Sailor's Trade- George W. Piper (MA) c.1868 Frank C
[From: Stuart M. Frank's "Jolly Sailors Bold" (2010) pp.153-155.
R. Matteson 2017]
C. "SAILOR'S TRADE." Entered into the ship's log by ship-keeper George Wilbur Piper[1], ship Europa of Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, in 1868-70. Realigned from haphazard 3-line stanzas in the MS.
A sailor's trade is a weary life
So beware young maidens of this life
They will leave you behind for to sigh and mourn
Not knowing when they will return
O father come build me a boat
So that on the ocean I may float
To watch the king's ships as they pass by
That I rnay enquire for my sailor boy
She had not sailed long on the deep
when a jovial crew she chanced for to meet
Come tell to me my jovial crew
Does my Willie sail on board of you
What kind of lad was your Willie dear
And what kind of clothes did your Willie wear
A round about jacket of the Royal blue
He is easy known for his hart is true
O your love Willie he is not here
for he is drowned we all do fear
By yon green island as we passed by
There we did loose a sailor boy
She wrung her hands and she tore her hair
just like a maid all in deep despair
Her little back against a rock she flung
Crying how can I live since my Willie's gone
She called for pen ink and paper too
that she might write her last adieu
And at every word she dropped a tear
And at every line she cried farewell my dear
Come all you fair maids all dress in black
and all you sailors for my sake
And the little cabin boy on the main mast high
For to mourn the loss of my sailor boy
Come dig my grave both long and deep
Place a marble slab at both head and feet
And over my head place a turtle dove
For to show the world that I died for love
1. A ship-keeper is in charge of the whaling ship in the event the captain's boat is lowered (i.e. when the captain, Thomas Mellen was off the vessel). Piper was from Concord, New Hampshire. The source of Piper's version is unknown.