109
Poor Jack
This English stall ballad, better known as 'Jack Tar' or 'The
Saucy Sailor Boy,' has been reported as traditional song from Sur-
rey, Sussex, and Oxfordshire (JFSS iv 342-3) but not often in
America: from Vermont (VFSB 151-2), West Virginia (FSS
389), and Florida (FSF 37^-^). In theme it is akin to 'Green
Beds.'
A
'Poor Jack.' Secured from J. B. Midgett ot Wanchese, Roanoke Island,
probably in 1922.
1 I am poor Jack. I am right from sea,
And lucky is my portion.
I've got gold and silver too ;
A long time I've plowed the ocean,
2 I come on shore to see my love.
To see if she would marry me.
'Say, pretty pretty Nancy, will you, yes or no,
Will you wed with a tarry sailor?'
3 *Oh, no, oh, no !' all in a frown,
'For I can get a man of high renown.^
I can get a man of high renown ;^
Do you think I'd wed with a sailor?'
4 He run his hands all in his purse
And hauled them out full of glittering gold.
'Say, pretty Nancy, will you, yes or no.
Will you wed with a tarry sailor ?'
5 'Oh, yes, oh, yes !' all in a smile,
'For I've been joking all the while,
I've been joking all the while.
To be sure I'll wed with a sailor.'
6 'If you've been joking, I've been just.
I see it's the gold that you like best,
I see it's the gold that you like best.
You'll never wed with this sailor.'
7 Now I'll set up some public line.
The gold and silver it will shine,
Cause pretty Nancy to weep and mourn
To think she had slighted a sailor.
* The manuscript has "higher noun." Perhaps "higher renown'" would
be a better interpretation.
340 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE
Sailors' Song.* Secured in 1927 by Julian P. Boyd from B. D. Banks,
one of his pupils in the school at Alliance, Pamlico county. This is
somewhat closer than A to the original stall print.
1 'Come, my loved one ! Come, my dear one !
Come, my dearest, unto me !
Would you marry a poor sailor boy,
Who has just returned from sea?'
2 'You are dirty, love, you are ragged, love,
And your clothes they smell of tar.
So begone, you saucy sailor boy,
So begone, you old Jack Tar !'
3 'If I'm dirty, love, if I'm ragged, love,
And my clothes they smell of tar,
I have silver in my pockets, love,
And a gold-bright shining star !
4 'Then I'll cross those wide blue ocean waves,
Where the meadows are so green.
And there I'll find a pretty girl
And she shall wear this ring.'
5 Soon as she heard these fatal words
Down on her knees she fell,
Saying, 'Forgive me, dearest Jack, old boy,
For I love my sailor boy !'
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109
Poor Jack
'Poor Jack.' Sung by C. K. Tillett. Recorded at Wanchese, Roanoke Island,
probably in 1922. Aside from 'The Sailor Boy' 104A sung by Mrs. Hicks,
there is only one other song with an extremely wide range, namely this ballad.
But, whereas in the former case there were some doubts about the intentional
skips, there seems to be no reason in this case to assume any error. The range
is, however, extreme, one octave and a sixth. Attention should also be called
to some unusual skips (measures 4-5).
Scale: Mode III, plagal. Tonal Center: d. Structure: ab (3,5).