112
The Sailor's Bride
So titled in NGMS 233-4, where Barry reports a text and tune
from Vermont. Cox found it also in West Virginia (FSS 364-5),
Randolph in Missouri (OFS iv 268-9), Miss Eddy in Ohio (BSO
104-6), and Chapped in North Carolina (FSRA 57). An Indiana
text is given in Hoosier Folklore v 21-2. Barry says it "was first
printed, without music, by H. De Marsan, on a broadside, at some
time between i860 and 1878," and adds that texts and airs, as yet
unpublished, are known in Maine. It is similar in content to, but
not the same as, 'The Lover's Lament for Her Sailor," for which
see BSM 167-8 and OFS i 341-3.
A
'My Soldier Boy.' Reported by I. G. Greer of Boone, Watauga county,
as obtained in 191 5 from Ella Harden in a manuscript bearing the nota-
tion "Mr. C. S. Wagner, July Qth, 1879." Mr. Greer furnished also
another text (provenience not indicated), the chief variants of which are
here given in footnotes.
1 Early in the spring when I was young
The flowers were in bloom, the birds they sung,
Not a soul was happier than I
When my sweet soldier boy was by.
2 The morning that was misting by,
The daylight shone through the eastern sky ;
My soldier boy and I his bride
Stood weeping by the ocean side.
3 Three long months past we had been wed.
But oh, how swiftly the moments fled
When we were to part at the dawn of day
And the southern ship bear my soldier away.^
4 Three long months passed ; he came no more
To his weeping bride on the ocean ocean- shore.
The ship went down in the howling storm
And the waves rolled over my soldier's form.
5 My soldier buried beneath the waves,
Mormons^ weeping over his grave,
* The last two lines of stanzas 2 and 3 change places in tlie other text.
* The other text has "eastern."
OLDER BALLADS MOSTLY BRITISH 345
The mormons^ in the bottom of the sea
Weeping of sad tears for me.
Now my sad story I have told,
I've told to the young as well as the old.
But my sad thoughts I never could tell
When I bid my soldier boy farewell.
I wish that I was resting too
Beneath the waves of the ocean blue,
My soul with God, my body in the sea,
And the blue waves rolling over me.^
"Charlie and Mary. As sung by Mrs. Charles K. Tillett of Wanchese,
Roanoke Island, in 1922. J. B. Midgett, also of Wanchese, supplied the
same text e.xcept that his lacks the chorus. The intrusive d in stanza
4 presumably represents a local pronunciation.
1 Merry spring when I was young.
The flowers bloom and the birds did sing;
There never was a soul so happy as I
When my sweet sailor boy was nigh.
Chorus:
Tal la la la tal la la la tal la la la tal la la
There never was soul so happy as I
When my sweet sailor boy was nigh.
2 Just six months since we were wed.
And oh, how sweet the moments fled !
We were parted at the dawning of day
And the proud ship bore my love away.
3 Spring has come, and I am all alone.
The flowers has blown and the birds has sung.
The ship went down in the howling of the storm
And the sea covered up my sailor ['s] form,
4 Oh, that I was a-sleeping too
In the purty cabing in the ocean blue,
My sold in heaven, my body in the sea.
And the proud waves rolding over me !
5 Autumn comes ; it comes no more.
Weeping birds on a lonely shore.
Charlie is a-sleeping beneath thy waves.
And Mary is weeping over his grave.
* The other text has "maremaids," that is, mermaids, which is right, of
course.
* The last two stanzas change places in the other text.
---------------------
112
The Sailor's Bride
So titled in NGMS 233-4, where Barry reports a text and tune
from Vermont. Cox found it also in West Virginia (FSS 364-5),
Randolph in Missouri (OFS iv 268-9), Miss Eddy in Ohio (BSO
104-6), and Chapped in North Carolina (FSRA 57). An Indiana
text is given in Hoosier Folklore v 21-2. Barry says it "was first
printed, without music, by H. De Marsan, on a broadside, at some
time between i860 and 1878," and adds that texts and airs, as yet
unpublished, are known in Maine. It is similar in content to, but
not the same as, 'The Lover's Lament for Her Sailor," for which
see BSM 167-8 and OFS i 341-3.
A
'My Soldier Boy.' Reported by I. G. Greer of Boone, Watauga county,
as obtained in 191 5 from Ella Harden in a manuscript bearing the nota-
tion "Mr. C. S. Wagner, July Qth, 1879." Mr. Greer furnished also
another text (provenience not indicated), the chief variants of which are
here given in footnotes.
1 Early in the spring when I was young
The flowers were in bloom, the birds they sung,
Not a soul was happier than I
When my sweet soldier boy was by.
2 The morning that was misting by,
The daylight shone through the eastern sky ;
My soldier boy and I his bride
Stood weeping by the ocean side.
3 Three long months past we had been wed.
But oh, how swiftly the moments fled
When we were to part at the dawn of day
And the southern ship bear my soldier away.^
4 Three long months passed ; he came no more
To his weeping bride on the ocean ocean- shore.
The ship went down in the howling storm
And the waves rolled over my soldier's form.
5 My soldier buried beneath the waves,
Mormons^ weeping over his grave,
* The last two lines of stanzas 2 and 3 change places in tlie other text.
* The other text has "eastern."
OLDER BALLADS MOSTLY BRITISH 345
The mormons^ in the bottom of the sea
Weeping of sad tears for me.
Now my sad story I have told,
I've told to the young as well as the old.
But my sad thoughts I never could tell
When I bid my soldier boy farewell.
I wish that I was resting too
Beneath the waves of the ocean blue,
My soul with God, my body in the sea,
And the blue waves rolling over me.^
"Charlie and Mary. As sung by Mrs. Charles K. Tillett of Wanchese,
Roanoke Island, in 1922. J. B. Midgett, also of Wanchese, supplied the
same text e.xcept that his lacks the chorus. The intrusive d in stanza
4 presumably represents a local pronunciation.
1 Merry spring when I was young.
The flowers bloom and the birds did sing;
There never was a soul so happy as I
When my sweet sailor boy was nigh.
Chorus:
Tal la la la tal la la la tal la la la tal la la
There never was soul so happy as I
When my sweet sailor boy was nigh.
2 Just six months since we were wed.
And oh, how sweet the moments fled !
We were parted at the dawning of day
And the proud ship bore my love away.
3 Spring has come, and I am all alone.
The flowers has blown and the birds has sung.
The ship went down in the howling of the storm
And the sea covered up my sailor ['s] form,
4 Oh, that I was a-sleeping too
In the purty cabing in the ocean blue,
My sold in heaven, my body in the sea.
And the proud waves rolding over me !
5 Autumn comes ; it comes no more.
Weeping birds on a lonely shore.
Charlie is a-sleeping beneath thy waves.
And Mary is weeping over his grave.
* The other text has "maremaids," that is, mermaids, which is right, of
course.
* The last two stanzas change places in the other text.
112
The Sailor's Bride
'My Soldier Boy.' Sung by Miss Hattie McNeill. Recorded as ms score; no
date or place given.
For melodic relationship cf. *OFS iv 268-9, No. 762.
Scale: Alode III, plagal. Tonal Center: g. Structure: abed (2,2,2,2). Circu-
lar Tune (V).
'Charlie and Mary.' Sung by C. K. Tillett (not Mrs. Tillett, as in II 345).
Recorded at Wanchese, Roanoke Island, in 1922.
Scale: Hexachordal. Tonal Center: c. Structure: abcdaibkd (2,2,2,2,2,222)
= aba^b (4,4.4,4) = aa^ (8,8).