The Green Willow Tree- Davis (VT) 1939 Flanders B1
[Below are Coffin's introductory notes from Flanders' Ancient Ballads. The ballad covers over 80 pages and is the most extensive collection of this ballad published. B2 is not included since it is the same text with stanzas missing.
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.
B1 [The Green Willow Tree] Sung by Asa Davis of Milton, Vermont. Learned, from his father, Joel Davis, of Duxbury, Vermont. H. H. F., Collector; June 23, 1939; In a retake (B2, not included here) by M. Olney, Mr. Davis omitted stanzas 6, 11, and 12, otherwisethe singing was almost identical, word for word. Structure: A B C1 C2 (2,2,2,2); Rhythm D but divergent; Contour: undulating; Scale: Dorian (the leading tone appears only once). t. c. D.
The Green Willow Tree
'Twas of a gallant ship of North Amerikee
That went by the name of The Green Willow Tree,
That was sailing in the Lowlands, lonesome low,
That was sailing in the Lowlands low.
They had not sailed days past two or three,
Before they espied a Turkish galilee [1]
That lie anchored in the Lowlands, lonesome low,
That lay anchored in the Lowlands low.
Then up spoke the cabin boy saying, "What will you give me
If I will but sink that Turkish galilee
That lies anchored in the Lowlands, lonesome low,
That lies anchored in the Lowlands low?"
"Oh, I will give you gold and I will give you fee;
Likewise my eldest daughter, your wedded wife shall be,
If you sink them in the Lowlands, lonesome low,
If you sink them in the Lowlands low."
He turned upon his back and away swam he
Until he came to the Turkish galilee
That lie anchored in the Lowlands, lonesome 1olv,
That lie anchored in the Lowlands low.
Oh, he had instruments all fit for the use,
He cut right in slashes and in went the juice [2],
Crying, "I'll sink you in the Lowlands, lonesome low,
I will sink you in the Lowlands low."
Oh, some with their hats and some with their vats
They came for to stop those watering gaps,
Crying, "We're sinking in the Lowland low,
We are sinking in the Lowlands low."
He turned upon his back and away swam he
Until he came to The Green Willow Tree
That was waiting in the Lowlands, lonesome low,
That was waiting in the Lowlands low.
"Oh, now, Mr. Captain, will you be as good as your word
And will you take me here on board
For I've sunk 'um in the Lowlands, lonesome low,
I have sunk 'um in the Lowlands low."
"Oh, no, I will not be as good as my word
Nor neither will take you here on board
But I'll sink you in the Lowlands, lonesome low,
I will sink you in the Lowlands low."
"If it wasn't for the respects that I owe your men,
I would serve you as I've served them;
I would sink you in the Lowlands, lonesome low,
I would sink you in the Lowlands low."
He turned upon his back and down sank he,
Saying, "Fare ye well to The Green Willow Tree
For I'm sinking in the Lowlands low
I am sinking in the Lowlands low."
(spoken)
1. galley
2. usually or perhaps intended at one time to be- sluice= a channel carrying off surplus water; a drain.