Ship's Carpenter- McFarland (KY) 1937 Lomax REC
[My quick transcription and title. From Library of Congress: Kentucky Alan Lomax Recordings, 1937-1942. One of the few US version that uses "ship's carpenter."
R. Matteson 2016]
The Ship's Carpenter- Sung by Roscoe C. McFarland of Salyersville, (Magoffin) KY; recorded by Lomax on October 26, 1937
1. Well met, well met my own true love
I've been search
I've lately cross the salt water sea
And it's all for the sake of thee.
2. Well met, well met, my own true love
I'm sure I'm not to blame
For I am married to the ship's carpenter
And I'm sure he's a fine young man.
3. If you will forsake your ship's carpenter
I'm sure I'm not to blame[1]
For I am married to the ship's carpenter
And I'm sure he's a fine young man.
She took her baby up in her arms,
And kisses gave it one, two, three,
And laid it all in a soft down,
And bade it to go to sleep.
As they sailed down on the sea shore
The music seeming so sweet,
She thought of the babe, she had left behind,
And set herself down to weep.
"Are you weeping for gold," said he
Or are you weeping for me?
Or are you weeping for some other young man
Whom you love far better than me?
I'm neither weeping for gold," said she
"Nor am I weeping for thee,
But I'm weeping for dry land, [I] must return
My poor little babe to see.
If you had ten thousand pounds of gold
And would freely give it all to me,
You never shall to dry land return
Your babe you never can see.
Well they hadn't been gone but about four weeks,
I'm sure it was not five,
When the ship sprang a leak and it did sink,
Way down in [?] the sea.[2]
Strange news, strange news, came back to the land
Strange news, came back to the shore,
That the ship had gone, dear wives sailed all[?] [3]
Went sinking to the sand.
1. Unfortunately McFarland forgot the second line and incorrectly repeated the previous last lines from stanza 2.
2. This is a name of a place- hard to understand
3. ?