The Queen of Russia and the Prince of Wales- Tillett (NC) 1924 Chappell; Brown
[This version was recorded twice by Chappell in 1924 and 1935 and published in his Folk-Songs of Roanoke and the Abermarle; then again for the Brown Collection, no date given but before 1943. The Brown collection version is 3 stanzas long and the text is so different that it seems to be edited or corrected (by Tillett) from a print version. Music is provided for both versions.
Remarkably, the last verse is similar textually to the last line as found in 'The Two Noble Kinsmen,' printed in 1634, and perhaps earlier, the Jailer's Daughter sings the two following stanzas (Dyce, XI, 386):
The George Alow came from the south,
From the coast of Barbary-a,
And there he met with brave gallants of war,
By one, by two, by three-a.
R. Matteson 2014]
118. High Barbary [Brown Collection]
This ballad is described by Frank Shay, Iron Men and Wooden Ships, as "an old sea ballad that survives in the home song books." Masefield in his Sailor's Garland 293-4 gives a form of it, 'The Salcombe Seaman's Flaunt to the Proud Pirate' — clearly the same song, though widely different in text from our ballad. Whall's Sea Songs and Shanties 78-9 has it in the version known in North Carolina. It has not often come into the folksong collector's net: Sharp reported it from Somerset JFSS v 262, Barry lists it in his syllabus but so far as I know never printed it, Chappell, FSRA 50-1, gives a version from North Carolina, and Morris, FSF 53-4, two from Florida. There is some variation in the names of the ships. No ship is named in Masefield's text; in the other texts the second ship is consistently the Prince of Wales, but the first-named is the Princess Charlotte in the Somerset text, the Prince of Luther in Shay's and Whall's texts, in one of Morris's, and in a fragment from North Carolina, the Queen of Russia in the Tillett version both as reported by Chappell and as secured by P. D. Midgett, Jr., for the Brown Collection. Since the latter text is the same as that given in FSRA, it is not repeated here; but a fragment of three stanzas, also from Mr. Tillett of Wanchese, as it is slighdy different, is here appended.
'High Barbary.' From Charles Tillett of Wanchese, Roanoke Island.
1 There were two lofty ships from old England came,
Blow high, blow low, and so sailed we
One was the Prince of Luther and the other the Prince of Wales,
Cruising down along the coast of the High Barbary.
2 'Aloft there, aloft!' our jolly boatswain cries.
Blow high, blow low, and so sailed we
'Look ahead, look astern, look aweather and alee,
Look along down the coast of the High Barbary.'
3 'Oh, hail her, oh, hail her,' our gallant captain cried.
Blow high, blow low, and so sailed we
'Are you a man of war or a privateer?' said he,
'Cruising down along the coast of the High Barbary?'
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118. High Barbary [Music Upcoming]
'High Barbary.' Sung by C. K. Tillett. Recorded at Wanchese, Roanoke Island; no date given.
For melodic relationship cf. *FSF 53-4, No. 21, measures 4-5 with our 7-10; FSCSG 24-6, measures 9-10.
Scale: Hexatonic (6), plagal. Tonal Center: g. Structure: abccdee1b1ff1 (2,2,1,1,2,1,1,2,2,2) = abcb1 (2,4,4,6). The structure is noteworthy: a is terminally, and b internally incremented. The last four measures are a free sequence.
The Queen of Russia and the Prince of Wales- (Charles Tillett, 1924, 1935) Chappell; Folk-Songs of Roanoke and the Abermarle
1. There were two lofty ships from old England came,
Blow high, blow low, and so sail we
One she was the Queen of Russia and the other the Prince of Wales,
Cruising down along the coast of the High Barbary.
2. Go 'loft, go 'loft, our jolly boatswain cried,
Blow high, blow low, and so sail we,
Look ahead, look astern, look aweather and alee.
Look down on the coast of Barbaree.
3. There is no ship ahead, there is no ship astern,
Blow high, blow low, and so sail we,
There is a lofty ship at windward and a lofty ship is she,
Cruising down on the coast of Barbaree'
4. Hail, hail that lofty tall ship,
Biow high, blow low, and so sail we,
"Are you a man-of-warsman or a privateer?" said she
Cruising down on the coast of Barbaree.
5. I am no man-of-warsman nor a privateer,
Blow high, blow low, and so sail we,
I am a jolly pirate seeking for my prey,
Cruising down on the coast of Barbaree'
6. Broadside, broadside a long time did lay,
Blow high, blow low, and so sail we,
Till at length the Qween of Russia shot the pirate's mast away,
Cruising down on the coast of Barbaree.
7. Quarters, O quarters, this jolly pirate cried,
Blow high, blow low, and so sail we.
The quarters that I'll give, I will sink you in the sea,
Cruising down on the coast of Barbaree.
8. We tied them one by one and we tied them two by two,
Cruising down on the coast of Barbaree;
We tied them three by three and we chunked them in the sea,
Blow high, blow low, and so sail we.