here the phrase "And there I'll inquire for my sweet sailor boy" with the phrase which concludes the song, as well as the preceding "that I pass by" with its later repetition.
[music]
Father, oh father go build me a boat,
So on the ocean I may float,
Ev'ry ship that I pass by,
And there I'll inquire for my sweet sailor boy,
Ev'ry ship that I pass by,
And there I'll inquire for my sweet sailor boy.
For melodic relationship cf. **SCSM 441 ; SharpK II No. 106 A; and OFS I 298, No. 68B, general melodic line.
Scale : Mixolydian, plagal. Tonal Center : d. Inverted barform. Structure : nmm1 (4,4,4) = Inverted barform.
4C. 'Oh, Captain, Captain, Tell Me True.' Sung by anonymous singer. Recorded as MS score; no date or place given. Another title given is 'Sweet Willie.'
The text used did not come with the ms score, but there is another type-written sheet with a text given by Mrs. Nilla Lancaster (Wayne county) which fits the tune perfectly and was therefore used. There are, however, two choruses on this typewritten sheet which do not belong to 'Sweet Willie.' The first is a variation of 'The Blue-Eyed Boy' (with changes in 3rd and 4th lines), while the second chorus, according to Professor Belden, belongs to 'The Inconstant Lover.' The third and fourth lines of the stanza given here are much more like that of 104G.
[music]
'Oh, captain, captain, tell me true.
Does my dear sailor boy sail with you?'
'Oh no, kind missus, he does not sail with me;
I fear he's drowned in the sea.' [text by Mrs. Nilla Lancaster of Wayne county]
Scale : Mode II, plagal. Tonal Center : c. (4,4). Structure: aba1b (2,2,2,2) = aa1
4L. 'The Prentice Boy.' Sung by C. K. Tillett. Recorded at Wanchese, Roanoke Island; no date given. Dr. Brown says (in a note) "Sea Song."
This is the song referred to earlier (cf. 104A) with regard to intonation, pitch, and similar problems. The maneuvering of the voice from the lowest tone of the total range to the highest using most unusual intervals, to say the least, is probably the more puzzling, as otherwise the whole of the second phrase is practically a verbatim repetition of the first. Whether measures 10-11 can be credited to an emotional outburst conditioned by the thought expressed, will probably never be answered. It is here offered free as a theme for a future doctoral dissertation investigating the pathological depths of an untrained musical mind.
[music]
The prentice boy and he was bound
To sail the raging seas around;
And just before [he be]came twenty-one
He fell in love with a fine young girl.
He went to the captain and begun to tell,
About this lady he loved so well:
'I love her as I do my life,
And what would I give she was my wife!'
Scale: Heptachordal. Tonal Center: c. Structure: aba^b (4,4,4,4) = aa^ (8,8).
4M. 'The Forsaken Lover.' Sung by C. K. Tillett. Recorded at Wanchese, Roanoke Island, probably December 29, 1922.
[music]
'Oh, father, father, build me a boat,
So across the ocean I will float,
And hail thy ship as they'll I pass by it,
Quiring for my Willie boy
And hail thy ship as they'll I pass by it,
Quiring for my Willie boy.
Scale: Hexachordal, plagal. Tonal Center: f. Structure: nmm (4,4,4,)
Inverted barform. Circular tune (V).
N. 'Black-Eyed Susan.' Sung by Mrs. G. L. Bostic. Recorded at Mooresboro, Cleveland county, August 7, 1929. Another title given is 'Sweet Willie.' No text has been found. That given here was taken from the recording. Some of the stanzas omit the up-beat.
1. I'll build myself a little boat,
And on the ocean I will float
I'll hail all the ships as they pass by,
I thought I heard sweet Willie cry.
2 'Captain, captain, tell me true.
Does my Willie sail with you?'
'No, pretty maid, he don't sail here.
He's drowned in the deep, I fear.'
Scale: Hexatonic (4), plagal. Tonal Center: f. Structure: aaia2a3 (2,2,2,2) = aa1 (4,4). Circular Tune (V).