Recordings & Info 7A. Sailor Boy, or, Sweet William (see also Deep Blue Sea- at bottom of this page)

[See print sources Veblen; Also Belden p. 167 Lover's Lament for her Sailor (see Roxburghe: Sorrowful Lady's Complaint)

R. Matteson 2017]

CONTENTS:

 1) Alternative Titles
 2) Traditional Ballad Index
 3) Keefer's Folk Index
 4) Kittredge 1917 JAFL
   
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
  1) Roud No.273 (Listings, not attached yet)
  2) Laws K12
  3) Veblen; Loss of A True Love That Never Can Return
  4) Veblen; "Appendices" with list of Variants
  5) Sailor Boy- Brown, Abrams, Greer NC Collections

Alternative Titles:

[Sailor Boy/Sweet William; Roud 273- Laws K12. This is a repository for these version which borrow some stanzas from "Died For Love" core ballads.

The Pinery Boy
Papa, Papa, Build Me a Boat
A Shantyman's Life
I Have No One to Love Me
Captain Tell Me True

Broadsides

Sailor Boy and his Faithful Mary: "A sailor's life is a merry life
Sailor Boy (Pitts c. 1820)- Down by a crystal river side
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.

Early, Early all in the Spring

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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

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Keefer's Folk Index:

1)  The Sailor Boy - I [Laws K12/Sh 106/Me I-A19]
    Rt - Pinery Boy ; California Boy ; Sailor On the Deep Blue Sea ; Charles Reilly ; Banks of Boro ; Papa Build Me a Boat
    At - Lost Willie ; My Sailor Boy ; Sailing Trade ; Captain (Captain) Tell Me True ; Down by the River Side - II ; Lost Lover
    Rm - I Hate the Capitalist System
    Uf - Home Dearie, Home; Sailor Boy - I
    Laws, G. Malcolm / American Balladry from British Broadsides, Amer. Folklore Soc., Bk (1957), p146
    Scott, John Anthony (ed.) / Ballad of America, Grosset & Dunlap, Bk (1967), p 39 (Sweet William/Willie - II)
    Owens, William A. (ed.) / Texas Folk Songs. 2nd edition, SMU Press, Bk (1976/1950), p 88 [1930s]
    O Lochlainn, Colm (ed.) / Irish Street Ballads, Corinth, Sof (1960/1939), p112/# 56 [1912] (My Boy Willie - I)
    Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p736
    Sharp, Cecil J. / One Hundred English Folksongs, Dover, Sof (1975/1916), p162/# 72 (Sweet William/Willie - II)
    Baber, Carrie. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p298/# 68B [1922/04/17] (Sailor's Sweetheart - I)
    Beers Family. Walkie in the Parlor, Folkways FA 2376, LP (1960), trk# 7
    Blankenship, Mary. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 88/# 106J [1918/10/05] (Sweet William/Willie - II)
    Boone, Julie. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 89/# 106K [1918/09/25] (Sweet William/Willie - II)
    Bothy Band. Out of the Wind - Into the Sun, Mulligan LUN 013, LP (1977), trk# B.01
    Cameron, Isla. Best of Isla Cameron, Prestige International INT 13042, LP (1950s), trk# A.02 (Sweet William/Willie - II)
    Chisholm, James H.. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 88/# 106H [1918/05/21] (Sweet William/Willie - II)
    Chisholm, Mrs. Ef.. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 89/# 106L [1918/10/03] (Sweet William/Willie - II)
    Coffey, Fanny. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 87/# 106G [1918/05/08] (Sweet William/Willie - II)
    Collins, Judy. Maid Of Constant Sorrow, Elektra EKLS 209/7209, LP (1961), trk# A.05 (Sailor's Life)
    Collins, Lucretia. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p353/#110A [1917] (Moment's River Side)
    Cook, Judy. Far from the Lowlands, Cook CEI-JC02-0005, CD (2000), trk# 8 (Sailor's Life)
    Cox, Harry. What Will Become of England, Rounder 1839, CD (2000), trk# 37 [1953/12] (Sweet William/Willie - II)
    Crooks, Gertrude Ladnier. Arnold, Byron, and Halli, Robert W.(ed.) / An Alabama Songbook, U. Alabama, Bk (2004), p 33 [1947/07/07] (Sailor Shantey)
    Daley, Susie Evans. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p174/# 76 [1940s] (My True Sailor Boy)
    Denoon, Kathleen. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p299/# 68C [1938/08/18] (Sailor's Sweetheart - I
    Dunagan, Margaret. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 87/# 106F [1917/09/06] (Sweet William/Willie - II)
    Equation. Dark Ages EP, I Scream EQEP 001, CD (200?), trk# 1
    Fairport Convention. Fairport Convention Chronicles, Island 982 255-7, CD (2005), trk# 1.10 (Sailor's Life)
    Fish, Lena Bourne. Warner, Anne & Frank / Traditional American Folk Songs, Syracuse Univ. Press, Bk (1984), p149/# 53 [1940] (I'll Sit Down and Write a Song)
    Fisher, Mrs. W. A. Chapple, Joseph Mitchell / Heart Songs, Chappell, Bk (1909), p 67 (Song of the Sea - I)
    Foley, Connie. Ireland in Song, Copley DWL 9-613, LP (195?), trk# A.02 (Irish Sailor Boy)
    Giles, Ian; Group. Sea Shanties, Gift of Music CCL CDG1024, CD (2004), trk# 17 (Sailor's Life)
    Hammond, David. Hammond, David (ed.) / Songs of Belfast, Mercier, poc (1986/1978), p34 (My Fine Sailor Boy)
    Hammontree, Doney. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p300/# 68E [1942/02/08] (My Sweet Sailor Boy)
    Harris, Jehu. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 85/# 106C [1916/08/12] (Sweet William/Willie - II)
    Hartley, Edward. Creighton, Helen / Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia, Dover, sof (1996/1933), p 55/# 27 [1927-32] (Broken Ring Song Fragment)
    Heishman, Matilda. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p354/#110B [1917/06]
    Henneberry, Muriel. Creighton, Helen / Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia, Dover, sof (1996/1933), p 89/# 44 [1927-32] (My Sailor Lad)
    Hensley, Rosie. Sharp, Cecil & Maude Karpeles (eds.) / Eighty English Folk Songs from th, MIT Press, Sof (1968), p 59 [1917ca] (Sweet William/Willie - II)
    Hensley, Rosie. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 85/# 106B [1916/08/10] (Sweet William/Willie - II)
    Hills, Henry. Palmer, Roy (ed.) / Oxford Book of Sea Songs, Oxford, Bk (1986), p159/# 70 [1899] (Sailor's Life)
    Hills, Henry. Williams, R. Vaughan; & A. L. Lloyd (eds.) / Penguin Book of English Fol, Penguin, Sof (1959), p 94 [1899] (Sailor's Life)
    Irish Rovers. First of the Irish Rovers, Decca DL 74835, LP (1967), trk# A.02 (My Boy Willie - I)
    Kelley, Mrs. Chas.. Creighton, Helen / Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia, Dover, sof (1996/1933), p 90/# 44b [1927-32] (Sailor Bold)
    MacColl, Ewan; and Peggy Seeger. Matching Songs of the British Isles and America, Riverside RLP 12-637, LP (195?), trk# 11 (My Sailor Boy)
    MacColl, Ewan; and Peggy Seeger. Matching Songs of the British Isles and America, Riverside RLP 12-637, LP (195?), trk# 12 (Sweet William/Willie - II)
    Maples, W. M.. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 86/# 106E [1917/04/20] (Sweet William/Willie - II)
    McCue, Miss Jessie. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs Mainly from West Virginia, WPA, Bk (1939), 11 [1925] (Soldier's Life - II)
    McGown, Lynn;, Michael Pratt and Barry Hall. Songs of the Pacific Northwest; Philip J. Thomas Companion CD, Caribou, CD( (2006), trk# 1.08
    McMorland, Alison. Cloudberry Day, Living Tradition LTCD 1003, CD (2000), trk# 2 (Sailin's a Weary Life)
    Morris, Polly. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p319,441 [1930] (Oh, Captain, Captain Tell Me True)
    Power, Peg Clancy. Down by the Glenside, Folk Legacy FSE 008, LP (1963), trk# 8 (My Boy Willie - I)
    Presnell, Lee Monroe ("Uncle Monroe"). Traditional Music of Beech Mountain, NC, Vol I, Folk Legacy FSA 022, LP (1964), trk# 4 [1961/10ca] (Sweet Soldier Boy)
    Reber, Rosina. Hubbard, Lester A. / Ballads and Songs from Utah, Univ. of Utah, Bk (1961), p 90/# 41 (Sailor's Trade is a Weary Life)
    Shelton, W. Riley. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 86/# 106D [1916/08/29] (Sweet William/Willie - II)
    Small, Dol (Mr.). Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 88/# 106I [1918/05/22] (Sweet William/Willie - II)
    Smith, Lal. Folk Songs of Britain. Vol 6. Sailormen and Servingmaids, Caedmon TC 1162, LP (1962), trk# 18 [1952/02] (Sweet William/Willie - II)
    Sprung, Joan. Ballads and Butterflies, Folk Legacy FSI 060, LP (1976), trk# 12 (Sweet William/Willie - II)
    Thomas, Mrs. L. A.. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p297/# 68A [1928/08/05] (Sailor's Sweetheart
    Tuggle, Mabel. Gardner, Emelyn E. & Geraldine Chickering / Ballads and Songs of Souther, Folklore Associates, Bk (1967/1939), p 94/# 25 [1916]
    Tyler, Ruth. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p300/# 68D [1939/01/01] (Sailor's Sweetheart - I)
    Watkins, Daisy. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p355/#110C [1915ca]
    Wells, William F.. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 84/# 106A [1916/09/09] (Sweet William/Willie - II)

 The Pinery Boy [Laws K12/Sh 106]
    Rt - Sailor Boy - I
    Mf - California Boy
    Lloyd, A. L. & Isabel Arete de Ramon y Rivera (eds.) / Folk Songs of the, Oak, Sof (1966), # 35
    Lomax, Alan / Folk Songs of North America, Doubleday Dolphin, Sof (1975/1960), p112/# 55
    Cave, Nick. Rogues Gallery, Anti 86817-2, CD (2006), trk# 2.04
    Eskin, Sam. Sea Shanties and Loggers' Songs, Folkways FA 2019, LP (1951), trk# 13
    Rindlisbacher, Mrs. Otto. Folk Music From Wisconsin, Rounder 1521, CD (2001), trk# 8 [1941/08]
    Thieme, Art. On the Wilderness Road, Folk Legacy FSI 105, LP (1986), trk# 2

 The California Boy [Laws K12/Sh 106]
    Rt - Sailor Boy - I
    Sm - Pinery Boy
    Calicanto Singers. Days of Gold!, Calicanto, CD (1999), trk# B.06
    Foster, Pat. Gold Rush Songs, Riverside RLP 12-654, LP (1959), trk# B.02
    Holdstock, Carol and Dick. Shanties and Sea Songs from Way Out West, Holdstock HDCD 7, CD (2000), trk# 5
    Holdstock and Murphy. San Francisco Shanties & Sea Songs of California's Gold Rush, Holdstock HDMU 1, CD (1996), trk# 14
    Tuft, Harry. Across the Blue Mountains, Folk Legacy FSI 063, LP/ (1999/1976), trk# 11

 Sailor On the Deep Blue Sea [Me I-A19]
    Rt - Sailor Boy - I
    Sing Out Reprints, Sing Out, Sof, 10, p22 (1968)
    Brumfield, Deacon. Deacon Brumfield and the Dobro, DB CO 1037, LP (196?), trk# B.03
    Carter Family. Carter Family, Vol. 1, Country Music CMH 107, LP (197?), trk# 3 [1928/05/10] (I Have No One to Love Me)
    Carter, Joe and Janette. Best of Seedtime on the Cumberland, June Appal JA 059C, Cas (1988ca), trk# 2
    Hahn, Grace. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume IV, Religous Songs and Others, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p309/#794A [1941/10/08] (Deep Blue Sea - I)
    Lunsford, Bascom Lamar. Appalachian Minstrel, Washington VM 736, LP (1956), trk# B.06
    McCarty, Gladys. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume IV, Religous Songs and Others, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p310/#794C [1941/12/13] (Deep Blue Sea - I)
    New Lost City Ramblers. New Lost City Ramblers, Vol. 1, Folkways FA 2396, LP (1958), trk# 8
    New Lost City Ramblers. Cohen, John, Mike Seeger & Hally Wood / Old Time String Band Songbook, Oak, Sof (1976/1964), p 26
    Ramsey, Obray. Obray Ramsey Sings Folksongs from the Three Laurels, Prestige International INT 13020, LP (196?), trk# B.07
    Scott and Stanley. Hard Times in the Country, Talkeetna TR 100, CD/ (1974), trk# A.06
    Seeger, Mike; and Paul Brown. Way Down in North Carolina, Rounder 0383, CD (1996), trk# 2 (I Have No One to Love Me)
    Southern Michigan String Band. Transplanted Old Timey Music, Pine Tree PTSLP 509, LP (1972), trk# 1
    Trail, Olga. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume IV, Religous Songs and Others, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p310/#794B [1941/10/09] (Deep Blue Sea - I)
    Traynham, Mac & Jenny. When the Roses Bloom in Dixie, Heritage (Galax) 058, LP (1984), trk# 9
    Wall, James. 20 Carter Family Favorites, Rural Rhythm RC 175, Cas (1988), trk# A.05 (Drowning in the Deep Blue Sea)

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SWEET WILLIAM - "O father, father, build me a boat" - "A sailor's life is a merry life" ("ASL") - "Early early all in the Spring" - She sets out in her boat to find her sailor stopping every big ship that she encounters and describing him to the captain - told by one of them that he has been drowned she runs her boat on the rocks leaving directions for her burial (In some versions in USA "A Soldier Boy") - LAWS #K12 ("The Sailor Boy" ABBB 1957 p146) - ROUD#273 - GREIG FSNE 1906-14 #64 10v - GREIG-DUNCAN 6 1995 #1245 pp477-485 (12var) 11v/8m "The Sailing Trade" - BROADWOOD ECS 1893 pp74-5 Bewdley, Worcestersh - BARING GOULD Ms #152 (a) Ellen Williams, nurse (b) J Woodrick 1894 unpubl - SHARP Schools 4 - Sel Ed 2 - SHARP-KARPELES CSC 1974 #301 pp320-3 6var Somerset - SHARP Ms Cf 2 p61 - JFSS 1:3 1901 pp99-100 Merrick: Henry Hills, Lodsworth, Sussex 1899 "ASL" - JFSS 2:4 (15) 1910 p133 Gilchrist: Mrs Bowker, Sunderland, Co Durham 1909 1v/m "O FFBMAB" - JFSS 9 p293 mixed with version of "The Butcher Boy" - GRAINGER #93 Miss Ann Hiles, Kirton-in-Lindsey. Lincolnsh 1905 "Sailor Boy" - JOYCE OIFMS 1909 p153 1v/m "The Jacket Blue" - KIDSON GCS 1926 - HENRY SOP #89 "Early early" 3v only - JFSS 8 1930 pp212-3 Hammond: Mrs Sartin, Corscombe Hill, Dorset 1v/m/ Martin Freeman: Dr J S Crone, Co Down 1v/m "Come FBM" - MOERAN Suffolk 1932 p26 - O'LOCHLAINN ISB 1939 pp112-113 Mr Varner, Belfast 1912 "My Boy Willie" ("EEAITS") - PENGUIN BFS 1959 p94 Merrick: Henry Hills "ASL" - REEVES EC 1960 #127 pp254-5 Gardiner Ms: George Baldwin, Tichborne/ Job Read, Southampton, Hampsh (w/o) - SEEGER-McCOLL SI 1960 p28 Betsy Miller (McColl's mother), Auchterarder, Perthsh "My Boy Willie" - MORTON FSU 1970 pp11-12 Bob Williamson, Moy, Co Tyrone "My Boy Willie" - MUNCH Tristan De Cunha 1970 p49 from Frances Repetto "Henry Dear" - McCOLL-SEEGER 1977 pp122-6 from Maggie McPhee & Nelson Ridley - ED&S 45:1 1983 p13 Pat McKenzie & Jim Carroll: Michael McCarthy (Ireland), London "Sailor Boy" - PALMER RVW 1983 #91 pp141-2 Mr Flint, Lyne, Sussex & West Grinstead, Surrey 1907 "The Sailor Boy" - PALMER OBSS 1986 #71 pp159-160 Merrick: Henry Hills "ASL" - FMJ 1992 pp349-350 Grainger: #332 Archer "Daddy" Lane, Winchcombe Workhouse, Gloucestersh 1908 "Died for Love" ("EEAITS") --- SHARP FSSA 2 #106 p84 (10var) - COX FSOS 1925 p353 (3var) W Va "The Sailor Boy" - RICKABY 1926 p85 8v/m Lumberjacks var (Wis) "The Pinery Boy" - CREIGHTON SBNS 1932 pp89-90 Muriel Henneberry, Nova Scotia "My Sailor Lad" - HENRY FSSH 1938 pp188-9 Tenn "Soldier Lover"/ NC "Sweet Soldier Boy" - BARRY MWS 1939 p58 - EDDY Ohio 1939 p97 - COX FSMWV 1939 pp29-30 W Va "Soldier's Life" - GARDNER Mich 1939 p94 4½v - BELDEN Mo 1940 p186 5 var - BREWSTER Ind 1940 p269 9v - BROWN 2 & 4 #104 p324 9var - RANDOLPH OFS 1946 1 p296-300 Mrs L A Thomas 1928/ Mrs Carrie Baber 1922 2v/m/ Mrs Kathleen Denoon 1938/ Mrs Ruth Tyler 1939 (w/o) Mo/ Doney Hammontree Ark 1942 1v/m "The Sailor's Sweetheart" - HUNTINGTON SWS 1964 p271-2 ships log 1847 (w/o) "A Sailor's Trade"/ 1853 1v w/o "The Sailor Boy's Song" ("O I am a Yankee sailor boy") - CREIGHTON SBNS 1971 pp90-91 Muriel Henneberry "My Sailor Lad"/ Charles Kelley 1929+ "Sailor Bold" - KARPELES FSNFL 1971 #43 pp159-160 Nfl 1929 - OWENS Tex 1950 p135 5v/m - RANDOLPH 1946 1 p297 4var Mo "The Sailor's Sweetheart" - HUBBARD BSFU 1961 pp90-91 Utah "The Sailor's Trade is a weary life" - PETERS FSOW 1977 p94 Mrs M A Olin, Wis 1920s "The Pinery Boy" ("A Raftsman's life is a wearisome one") - WARNER TAFS 1986 p149 Lena Bourne Fish "I'll sit down and write a song" - Cf EARLY EARLY (ALL) IN THE SPRING - SHE LLONG HUNNICK NEE (Manx Gaelic) -- Lal SMITH (tinker from Co Waterford) rec by PK, Belfast 24/7/52: RPL 18302 CAEDMON TC-1162/ TOPIC 12-T-194/ FTX-166 & FTX-512/ FTX-310 A-ROVING 1968 #4 "Early Early" - Ben PHILLIPS rec by Seamus Ennis, Lochtwrffin, Mathry Pembrokesh Wales 17/10/52: RPL 19067/ FTX-052/ 310 A-ROVING 1968 #4 - Sheila SMITH (gypsy - aged 8) rec by PK, Laughton, Sussex 11/11/52: RPL 18717/ FTX-140/ FTX-310 A-ROVING 1968 #4 - Sheila GALLAGHER rec by PK, Middledore, Co Donegal 24/8/53: RPL 20144/ 271 "The Sailor Boy" - Harry COX rec by PK, London 1953 & Catfield, Norfolk 19/7/56: RPL LP 22914/ FTX-033 - Charlie SCAMP (gypsy) rec by PK, Chartham Hatch, Canterbury Kent 15/1/54: RPL 199635/ FTX-140 "Come father"- Vashti VINCENT rec by PK, Sixpenny Handley, Wiltsh 1954 - Teresa CLIFFORD of Belfast rec Glasgow 14/3/55: RPL 22372 - Lucy STEWART rec by PK, Fetterangus, Aberdeensh 27/6/55: FTX-365 - Robert CINNAMOND rec by PK & Sean O Boyle, Belfast July 1955: RPL LP 24841/ FTX-159 "Early, early, by the break of day" - Maggie DIRRANE, rec by Maud Karpeles & Sidney Robertson Cowell 1955: FOLKWAYS P-1002 1957/ FTX-421 "Early early in the blooming spring" - Ewan Mc COLL with Peggy SEEGER (gtr) & PS with unaccomp version: RIVERSIDE RLP-12-637 1956 - Shirley COLLINS with John HASTED (banjo), Ralph RINZLER (gtr), Guy Carawan (gtr) rec by PK, London 1958 (ARGO): SEE FOR MILES SEE-212 1987 - Clifford YELDHAM, rec by PK, Thaxted Essex 24/11/62: RPL LP 29820/ FTX-040 - Mabel SKELTON rec Arbroath, Angus 14/7/64: RPL LP 28571/ FTX-310 A-ROVING 1968 #4 "O Captain, Captain" - Isabel SUTHERLAND: TOPIC 12-T-151 1966 (coll from Maggie Kelbie, Banff )"Father, father" - Sheila Smith, Mabel Skelton, Lal Smith & Ben Phillips (composite): A-ROVING Radio Prog 1968 #8 - Dave & Toni ARTHUR: TOPIC 12-T-190 1969 from Greig - DRUIDS: ARGO ZFB-22 1970 - London Madrigal Singers: EMI HQS-1215 1970 - Martin WYNDHAM-READ: LEADER LER- 2028 1971 "The Lost Sailor" (Australian var coll Norman O Connor from Simon Mc Donald of Victoria) - Martin CARTER (with gtr): TRADITIONAL SOUND TSR-012 1972 "If I were a blackbird" - Frankie ARMSTRONG: TOPIC 12-TS-232 1973 "The Sailor Boy" - Phoebe SMITH rec by Mike Yates, Woodbridge, Suffolk: TOPIC 12- TS-304/ TSCD-661 - Alison McMORLAND & Peta WEBB: TOPIC 12-TS-403 1980 from Lucy Stewart - John CORRY rec by James P Foley, Castlederg, Co Tyrone 1986: FTX-178 "The Sailor Boy" - Jo FREYA SAYDISC SDL-402 (CD & cass) 1993 "A Sailor's Life" (from Merrick) - Female singer with BOTHY BAND CASS- 60-0885 "The Sailor Boy" - Peggy SEEGER (unacc) rec London 14/8/56: RPL LP 23195 - Maggie MURPHY rec by John Howson, Tempo, Co Fermanagh: VETERAN VT-134-CD 1996 "Early, early all in the Spring" --- Carter Family (Trio) rec Camden, NJ USA 11/12/34:/ 7"RTR-0313-4 "The Soldier Boy" - Monroe PRESNELL rec by Frank & Anne Warner, NC 1941: FTX-923/ APPLESEED APR-CD-036 2000 "Sweet Soldier Boy" - Lena Bourne FISH rec by Frank & Anne Warner, East Jaffray, NH 1940: FTX-922 - Rebecca King JONES rec by Frank & Anne Warner, Crab Tree Creek, nr Raleigh, N.C. 1941: APPLESEED APR-CD-036 2000 "Captain O Captain" - Mrs Donald SHELTON (Emma Hensley) rec by Maud Karpeles, Alleghany, NC 10/8/55: RPL 23794/ FTX-907 - Anita BEST & Pamela MORGAN with piano accomp: AMBER MUSIC (Newfoundland) ACD 9008 (from Caroline Brennan of Ship Cove & Pius Power of Clattice Harbour, Placentia Bay) "A Sailor's Trade is a weary Life"

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Ballads and Songs by G. L. Kittredge
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 30, No. 117 (Jul. - Sep., 1917), pp. 283-369

SWEET WILLIAM (THE SAILOR BOY).
See Christie, "Traditional Ballad Airs," I :248-249 ("The Sailing Trade"); Broadwood and Fuller Maitland, "English County Songs," pp. 74-75 ("Sweet William"); "Journal of the Folk-Song Society," I: 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 donJ,. Davenport, No. 15 (25243.20, fol. 48, about I8, "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. I17.-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. McInnis of Meridian, Miss. Mr. McInnis 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 I, 5, and 6 appear in part in "The Butcher's Boy" and elsewhere (see JAFL 29 : 169-170).
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Mainly Norfolk:
A Sailor's Life / Sweet William / Willie the Bold Sailor Boy

[Roud 273 ; Laws K12 ; G/D 6:1245 ; Ballad Index LK12 ; Bodleian Roud 273 ; Wiltshire Roud 273 ; 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 in 1994 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 County 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).

Pat Ryan sang The Lost Sailor in 1983 on her Traditional Sound Recordings album Moving On.

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.
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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 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 hoping 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 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 true loves hair.

    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, L. Exchange St. Dublin

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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

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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?

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


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,

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

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.

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

DESCRIPTION: "(Black, black,) black is the color of my true love's hair...." The singer describes the beautiful girl he is in love with. (He regretfully concedes that they will never be married)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting hair beauty separation nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Lomax-FSUSA 16, "Black Is the Color" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax- FSNA 100, "Black Is the Color" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 88, "Black is the Color" (1 text, 1 tune, with several floating lines including some that appear to be from "Lady Mary Anne" or something related)
SharpAp 85, "Black is the Colour" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 41, "Black is the Color" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 267-268, "Black is the Color" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 145, "Black Is The Color" (1 text)
DT, BLACKCOL* BLACKCO2*
Roud #3103
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Black is the Color" (on PeteSeeger18)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair
Notes: John Jacob Niles, who is largely responsible for popularizing this song, also claims to have written it. For a recently composed song, however, it exists in unusually diverse and widespread forms. Randolph notes connections with English pieces, and Lomax correctly observes that the tune resembles "Fair and Tender Ladies." - RBW

_______________________

Deep Blue Sea (I), The

DESCRIPTION: The girl's lover set off to sea, promising to write to her. She never hears from him. She seeks out his captain, who tells her "he is drowned in the deep blue sea." She bids "farewell to friends and relations" and decides to drown herself
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Carter Family recording)
KEYWORDS: death suicide ship sea drowning
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Randolph 794, "The Deep Blue Sea" (1 short text plus 2 excerpts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 518-520, "The Deep Blue Sea" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 794A)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 26, "Sailor on the Deep Blue Sea" (1 text, 1 tune, perhaps rewritten by the Carter Family)
Silber-FSWB, p. 181, "Sailor On The Deep Blue Sea" (1 text)
DT, SAILDEEP*
Roud #4291
RECORDINGS:
Carter Family, "I Have No One to Love Me" (Victor V-40036, 1929)
Lake Howard, "I Have No One to Love Me" (Perfect 13151, 1935)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Sailor on the Deep Blue Sea" (on NLCR01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Sailor Boy (I)" [Laws K12] (plot)
NOTES: Paul Stamler suggests that this is a worn-down form of "The Sailor Boy" (Laws K12). I consider the characteristic of Laws K12 to be the request for a boat that the girl may seek her lover. Also, there are very few words in common between the two. So I have,
with some hesitation, decided to split the two songs.
It is quite possible that the separation is recensional; Cohen notes that Randolph's texts appear to be a warn down version of the Carter Family version, and Randolph's is the only genuinely traditional source. So this may be the remnants of a Carter Family rewrite of "The Sailor Boy." - RBW

Deep Blue Sea (II)
DESCRIPTION: "Deep blue sea, baby, deep blue sea...It was Willie what got drownded in the deep blue sea"; "Dig his grave with a silver spade..."; "Lower him down with a golden chain..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1955 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: death burial drowning floatingverses lullaby
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
PSeeger-AFB, p. 76, "Deep Blue Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 58, "Deep Blue Sea" (1 text)
DT, DEEPBLUE*
Roud #3119
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Deep Blue Sea" (on PeteSeeger04) (on PeteSeeger12) (on PeteSeeger15)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Blue" (floating verses)
cf. "The 'Cholly' Blues" (floating verses)
cf. "Stormalong" (floating verses)
cf. "Dig My Grave With a Silver Spade" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: In this case, perhaps we should refer to "sinkingverses." This song should not be confused with "The Deep Blue Sea", aka "Sailor on the Deep Blue Sea," as recorded by the Carter Family. It may have been a shanty at some point. - PJS


I'll tell you the words I have spliced together. Usually I am quite sure I have the definitive version of any song but this time I won't say so.

Deep blue sea forever deep blue sea
Deep blue sea forever deep blud sea
Deep blue sea forever deep blue sea
Was my Willie what got drownded in the deep blue sea

Captain Oh Captain did he sail with you
Captain Oh Captain did he sail with you
Captain O Captain did he sail with you
Was my Willie what got drownded in the deep blue sea.

Dig his grave with a silver spade (3 times)

Lower him down with a golden chain (3 times)

I hear his voice in the wind at night
I see his face in the pale moonlight
I hear his voice in the wind at night
Twas my Willie what got drownded in the deep blue sea

Deep blue sea forever deep blue sea (3 times)

mg
-------------

Vance Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, no. 794, vol. 4, pp. 309-310. Sung by Miss Grace Hahn, 1941. Sheet music shown.

Lyr. Add: THE DEEP BLUE SEA

He promised to write me a letter,
He promised to write to me,
But I haven't heard from my darling
Who is sailing on the deep blue sea.

Oh, captain, can you tell me,
Can you tell me where he may be?
Oh yes, my pretty maiden,
He is drownded in the deep blue sea.

Farewell to friends and relations,
This is the last you'll see of me,
For I'm going to end my troubles
By drownding in the deep blue sea.

Other verses, other sources, Randolph, p. 310, vol. 4

My mother is dead and buried,
My father's forsaken me,
And I have no one to love me
But my sailor on the deep blue sea.

It was last Sunday evening
Just about the hour of three,
When my darling started for to leave me
To sail on the deep blue sea.

DEEP BLUE SEA
Words and Music by :
Arranged and adapted by:
Publisher:

Recorded by:
DeCormier Singers - RD865SD
Odetta - TLP1010
Lyrics:

Deep blue sea, baby, deep blue sea
Deep blue sea, baby, deep blue sea
Deep blue sea, baby, deep blue sea
It was Willy what got drownded
In the deep blue sea

Lower him down with a golden chain
Lower him down with a golden chain
Lower him down with a golden chain
it was Willy what got drownded
In the deep blue sea

Dig his grave with a silver spade
Dig his grave with a silver spade
Dig his grave with a silver spade
It was Willy what got drownded
In the deep blue sea
[Home] [song list] [Belafonte Folk Singers] [DeCormier Singers] [Chad Mitchell Trio]

All examples seem to be fairly recent. The Ballad Index entry, gives the earliest examples as a Pete Seeger recording of 1955.

The Roud Index - 3119 has 6 entries for the song, the earliest is 1940 - WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.288 (version b), under the title The Weeping Willow Tree collected from Mrs. Alice Stapleton, of Esserville, Va. The next is 1942 (the link is to all 6 entries).

 Guthrie T. Meade believed that it was related to 'The Sailor Boy' (Laws K12)."

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

There's a partial version of this traditional song in the Digital Tradition but it's missing at least two verses. This is the way my family used to sing it, probably picked up from the Carter Family Recording in the 1930's (copy and paste into WORD/TIMES/12 to line up chords):

SAILOR ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA

-------G-------------------C
It was on one summer's evening
------G---------------D7
Just about the hour of three
-----------------G-----------------C
When my true love went for to leave me
----G----------D7--------G
To sail on the deep blue sea.

Oh, he promised to write me a letter;
He said he'd be true to me,
But I've not heard from my darling
Who is sailing on the deep blue sea.

Oh, my mother's dead and buried;
My father's forsaken me,
And I have no one for to love me
But the sailor on the deep blue sea.

"Oh, Captain, can you tell me,
Can you tell me where can my sailor be?"
"Oh yes, my little maiden,
He is drownded in the deep blue sea."

Farewell to friends and relations .
It's the last you'll see of me,
For I'm going to end my troubles
By drownding in the deep blue sea.

"Charley on the MTA" is the most familiar parody of this song.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

---------------------------
 Sweet William's Farewell to Black-ey'd Susan: A Ballad
Gay, John (1685 - 1732)
Original Text:
John Gay, Poems on Several Occasions (London: Jacob Tonson and Bernard Lintot, 1720). E-10 4365 Fisher Rare Book Library (Toronto).
1  All in the Downs the fleet was moor'd,
2    The streamers waving in the wind,
3When black-ey'd Susan came aboard.
4    Oh! where shall I my true love find!
5Tell me, ye jovial sailors, tell me true,
6If my sweet William sails among the crew.


BLACK-EYED SUSAN.

This still popular song was composed by Richard Leveridge, author of The roast beef of Old England, and of several other favorite songs. He was a bass singer at the Theatre in Lincoln’s Inn Fields; and, when more than sixty years of age, still thought his voice so good that he offered for a wager of a hundred guineas to sing a bass song with any man in England. The tune is very like another which he composed to the words, “ Send back my long-strayed eyes;” and, in both, he seems to have drawn more on memory than imagination. One of the snatches sung by Ophelia, in Hamlet, and several other old songs begin in the same manner.

The words of “ Sweet William’s farewell to black-ey’d Susan” are by Gay, and are printed in his Poems, as well as on numerous extant broadsides with music; in Watts’s Musical Miscellany, iv. 148, &c.

The tune was introduced into The Devil to pay; The Village Opera; Robin Hood, 1730; The Ohambermald ; The Grub Street Opera; The Welsh Opera ; &c.

The same words were set by Henry Carey, and others; but Leveridge’s became the popular tune.

The following version is as it is now sung :—


The Sea's Anthology: From the Earliest Times Down to the Middle of the ...
edited by John Edward Patterson

BLACK-EYED SUSAN.

All in the Downs the fleet was moor'd,
  The streamers waving in the wind,

When black-eyed Susan came on board:
   "Oh ! where shall I my true love find?

Tell me, ye jovial sailors, tell me true,

If my sweet William sails among your crew? " 1

William, who, high upon the yard,

  Rock'd by the billows to and fro,
Soon as her well-known voice he heard,

  He sighed and cast his eyes below:
The cord glides swiftly through his glowing hands,
And quick as lightning on the deck he stands.

So the sweet lark, high-pois'd in air,
  Shuts close his pinions to his breast,

If chance his mate's shrill call he hear,
  And drops at once into her nest:

The noblest captain in the British fleet

Might envy William's lips those kisses sweet.

"O Susan, Susan, lovely dear,

 My vows shall ever true remain!
Let me kiss off that falling tear,—

 We only part to meet again:
Change as ye list, ye winds, my heart shall be
The faithful compass that still points to thee!

"Believe not what the landsmen say,

Who tempt, with doubts, thy constant mind:

They'll tell thee, sailors, when away,
  At every port a mistress find.—

Yes, yes !—believe them when they tell thee so;

For thou art present wheresoe'er I go.

"If to fair India's coast we sail,
  Thine eyes are seen in diamonds bright;

Thy breath is Afric's spicy gale,—
  Thy skin is ivory so white:

Thus every beauteous object that I view

Wakes in my soul some charm of lovely Sue.

"Though battle calls me from thy arms,

  Let not my pretty Susan mourn;
Though cannons roar, yet, free from harms,

William shall to his dear return:

1 An old song, "The Sailor Boy"—possibly not so old as to be anterior to Gay's time—has:

"O sailor, sailor, send me word,
  If my true love William be on board."

ove turns aside the balls that round me fly,

Lest precious tears should drop from Susan's eye."

The boatswain gives his dreadful word,—
  The sails their swelling bosoms spread;

No longer may she stay on board:

They kiss: She sighs: He hangs his head.

Her lessening boat unwilling rows to land:

"Adieu !" she cries, and waves her lily hand.

Gay.

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[different song- hard to ear text]

Sailor boy

    Green, John W., 1871-1963 (Performer)
    Lomax, Alan, 1915-2002 (Collector)
Created / Published
    Saint James, Beaver Island, MI, None 1938, 8
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The Canadian Music Journal - Volumes 5-6 - Page 75
https://books.google.com/books?id=p_w4AAAAIAAJ
1960 - ‎Snippet view - ‎More editions
... went a-fishing"— the latter known in many other versions. But the joys, sorrows, and perplexities of the lower orders predominate. The mariners of England naturally take a prominent place: A sailor's life is a merry life— They rob young girls