The Cabin Boy- Beane (VT) c1930 Flanders J, Barry
[Barry probably titled this, using an earlier title. Could be titled, Gold China Tree. Barry died in 1937 so it was collected before this and he was still active in the early 1930s collecting sometimes with Flanders, hence my c.1930 date. Flanders probably didn't get a chance to talk to Barry about this MS since he had passed long before the book was being organized. Below are Coffin's introductory notes from Flanders' Ancient Ballads. This ballad covers over 80 pages, the most extensive collection published.
R. Matteson 2014]
The Sweet Trinity or the Golden Vanity
(Child 286)
This ballad is immensely popular in America and not hard to find in Britain. It dates back to a broadside of the 1680's in which the deceitful captain is Sir Walter Raleigh. (See Flanders FF.) Since then it has taken many forms and may conclude in any number of ways. The Flanders texts give an excellent cross section of the plot variations found in this ballad. In A-T the boy drowns in the lowlands low. In U, he sinks the captain's ship as well as that of the enemy before he drowns. In V, he also sinks the captain's ship and there is only one survivor to tell the tale. In W, he sinks the captain's ship, ironically drowning the girl he loved with the crew. In X, he dies after being hauled on deck. In EE his ghost returns to treat the captain to a glass of beer before sinking the boat. In FF-JJ, the heroic lad is rewarded with a leave of absence, the daughter's hand, or gold and silver. Of these texts, A1, with the stanzas on the phantom ship, and R, with the lines borrowed from "The Mermaid" (Child 289) are noteworthy. So are V, with its one survivor, like Melville's Ishmael; and FF, which preserves the name of Raleigh, if not the ending, from Child A" The vessel's name, originally The Sweet Trinity, varies greatly in America, becoming The Golden Vanity, The Green Willow Tree, The Merry Golden Tree, and so on. Its opponent, sunk by the cabin boy, was "a false galley" in the old broadside, but it is more likely a Turkish (or Russian, Irish, French, etc.) Revelee or "Shavaree" (sloop) in the States.
There is a certain preposterous quality to this song, and college students and music hall writers have exploited this fact in a series of parodies. see Coffin, 155, for references. Perhaps for the same reason, it has been extremely popular with sailors.
A long bibliography for "The Sweet Trinity" is easy to come by. See coffin, 153-5 (American); Dean-Smith, 69; Belden, 97 (English); Greig and Keith, 228-9, and Ord, 450-1 (Scottish). Phillips Barry, British Ballad's from Maine, 339-47, includes and discusses it. There is a song, once in a while confused with "The Sweet Trinity," called "The Low-lands Low." while it has a similar burden, it tells a very different story and goes back to an English stall ballad, "Young Edwin in the Lowlands Low" (Laws M 34), that was well known here and in Britain, see Laws, ABBB, 197-8; Belden, 127; and Dean-smith, 118, for some references to it.
The tunes for Child 286 can be divided into six groups which, however, may turn out to be related at least to some extent. The groupings are as follows: (1) Davis, Edwards, Moses, Burditt, and possibly Pease; (2) George, Daniels, Houghton; (3) Henry, Blake, George, Barry; (4) Clarke, Cassidy, Richards, Dragon; (5) Ingalls; and (6) Fish and Percival. The Ingalls runs seems to be a version of the popular "Canada-I-O." In order to save repetition, the tune relationships for standard collections are given here. Only relatively close tunes have been selected. from the large number available. In spite of their profusion, however, there is a lack of analogues for groups (2) and (6). For group (3), see Sharp I, 282-285, 2B9 I; FCB 4, 120, 47 A, 121 A (I), 123 C (I) ; BES, 346, ROI, 195, 200 (D); BI, 160. For group (3), especially the Blake rune, see BES, 34b (distant). For group (4) see Sharp l, 287, 288 G; GCM, 214; ROI, 200.
J. [The Cabin Boy] From Miss M. E. Beane, Irasburg, Vermont. Phillips Barry Collector
The Cabin Boy
There was a ship in the Northern Countrie,
All in the Lowland low,
The name of the ship was the Gold China Tree,
All in the Lowland low, low, low.
Sailing the Lowland, low, low, low,
Sailing the Lowland low."
She had not sailed past leagues two or three,
All in the Lowland low,
She had not sailed past leagues two or three
Before she espied a French galilee [1].
The first that spoke was the ship captain's man,
All in the Lowland low,
Saying, "Master, O Master, we're all undone,
All in the Lowland low, low, low!"
Next spoke up was the little cabin boy,
All in the Lowland low,
Saying, "Master, O Master, what will you give to me,
If I will sink the French galilee?"
"Oh, I will give you gold, and I will give you fee,
All in the Lowland low,
And my eldest daughter your bride shall be,
All in the Lowland low, low, low."
He smote [2] upon his breast, and away swung [3] he,
All in the Lowland low,
He smote upon his breast, and away swung he,
And he swung till he came to the French galilee.
Then he espied a little augur that came from a nun,
All in the Lowland low,
Then he espied a little augur that came from a nun,
And bored holes with it, twenty and one.
Some threw there hats and some threw their caps
All in the Lowland low,
Saying, "For God's sake stop up the salt water gaps,
All in the Lowland low, low, low."
1. galley (ship)
2. bent (get ready); smote (old English) here is unusual but I think correct; usually it's "bent his breast."
3. swum (swung- haha)