Appendix- Sailor Boy/Sweet William; Roud 273- K12 (The Pinery Boy; Papa, Papa, Build Me a Boat; A Shantyman's Life; I Have No One to Love Me; Captain Tell Me True; The Sailor Boy and his Faithful Mary; Sailin', Sailin's a Weary Life; The Broken-Hearted Lover

A. Sailor Boy (Pitts c. 1820)- Down by a crystal river side

B. Sailor Boy and his Faithful Mary: "A sailor's life is a merry life

C. A New Song call'd the Young Lady's Lamentation for the Loss of her True Love  Printed c.1867 by P. Brereton, 1, Lower Exchange St., Dublin. "Tis early, early all in the spring

A New Song Call'd the Young LADY'S LAMENTATION For THE LOSS OF HER TRUE LOVE, c. 1867

    It was early early all in the spring,
    When my love William went to serve the queen
    The raging seas and wind blew oigh, [nigh[
    Which parted me and my sailor boy,

    The night is long and I can find no rest,
    The thoughts of my willy runs in my breast,
    I'll search those green wood & valleys wide,
    Still hopoing my true love to find.

    Come make then for me a little boat
    For its on the ocean I mean to float,
    To view the French fleet as they pass by,
    And I'll still inquire for my sailor boy,

    She had not sailed more then a day or too,
    When a French vessel came in my view.
    Oh Captain Captain tell me troe [true]

    Does my true love william sail on board with you,

    What sort of cloths did your willy wear,
    Or what colour was your true lover's hair,
    A short blue jacket all bound with green,
    And the colour of amber was my tru loves hair [true]

    Indeed fair lady he is not here,
    But he is drowned I gently fear,
    On yon green Island as we Pass'd by,
    We lost five more and your sailor boy.

    She wrong her hands tore her hair,
    Just like a lady in deep despair,
    Oh happy, happy is the girl she cried,
    That has her true love drowned by her side,

    Come all you seamen that sails along
    And all you boatmen that follow on.

    From the cabin boy to the high,
    You must morn [mourn] in black for my sailor boy,

    P. Brereton, Printer, I, Lr Exchange St. Dublin

Sailor Boy (Pitts c. 1820)
 
Down by a crystal river side, [Oxfordshire Tragedy 2nd stanza]
Where silver stream did gently Glide,
Where a damsel making moan,
How can I live now my Jemmy is gone?

Go fetch me some little boat,
That on the ocean I may float,
Through the French ships as they pass by
Enquiring for my sailor boy.

Down by the silent shady grove, [end]
There I will mourn for my true love,
And tell the small birds all my grief,
Fro they alone afford me relief.

__________________________________

Titles: Papa, Papa, Build Me a Boat
A Shantyman's Life
I Have No One to Love Me
Captain Tell Me True
I'll Sit Down and Write a Song
The Sailor's Sweetheart

Sailor Boy (I), The [Laws K12]

DESCRIPTION: A girl asks her father to build her a boat so that she may search for her lover. She describes the boy to a passing captain, who tells her he is drowned. She gives directions for her burial, then dies of grief or dashes her boat against the rocks
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2298))
KEYWORDS: ship death lover drowning loneliness separation sailor
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond,South,West),Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,Ro,SE,So) Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf,Queb)
REFERENCES (48 citations):
Laws K12, "The Sailor Boy I"
Belden, pp. 186-191, "The Sailor Boy" (6 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph 68, "The Sailor's Sweetheart" (3 text plus 2 fragments, 4 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 68-70, "The Sailor's Sweetheart" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 68C)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 318-320, "Oh, Captain, Captain, Tell Me True" (1 text; tune on pp. 441-442)
Brewster 54, "Sweet William (The Sailor Boy)" (1 text)
Eddy 33, "Sweet William" (6 texts, 3 tunes)
Gardner/Chickering 25, "The Sailor Boy" (1 short text; the first 6 lines are "The Sailor Boy"; the last twelve are perhaps "The Butcher Boy")
Rickaby 18, "The Pinery Boy" (1 text, 1 tune; also a fragment in the notes)
Peters, p. 94, "The Pinery Boy" (1 text)
Musick-Larkin 30, "The Sailor Boy" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 736-737, "The Sailor Boy" (1 text)
Leach-Labrador 9, "The Sailor Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 43, "Sweet William" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 27, "Broken Ring Song fragment" (1 single-stanza fragment, 1 tune); 44, "My Sailor Lad, "Sailor Bold" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Warner 53, "I'll Sit Down and Write a Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 106, "Sweet William" (12 texts, 12 tunes)
Sharp-100E 72, "Sweet William" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 35, "Sweet William" (1 text, 1 tune -- a composite version)
Reeves-Circle 127, "Sweet William" (2 texts)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 94, "A Sailor's Life" (1 text, 1 tune)
Broadwood/Maitland, pp. 74-75, "Sweet William" (1 text, 1 tune)
RoudBishop #43, "Early, Early All in the Spring" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 110, "Sweet William (The Sailor Boy)" (3 texts plus mention of 6 more)
BrownII 104, "The Sailor Boy" (5 texts, mostly short, plus excerpts from 4 more and mention of 2 more and 1 very short fragment; several texts, notably "C," are mixed with "The Butcher Boy"; "E" is a mix with something unidentifiable as only part of the song is printed; "H" is apparently a mix of floating material, only partly printed; "J" is mostly from some unidentified ballad; "L" appears to mix this with "The Apprentice Boy" [Laws M12])
BrownSchinhanIV 104, "The Sailor Boy" (5 excerpts, 5 tunes)
Moore-Southwest 76, "My True Sailor Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Owens-1ed, pp. 134-135, "The Sailor Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Owens-2ed, p. 88, "The Sailor Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 177-178, "The Soldier Boy" (1 text)
Hubbard, #41, "The Sailor's Trade is a Weary Life" (1 text, 1 tune)
Carey-MarylandFolkLegends, p. 99, "Sweet Willie" (1 text)
Scott-BoA, pp. 39-40, "Sweet William" (1 text, 1 tune, a composite version)
Lomax-FSNA 55, "The Pinery Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 272-273, "A Sailor's Trade Is a Roving Life" (1 text, with the manuscript damaged by water)
Morton-Ulster 7, "My Boy Willie" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 56, "My Boy Willie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hammond-Belfast, p. 34, "My Fine Sailor Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
OCroinin-Cronin 75, "It Was Early, Early In the Month of Spring" (1 text)
Greig #64, p. 1, "The Sailor's Life"; Greig #148, p. 2, "The Sailing Trade" (1 text plus 1 fragment)
GreigDuncan6 1245, "The Sailing Trade" (11 texts, 8 tunes)
MacSeegTrav 25, "Sweet William" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
OShaughnessy-Yellowbelly1 13, "Early Early in the Spring" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ashton-Sailor, #63 insert, "The Sailor Boy" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 97-98, "Sweet Soldier Boy" (1 text)
DT 403, PINERYBY* SAILIFE*
ADDITIONAL: Robert E. Gard and L. G. Sorden, _Wisconsin Lore: Antics and Anecdotes of Wisconsin People and Places_, Wisconsin House, 1962, pp. 95-96, "(The Raftsman's Life)" (Excerpts of a sing that is clearly "The Pinery Boy," presumably from Wisconsin although no source is listed)
ADDITIONAL: Frank Moore, _Anecdotes, Poetry and Incidents of the War: North and South, 1860-1865_, Bible House, 1867, p. 180, "Heart-Rending Boat Ballad" (1 text)
Roud #273
RECORDINGS:
Anita Best and Pamela Morgan, "A Sailor's Trade is a Weary Life" (on NFABestPMorgan01)
Dock Boggs, "Papa, Build Me a Boat" (on Boggs2, BoggsCD1) (a complex version, with this plot but many floating verses, e.g. from "The Storms Are On the Ocean")
Rufus Crisp, "Fall, Fall, Build Me a Boat" (on Crisp01)
Dan Hornsby Trio, "A Sailor's Sweetheart" (Columbia 15771-D, 1932; rec. 1931)
Liz Jefferies, "Willie, the Bold Sailor Boy" (on Voice03)
Mikeen McCarthy, "Early in the Month of Spring" (on IRTravellers01)
Maggie Murphy, "Willie-O" (on IRHardySons)
Mrs. Otto Rindlisbacher, "The Pinery Boy" [instrumental] (AFS, 1941; on LC55)
Phoebe Smith, "Sweet William" (on Voice11)
Art Thieme, "The Pinery Boy" (on Thieme04)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2298), "The Maid's Lament for her Sailor Boy," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Firth c.12(226), Harding B 11(3375), Harding B 25(1684), "Sailor Boy" ("Down by a chrystal river side"); Firth c.12(227), "The Sailor Boy and his Faithful Mary"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Butcher Boy" [Laws P24] (lyrics)
cf. "A Soldier's Life" (lyrics, theme)
cf. "The Deep Blue Sea (I)" (plot)
cf. "Taven in the Town" (lyrics)
cf. "The Croppy Boy (I)" [Laws J14]" (tune, per Morton-Ulster 7)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Pinery Boy
Papa, Papa, Build Me a Boat
A Shantyman's Life
I Have No One to Love Me
Captain Tell Me True
The Sailor Boy and his Faithful Mary
Sailin', Sailin's a Weary Life
The Broken Hearted Lover
NOTES: Paul Stamler suggests that "The Deep Blue Sea" is a worn-down version of this song. He may well be right (see the notes to that song), but I believe that the characteristic of Laws K12 is the girl's request of a boat. Since "Deep Blue Sea" lacks that feature, I tentatively separate the songs.
The "Pinery Boy" versions are heavily localized to Wisconsin and the lumber business, and could almost be considered a separate song -- except that very many of the lyrics from "The Sailor Boy" still endure.
The "Pinery Boy" versions tend to mention Lone Rock and/or the Wisconsin Dells as the site of this tragedy, but the Wisconsin, River, according to Gard/Sorden, p. 95, was a very dangerous stream for raftsmen for much of its length: "[M]any of these danger spots, still bearing the names given them by the raftsmen, are points of interest along the Wisconsin River. Among these names are Sliding Rock, whose sloping sides make it impossible to gain any foothold; Notched Rock; the Devil's Elbow, a right-angle turn making passage very difficult; and the Narrows, where the River is said to be turned on its side, since its width is only fifty-two feet, and its depth is one hundred and fifty feet."
The whole Dells region must have been difficult, since the river goes through a series of rather sharp bends, and the riverbanks and the bed are rough.
The small town of Lone Rock is not properly part of the Dells; it is several dozen miles downstream, in a marshy, heavily wooded area. But it is on the Wisconsin River (and it has a Lone Rock Cemetery, according to Google Maps, so perhaps our hero was buried there). Ironically, the cemetery (off U. S. Highway 14) seems to be one of the few spots in the area which largely lacks trees.
Lone Rock the town, not surprisingly, is named for a rock named Lone Rock, a sandstone formation on the north bank of the Wisconsin that raftsmen used for navigation -- this far below the Dells, the Wisconsin is fairly straight. but there is a spot near the rock called Devil's Bend, and the current is swift. So Lone Rock was important to let the raftsmen know there were near a tricky place.
The Rock is no longer really visible, according to an online history of the area (http://tinyurl.com/tbdx-LoneRock). Much of the rock was taken and used for construction.
Lone Rock the town came into being in 1856. The name "Lone Rock" for the sandstone pillar is older, but it seems unlikely that they would have buried the Pinery Boy there had the town not existed.
Creighton-NovaScotia shows a collector misled by a source. The version is only a single verse, identical to broadside Bodleian, Firth c.12(227), "The Sailor Boy and his Faithful Mary" ("A sailor's life is a merry life"), J.Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866. The singer, in this case, thought this was a returned lover ballad -- from Creighton's title -- of the broken ring type.
Also collected and sung by David Hammond, "Early, Early All in the Spring" (on David Hammond, "I Am the Wee Falorie Man: Folk Songs of Ireland," Tradition TCD1052 CD (1997) reissue of Tradition LP TLP 1028 (1959)). Like Morton-Ulster 7, Hammond's version shares its tune with "The Croppy Boy (I)." - BS
The Dan Hornsby Trio recording is included by deduction; I have not heard it. - PJS
OCroinin-Cronin text is from Kidson, A Garland of English Folk-songs, pp. 92-93. Only the title is listed in one of Elizabeth Cronin's song lists. - BS

----------------------------------

Penguin Book Of English Folk Songs, Ed Pellow's rendition of the tune of A Sailor's LifeFrom the notes to the Penguin Book (1959):

"This favourite song has an obscure connection with another popular piece sometimes called  Died For Love   (from which the students' song  There is a Tavern in the Town   has descended).  Though it lacks the central story of the girl's ocean search for her sweetheart, Died For Love has a similar tune, and some versions use the opening stanza of A Sailor's Life.  In revenge, some sets of A Sailor's Life borrow the conclusion of the other song, with the girl directing that her grave be dug wide and deep, and a white turtle dove be put on it, to show that she "died for love".  In fact, various singers seem to have "cross-pollinated" the two songs in several ways.  Mr. Hills' version has a story at once completer and more concise than usual, and less contaminated with Died For Love.  In England, the song has been reported, sometimes under the titles of Sweet William, or Early, Early all in the Spring, from Lincolnshire (FSJ vol.II [issue 9] pp.293-4), Dorset (FSJ vol.VIII [issue 34] p.212), Worcestershire (English County Songs, L.E. Broadwood, 1893), Somerset (English Folk Songs, vol.II, Cecil Sharp, 1921), and Suffolk (Six Suffolk Folk Songs, E.J. Moeran, 1932).  Kidson (A Garland of English Folk Songs, 1926, p.92) prints a set of unidentified origin.  Pitts and Catnach both published broadsides of the song (the latter called it The Sailor Boy and his Faithful Mary ).  It seems particularly common in the United States, and has been adapted to the life of timber-raftsmen."  -R.V.W./A.L.L.

This version was collected by W. Percy Merrick from Henry Hills of Lodsworth, Sussex, in 1899, and was first published in the Folk Song Journal, vol.I, [issue 3], p.266.
 

A SAILOR'S LIFE

A sailor's life is a merry life.
They rob young girls of their heart's delight,
Leaving them behind to sigh and mourn.
They never know when they will return.

Here's four and twenty all in a row.
My sweetheart cuts the brightest show;
He's proper, tall, genteel withal,
And if I don't have him I'll have none at all.

O father, fetch me a little boat,
That I might on the ocean float,
And every Queen's ship that we pass by,
We'll make enquire for my sailor boy.

We had not sailed long upon the deep,
Before a Queen's ship we chanced to meet.
'You sailors all, come tell me true,
Does my sweet William sail among your crew?'

'Oh no, fair lady, he is not here,
For he is drowned, we greatly fear.
On yon green island as we passed by,
There we lost sight of your sailor boy.'

She wrung her hands and she tore her hair,
Much like a woman in great despair.
Her little boat 'gainst a rock did run.
How can I live now my William is gone?'


Sung by Henry Hills, Lodsworth, Sussex (W.P.M. 1899)

The Late Victorian Folksong Revival: The Persistence of English ...
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0810869888
E. David Gregory - 2010 - ‎Preview - ‎More editions
Lucy concluded that the former was a fragment of a longer broadside ballad, while the latter was a variant of a song printed in Bell's edition ... The other, a lament, came from Mrs. Margaret Harley of Bewdley, and was titled “Sweet William. ... I L7 0 father, father, come build me a boat, For the other night when the wind blew high, That on this wild ocean I may float, That's when you lost your sweet sailor boy.

Figure 1: Mrs. M.A. Olin, Eau Claire, Wisconsin : "The Pinery Boy" F. Rickaby (1926) Ballads and Songs of the Shanty Boy. New York: Harvard University Press, p.85.

[music]

Oh. a raftsman's life is a wearisome one.
It causes many fair maids to weep and mourn.
It causes them to weep and mourn
For the loss of a true love that never can return.

"O father, O father, build me a boat.
That down the Wisconsin I may float.
And every raft that I pass by
There I will inquire lat my sweet Pinery Boy."

As she was rowing down the stream
She saw three rafts all in a string.
She hailed the pilot as they drew nigh,
And there she did inquire for her sweet Pinery Boy.

"O pilot, O pilot, tell me true,
Is my sweet Willie among your crew?
Oh. tell me quick and give me joy.
For none other win I have but my sweet Pinery Boy."

"Oh, auburn was the color of his hair,
His eyes were blue and his cheeks were fair;
His lips were of a ruby fine;
Ten thousand times they've met with mine."

"O honored lady. he is not here,
He's drownded in the dells I fear.
'Twas at Lone Rock as we passed by,
Oh. there is where we left your sweet Pinery Boy."

She wrung her hands and tore her hair.
Just like a lady in great despair.
She rowed her boat against Lone Rock
You'd a-thought this fair lady's heart was broke.

"Dig me a grave both long and deep.
Place a marble slab at my head and feet;
And on my breast a turtle dove
To let the world know that I died for love.
And at my feet a spreading oak
To let the world know that my heart was broke."

Figure 2: Elizabeth Stewart Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire, Scotland: "Sailin', Sailin"' Transcribed from her 1993 commercial recording 'Atween You An Me.' H1ghtop Imagery HT 001 by K. Veblen

O sailin', sailin's a weary life
It's ta 'en from me my heart's content,
It's left me here for to sigh and to moan
And to wait upon my true love's return.

O bring to me paper, pen and ink
That I may write to my heart's content
And every line I may drop a leaf
And every line I'll put Billy dear,

O father, father build me a boat
For it's on yon ocean that I may float
And every vessel I will pass by
I will make inquiry for my sailor boy

O he hadn't a long sailed upon the deep
When a many war vessel she chanced to meet
O captain, O come tell me true
If my dear Billy's among your crew?

0 what kind of clothes does your Billy wear?
What kind of clothes does your Billy wear?
His jacket 's blue and bis trousers while
And the color of his hair is as black as night.

0 I doubt,. I doubt and I rather fear
11w your dear Billy O he is not here
Foe all 1ast night as the wind blew high
We lost the sailor in yonder bay

0 she wrung her hands and she tore her hair
Like any lady in great despair
She dashed her head up unto a rock
0 what life can I live since my Billy's gone?
0 what life can I live since my Billy's gone?

------------------

Figure 3: Ireland: Triona Ni Dhomhnaill of The Bothy Band: “The Sailor Boy"

It was early, early all to the spring
When my love Willie went to serve the king
The night being dark and the wind blew high
Which parted me from my sailor boy.

O father, father build me a boat
For on the ocean I mean to float
To watch the ships as they pass by
For I might inquire for my sailor boy.

She had not sailed it was a week or two
When she spied a captain and all hit crew
O captain, captain, come tell me true
Does my love Willie sail on board with you?

What was die color of your Willie's hair
what was the color does your Willie wear?
A round blue jacket and his trousers white
And his tarry head was my heart's delight

O fair maid, fair maid, he is not here
For be was surely drowned, I am afraid;
For yon green island is we passed by
Was there we lost a fine sailor boy.

She wrung her hands and she tote her hair
Just like a lady in deep despair
She called for paper both pen and ink
And every line she did drop a tear
And every word she calls Willie dear

So father, father, go dig my grave
Go dig it long and go dig it wide
Place a marble stone at my head and feet
That the world may know that I died in grief.

Figure 4: England: Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention: "A Sailor’s Life”

A sailor's life it Is a merry life
He robs young girls of their heart’s delight
Leaving them behind to weep and mourn
They never know when they will return.

Here's four-and-twenty all in a row
My true love he makes the finest show
He's proper, tall, genteel withal
And if I don’t have him, I'll have none at all.

O father, build for me a bonny boat
That on the wide ocean I may float
And every Queen’s ship that we pass by
There I’ll inquire for my sailor boy.

We had not sailed long upon the deep
When a Queen ’s ship they chanced to meet
"You sailors all, pray tell me true
Does my Sweet William sail among your crew?"

Oh no, fair maiden, he is not here
For he's been drowned, we greatly fear
On yon green island as we passed it by
There we lost sight of your sailor boy

Well she wrung her hands and she tore her hair
She was like a young girl in great despair
And her little boat against a rock did run
How can I live now my Sweet William is gone?

--------------------

Journal of American Folklore [ballads and Songs- Kittredge- 1917]

SWEET WILLIAM (THE SAILOR BOY).

See Christie, "Traditional Ballad Airs," 1 : 248-249 ("The Sailing Trade"); Broadwood and Fuller Maitland, "English County Songs," PP- 74-75 ("Sweet William"); "Journal of the Folk-Song Society," 1 : 99-100 ("A Sailor's Life"); 2 : 293-294 ("Early, early all in the spring"); Sharp, "One Hundred English Folksongs," No. 72, pp. 162-163, xxxvi; Catnach broadside ("The Sailor Boy and his Faithful Nancy," Harvard College, 25242.17, vii, 198); "Merry Songs," London, J. Davenport, No. 15 (25243.20, fol. 48, about 1810, "The Sailor Boy"). There is an Irish-American copy in the Child MSS., ii, 142 ("'Tis early, early all in the spring"). See also Barry, No. 42. Vol. xxx.—No. 117.—24.

Miss Pound (pp. 42, 69) records two variants from Nebraska ("Sailor's Trade," "Sailor Boy").

Sweet William.

Communicated, 1917, by Mr. C. McPh. A. Rogers, to whom it was sent by Mr. John D. Mclnnis of Meridian, Miss. Mr. Mclnnis writes, April 4, 1917: "'Sweet William' ... I heard in the mountains of East Tennessee during the Civil War. It was sung by an ignorant mountain-girl, who accompanied herself with an accordion. The song still lives in the mountains. It was heard there two summers ago by a grandson of mine, who had heard me sing it." Stanzas 1, 5, and 6 appear in part in "The Butcher's Boy" and elsewhere (see JAFL 29 : 169-170).

1. She sot down, she wrote a song,
She wrote it true, she wrote it long,
At ev'ry line she dropped a tear
And ev'ry word cried, "O ray dear!"

2. She cast her boat upon the tide
That she might sail the ocean wide,
An' ev'ry ship that she passed by
She thought she heard her William cry.

3. "O sailors, O sailors, pray tell me true,
Has my sweet William been sailin' with you?'
"No, no, purty Miss, he isn't here,
He's drowned in some deep, I fear."

4. Her boat was cast upon the san',
She wandered fur in a furrin lan',
O'er valleys low, o'er hills so high,
Still she heard Sweet William cry.

5. Three Eastern men went ridin' by;
They spied her on a limb so high;
They tuk her down fuh to be at rest;
A turkle dove lit on her breast.

6. So dig her grave both deep and steep,
An' put the marble at the head and feet,
Cyarve on that stone a turtle dove
To signify she died of love.

 -----------------------

A Sailor's Life / Sweet William / Willie the Bold Sailor Boy

[ Roud 273 ; Laws K12 ; G/D 6:1245 ; Ballad Index LK12 ; trad.]

W.P. Merrick collected A Sailor's Life in 1899 from Henry Hills of Lodsworth, Sussex. It was published by Ralph Vaughan Williams and A.L. Lloyd in The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. In 1960, A.L. Lloyd recorded it for the album A Selection from the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. Like all tracks from this LP it was reissued in 2003 on the CD England & Her Traditional Songs. Lloyd wrote in the album's sleeve notes:

    A song as touching and innocent as the wood engravings that broadside printers used to put at the head of ballad sheets. It is known to sundry tunes all over the British Isles and in America (a Wisconsin set, called The Pinery Boy, transforms the sailor into a lumberjack). Most versions end with the girl ordering her own funeral, and directing that a marble dove be set over her grave, but in fact this motif belongs more properly to the song Died for Love, and Mr Henry Hills, of Lodsworth, Sussex, who sang our version to W.P. Merrick in 1899, would have none of it.

Martin Carthy recorded A Sailor's Life in 1966 for his Second Album. He said in the album's sleeve notes:

    Often adapted to fit other occupations this is one of a group of songs which includes Early Early All in the Spring and the American song on the same theme, Sailor on the Deep Blue Sea. It was published in various broadsides in the 18th century, but often became confused with Died for Love. It is printed in the The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs.

A Sailor's Life is one of Sandy Denny's folk club songs which she added to Fairport Convention's repertoire, and it proved to be the turning point of Fairport's history from earlier contemporary Americana to English songs. An early live studio recording turned up on Richard Thompson's 3CD set, Watching the Dark. This was apparently transcribed from an acetate recording which everyone had forgotten about. Another early version, a life recording from the beginning of 1969, was finally made available in 2002 on the anthology Fairport unConventionAl. The first officially released version on Unhalfbricking added Dave Swarbrick on violin, showing what would become of Fairport in the following years. This track was also reissued on The History of Fairport Convention, on Fairport's double CD compilation Meet on the Ledge: The Classic Years 1967-1975, in 2004 on the 5CD Fledg'ling Sandy Denny anthology A Boxful of Treasures, and in 2005 on the Island anthology Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal.

A version recorded at Cropredy 1987 was released on the video It All Comes 'Round Again. The line up on this track is Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol, Dave Mattacks, Ric Sanders, Maartin Allcock and June Tabor (vocals).

This song was also covered by Vikki Clayton on her Sandy Denny tribute album, It Suits Me Well.

Shirley Collins sang this song as Sweet William in 1958 on her first album, Sweet England. The album's sleeve notes commented:

    One of the best known English lyric songs with a variant tune. The words are from English Country Songs by Lucy Broadwood and J. Maitland and the tune is arranged by Shirley Collins.

Mike Waterson sang Sweet William live at the Down River Folk Club, Loughton, in October 20, 1974, together with the Watersons' Pace-Egging Song and Boston Harbour. All three tracks were included in 2004 on the Watersons' 4CD anthology Mighty River of Song. Mike Waterson commented in the album sleeve notes:

    We learnt this version of Sweet William from Margaret Birkett of Elterwater—the wife of Frank Birkett from whom we had Dido Bendigo.

He also sang it live five years earlier, at Folk Union One in 1969 (the former Watersons' own folk club held at the Blue Bell), which was recorded for the privately pressed LP Blue Bell Folk with the title Died for Love. The liner notes commented:

    Mike is the last remaining member of the Waterson Family at the Bluebell. He is a great influence on many of the other singers and is one of the founder members of “Folk Union One”. The ballad, Died for Love, has many variants, some of which have survived and remain in our own memories due to the need for self entertainment. During the last two wars it was learnt by most servicemen, be they Air Force, Army or Navy.

Mike's brother-in-law Martin and niece Eliza Carthy sang Died for Love in 2014 on their duo album, The Moral of the Elephant, commenting in their sleeve notes on Mike's version.

Norman Perks sang Early, Early in the Spring to Mike Yates at Hawkesbury Upton, Avon, in 1975. This recording was released in 1987-95 on the Veteran cassette The Horkey Load Vol 2 (VT109) and in 2001 on the Veteran CD anthology of traditional folk music from coastal England, When the Wind Blows. Mike Yates commented:

    A highly popular song that probably dates from the 18th century. Cecil Sharp noted no less than eleven English versions, usually under the title Sweet William, as well as finding a dozen further sets in the Appalachian Mountains of North America. Norman's final verses—where the girl is discovered by her father—are sometimes found as a separate song, entitled 'Died for Love. Maggie Murphy of Co. Fermanagh also sings a fine version.

Liz Jefferies sang Willie, the Bold Sailor Boy in September 1976 in her own home in Bristol, recorded by Barry and Chris Morgan. This was included on the 1998 Topic anthology O'er His Grave the Grass Grew Green (The Voice of the People Series Volume 3).

Kathryn Roberts sang Sailor Boy in 2001 on Equation's EP The Dark Ages.

Norma Waterson sang Willie the Bold Sailor Boy in 2003 on the “English” CD of the Fellside anthology Song Links: A Celebration of English Traditional Songs and their Australian Variants. Edgar Waters commented in the sleeve notes:

    This song exists in many versions and has been published under many names. Some versions are fragmentary, or contain verses that do not appear to belong to it, making the texts seem almost incomprehensible. In one form or another, it has been widely recorded from oral tradition all over the British Isles and in North America. Norma Waterson's version was learnt from a singer called Liz Jefferies. Liz Jefferies' version may be heard on the third of the twenty CD collection called The Voice of the People, published by Topic Records.

Compare to this Cathie O'Sullivan singing The Lost Sailor on the “Australian” CD of the Song Links anthology.

Mikeen McCarthy sang this song as Early in the Month of Spring in a recording made by Jim Carroll and Pat Mackenzie on the title track of the 1986 VWML cassette Early in the Month of Spring: Songs and a story of Irish Travellers. This cassette was included in 2003 on the Musical Tradition anthology From Puck to Appleby: Songs of Irish Travellers in England. Andy Turner sang Early in the Month of Spring, referring to Mikeen McCarthy, as the June 9, 2012 entry of his project A Folk Song a Week.
Lyrics
A.L. Lloyd sings A Sailor's Life     Martin Carthy sings A Sailor's Life

A sailor's life is a merry life.
They rob young girls of their hearts' delight,
Leaving them behind to sigh and mourn,
They never know when they will return.
   

A sailor's life is a merry life.
They robs young girls of their hearts' delight,
Leaving them behind for to weep and mourn,
They never know when they will return.

“Here's four-and-twenty all in a row,
My sweetheart cuts the brightest show.
He's proper, tall, genteel withal,
And if I don't have him,” she said, “ I'll have none at all.”
   
“Oh there's four-and-twenty all in a row,
My sweetheart cuts the finest show.
He's proper, tall, genteel withal,
If I don't have him I'll have none at all.”

“Oh father, fetch me a little boat,
That I might on the ocean float.
And every Queen's ship that we pass by
We'll make enquire for my sailor boy.”
   
“Oh father, build me a bonny boat,
That on the wide ocean I may float.
And every Queen's ship that we pass by
There I'll enquire for my sailor boy.”

We hadn't sailed long upon the deep
Before a Queen's we chanced to meet.
“You sailors all, come tell me true,
Does my sweet William sail among your crew?”
   
Now they had not sailed long upon the deep
Before the Queen's ship they chanced to meet.
“You sailors all, pray tell me true,
Does my sweet William sail among your crew?”

“Oh no, fair lady, he isn't here,
For he is drownded, we greatly fear.
On yon green island as we passed by,
There we lost sight of your sailor boy.”
   

“Oh no, fair maid, he is not here,
For he's been drownded, we greatly fear.
On yon green island as we passed by,
There we lost sight of your sailor boy.”

She wrung her hands and she tore her hair
Much like a woman in great despair.
Her little boat 'gainst a rock did run.
“How can I live now my William is gone?”
   

Now she wrung her hands and she tore her hair
Much like a damsel in great despair.
Her little boat 'gainst a rock did run.
“How can I live now my William is gone?”
Norma Waterson sings
Willie the Bold Sailor Boy     Sandy Denny sings
A Sailor's Life

The sailing trade is a weary life
It robs young maids of their heart's delight
It leaves them all for to sigh and mourn
To think that true lovers will ne'er return.
   

A sailor's life, it is a merry life.
He robs young girls of their hearts' delight.
Leaving them behind to weep and mourn,
They never know when they will return.
   

“Well, there's four and twenty all in a row,
My true love he makes the finest show.
He's proper tall, genteel and all,
And if I don't have him, I'll have none at all.”

“Oh father, father, build for me a boat
And on the ocean I'm bound to float.
And every sail ship that I pass by
I will enquire for my sailor boy.”
   

“Oh father, build for me a bonny boat,
That on the wide ocean I may float.
And every Queen's ship that we pass by,
There I'll enquire for my sailor boy.”

She was not sailing long upon the deep
A fleet of Frenchmen she chanced to meet.
“Oh captain, captain, come tell me true,
Does my love William sail on board with you?”
   

Well, they had not sailed long on the deep
When a Queen's ship they chanced to meet.
“You sailors all, pray tell me true,
Does my sweet William sail among your crew?”

“What sort of clothes does your true love wear
What colour being your true love's hair?”'
“His jacket's blue and his trousers white,
His curly locks tied to his waistband tight.”
   

“Oh no, fair maid, William is not here
He is drownded I greatly fear.
It was last evening the storm rolled by
And parted William from our topmast high.”
   

“Oh no, fair maiden, he is not here.
For he's been drownded we greatly fear.
On yon green island as we passed it by,
There we lost sight of your sailor boy.”

She's wrung her hands and she tore her hair,
She cursed herself in most modest fair,
Her little boat against the rocks she's run.
“How can I live now that my love has gone?”
   

Well, she wrung her hands and she tore her hair.
She was like a young girl in great despair.
And her little boat against a rock did run.
“How can I live now my sweet William is gone?”

With pen and paper she's wrote a song,
She's wrote it right and she has wrote it long
At every line she did shed a tear
And every verse she did cry, “William dear.”
   

“Come dig my grave long and dig it deep
And over me let true lovers weep
And on my breast place a small white dove
To show the world oh that I died for love.”
   
Shirley Collins sings Sweet William    Mike Waterson sings Sweet William
   

It was early, early on a sunny day in spring
My love has listed all for to serve the king
The wind's blown high and the wind's blown low
And we parted, me and my young sailor boy

“Father, father, come build me a boat
That over the wide ocean I may go,
And every ship that I pass by
There I'll enquire of my sailor boy.”
   

“Oh father, far, will you build me a boat
That on the cold ocean I may float?
And every king's ship that we pass by
I'll make enquiry for my sailor boy.”

I hadn't been sailing but half an hour
Before I met a bold man-of-war,
“Captain, captain, come tell me true,
Is my sweet William on board with you?”
   

Why, she hadn't been a-sailing so very far upon the deep
When did her first king ship she chanced to meet,
It's, “Captain, captain, tell me true,
Does my sweet William sail on board with you?”
   

“What colour is your true love's hair?
And what sort of jacket does your true love wear?”
“His jacket's blue, it's bright round with gold
And his hair it is the same colour as yours.”

“No, kind lady, he is not here.
That he has drownded most great I fear.
The other night when the wind blew high,
That's when we lost your sailor boy.”
   

“Oh no, fair maiden, I'm afraid he isn't here.
But he's been drownded and that I greatly fear.
On yon green ocean as we passed by,
There we lost sight of your young sailor boy.”

I'll sat me down, I'll write a song,
I'll write it neat and I'll write it long.
In every verse I'll shed a tear
In every line hold Willy dear.
   

Why, she wrung her hands a little while and tore her hair
Much like some maiden in great despair.
“Oh happy, happy is the girl,” she cried,
“What has her own true lover by her side.”

I wish I wish but it's all in vain,
I wish I was a maid again.
But a maid, a maid I'll never be,
Till apples grow on an orange tree.
   

Her father he, he come home late at night
His looking round for, for his sad delight
He went upstairs and the door he broke
And he found her hanging by a rope
   

And didn't he take him a knife so long and sharp and he cut her down
And in her bosom a note was found
Been written in blood just to testify
That for her true love William she did die
   

“Will you dig me a grave so very wide and so very deep
And put a marble stone at, at my head and feet
And in (the window?) a snow-white dove
Just to let the world know that I died for love.”
Acknowledgements

Transcription started by Reinhard Zierke with corrections by Wolfgang Hell and Garry Gillard. Thank you! However, Mike Waterson's singing on this track is very difficult to decipher and I'm sure there are still errors and mishearings, especially in the last verses
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The Late Victorian Folksong Revival: The Persistence of English ...
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0810869888
E. David Gregory - 2010 - ‎Preview - ‎More editions
The latter ballad might even be counted as a variant of “Sweet William,” the song that Baring-Gould had noted from John Woodrich and sent to Lucy Broadwood in 1894: A sailor's life is a merry life, they rob young girls of their heart's delight,

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MOERAN, E.J.: Folksong Arrangements

[19] A Seaman’s Life

Oh a seaman’s life is a merry, merry life –
They’ll rob young girls of their heart’s delight;
They will leave them behind for to sail one morn,
But they never know when they will return.

There’s four-and-twenty sailor boys all in a row–
My sweet William is the bridegroom’s show;
For he is handsome and he is small:
If I can’t have him I’ll have none at all.

Oh a seaman’s life is a merry, merry life –
They’ll rob young girls of their heart’s delight;
They will leave them behind for to sail one morn,
But they never know when they will return.

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EARLY IN THE MONTH OF SPRING  
(Laws K12) (Roud 273)
Rec from Mikeen McCarthy (Traveller) Cahersiveen, Kerry

It was early, early in the month of Spring
When my love Willie went to serve the king,
The night was dark and the wind blew high.
Oh, that parted me from my sailor boy.

Oh then, father, father, build me a boat,
It's on the ocean I mean to float
To watch those big ships as they pass by,
Have they any tidings of my Willie boy.

Oh, she was not sailing but a day or two
When she spied a French ship and all her crew.
Saying, captain, captain, come tell me true,
Oh does my boy Willie sail aboard with you?

What colour hair has your Willie dear?
What kind of clothes do your Willie wear?
He've a black silk jacket and it trimmed all round,
And his golden locks they are hanging down.

Oh indeed, fair lady, your love is not here,
For he is drownded I am greatly feared,
In yon green island as we passed by
Oh, we lost nine more and your Willie boy.

Oh, she wrung her hands and she tore her hair,
She was like a lady all on despair,
She dashed her small boat against the rocks,
Saying, what will I do if my love is lost?

Oh father, father, dig we my grave,
Dig it long, both wide and deep,
Put a headstone to my head and feet,
And let the world know it was in love I died.

A.L.Lloyd the English folk-song scholar, in his note to a Sussex version of this song, which it entitled   "A Sailor's Life", pointed out that it is often combined with "Died For Love", although he held them to be two different songs.   Mikeen's last verse makes this such a hybrid.