Sailor Lad- Muriel Henneberry (NS) 1930 creighton
[From Creighton's 1933 book, Songs and Ballads of Nova Scotia. The informant Muriel Henneberry was born in 1918 and died in 1994. She was the daughter of David Michael Henneberry and Minnie Elizabeth Osborne.
R. Matteson 2017]
Sailor Lad- sung by Muriel Henneberry, aged 12, Devil's Island, collected by Creighton about 1930.
1. "Oh I build me up some little boat
That on the ocean I may float,
And every ship I chance to spy
I will require for my sailor bold."
2. She sailed not far o'er the deep
When a big ship she chanced to meet,
Saying, "Bold captain, oh, tell me true,
is my sailor lad here among your crew?"
3. "Oh, no, fair maid, he is not here,
He is drowned in the deep I fear."
She wrang her hands and tore her hair
Just like a fair maiden would do.
4. "I'll go home and write a song,
I'll write it true, I'll write it long,
La every line I'll shed a tear
To be to you, my lover dear.
5. "The blue jacket he used to wear,
His light blue eyes, his coal black hair,
His lips were of the velvet fine
And often used to meet at mine.
6. "Dig my grave both long and deep,
A marble stone at my head and feet.
On my heart a turtle dove
To show the world I died for love."