The Mermaid- Duval (VA) 1914 Davis A
[Davis, Traditional Ballads From Virginia, 1929. The repetitive extended chorus is similar to the 1868 Carmina Collegensia version published by Oliver Ditson (also Child B, C, and D). Footnotes by Davis follow.
R. Matteson 2014]
48. THE MERMAID
(Child, No. 289)
Thirteen texts, whole or fragmentary and two tunes are the contribution of this ballad to the Virginia archives, under the titles,"The Stormy Winds Do Blow," "The Stormy Winds How Do They Blow," "The Stormy Winds" and "The Wreck," as well as "The Mermaid." Only one repetitive fragment is here excluded. The twelve remaining variants are quite similar and in the main follow the Child sequence B-C-D. But the speech of the cook which appears in Virginia A, D, K, L, is more tike child E and F. Virginia A shows the impress of another "section" of the country (see the footnote). Virginia B and C come from the same singer but show certain variations; They are place in juxtaposition for comparison. An interesting feature of the fuller variants is the use made of the "stormy winds" stanza usually it is the chorus, sometimes the first stanza and chorus, sometimes first and last stanza, sometimes (once) it is omitted.
The ship sets sail as in Child B, C, D, on Friday, a day of ill omen. The appearance of a mermaid is a signal despair to seamen in this ballad as in certain versions of Sir Patrick Spens (Child, No. 52, J, L, P, Q). As Child there (II, 19) remarks, "If nothing worse, mermaids at least bode rough weather, and sailors do not like them. . . They have a reputation for treachery; there is a Danish ballad one who has betrayed seven ships."
The popularity of this ballad in college and other songbooks has often been pointed out (see Cox and Mackenzie, head-notes). For other traditional American texts, see Barry, No. 7; Bulletin, Nos. 2-5, 8-10; Cox No. 33; Heart Songs, p. 360, Hudson No. 23 (Mississippi); Journal, XVIII, 136 (Barry, Vermont, text and melody); XXII 78 (Barry, Vermont, melody only): XXV, 176 (Belden Missouri); XXVI, (Kittredge, Massachusetts); McGill p. 46; Mackenzie Ballads, No. 16; Pound, Syllabus, p. 10 (fragment); Pound Ballads No. 11; Spaeth, Read 'em and Weep, 1927, p. 81. For additional references, see Cox, p. 172; Journal, XXX, 333.
A. "The Mermaid." contributed by Miss Maria P. Duval, of Staunton, Va. Sung by her mother, Augusta County March 10, 1914. The mention of Salem and Boston shows that this ballad has been subject to New England influence. Perhaps it is natural that so nautical a story should bear the impress of a more maritime section of the country but a longer residence in Virginia would doubtless have substituted Norfolk, Portsmouth, or Newport News for the New England places.
1. 'T was Friday morn when we set sail,
And we were not far from the land,
When the captain spied a lovely mermaid
With a comb and a glass in her hand.
Chorus: Oh! the ocean waves may roll,
And the stormy winds may blow,
While we poor sailors go skipping to the tops,
And the land-lubbers lie down below, below, below,
While the land-lubbers lie down below.
2. Then out spake the captain of our gallant ship,
And a well-spoken man was he:
"I have married me a wife in Salem town,
And tonight she a widder will be!"
3. Then out spake the cook of our gallant ship,
And a fat old cookie was he:
"I care much more for my pottles and my kets, [1]
Than I do for the depths of the sea'"
4. Then out spake the boy of our gallant ship,
And a well-spoken laddie was he:
"I've a father and a mother in Boston city,
But tonight they childless will be.
5. "Oh! the moon shines bright, and the stars give light;
Oh! my mammy'll be looking for me;
She may look, she may weep, she may look to the deep,
She may look to the bottom of the sea."
6. Then three times around went our gallant ship,
And three times around went she;
Then three times around went our gallant ship,
And she sank to the depths of the sea.
1 A rare ballad indulgence in Spoonerism. [i.e. kettles and pots]