My Love William- Sam Noble (Dundee) c.1875
[From: Sam Noble, Able Seaman: 'tween Decks in the Seventies : an Autobiography; 1926. "My Sweet William" was sung by sailors in the late 1870s. It's taken from the life story of Sam Noble which details his nautical experiences aboard the HMS St. Vincent, the HMS Victory, and the HMS Swallow. "My Love William" was learned after c. 1875 when Noble entered the service and became a sailor.
Sam Noble's comments about the ballad, which follow, show a deeper understanding of the origin of the ballad (see his comment on Gay's ballads) than one would expect from an average sailor singer aboard her majesty's ships. The ending is a variant on the "miracle" ending found in the broadside "The Sailor Boy and his Faithful Mary."
R. Matteson 2017]
Take "My love William." This was a special favourite with us, though, strange to say, without a chorus. It seems to be a version of Gay's "All in the Downs," or "Black-eyed Susan"—or was Gay's ballad a version of it?—Nobody can tell. These old sea songs seem to have been handed down from the time men first went to sea; passed from lip to lip for generations long before printing was thought of. Every time you meet them they're differently dressed. Look at "Away down Rio." I've come across this song twenty times, each time different. But the theme and the tune as a rule are the same. So too with "My love William." Any old sailor you'll find with the song on his lips, but the words different. Here is the way we sang it:
Oh, father, father, build me a boat,
That on the ocean I may float,
Hail every vessel that I pass by,
Saying, "Have you heard of my sailor boy?"
She hadn't been long upon the deep,
When a man-o'-war she chanced to meet—
"Stop, stop that ship, you joyful crew,
For I fear my William's on board of you!"
"What colour of clothes did your William wear?
What colour of hair was your William's hair?"
"A light blue jacket and trousers white,
And the colour of his hair was my heart's delight."
"Oh, no, fair lady he is not here,
I fear he lies drowned at yonder pier,
At yonder pier as I passed by
It was there I left your poor sailor boy."
She wrung her hands and she tore her hair,
Just like a lady in despair,
And she threw herself upon the deep,
Crying, "My love William, are you asleep?"