The Mermaid- Johnson (VA) 1922 Davis D; Stone
[From 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). The verses are not extended. 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 reĀpetitive 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.
D. "The Mermaid." Collected by Mr. John Stone. Sung by Mrs. Geo. Johnson, of Tunstall, Va. New Kent County, September 11, 1922.
1. 'T was Friday morn when we set sail,
And we were not far from the land,
When the captain spied a mermaid fair
With a comb and a glass in her hand.
Chorus: Oh, the ocean waves they roll,
And the stormy winds they blow,
While we poor sailors go toiling to the top,
And the landlubbers lie down below, down below,
And the landlubbers lie down below.
2. Then up steps the captain of our gallant little ship,
And a well-spoken man was he:
"I've married a wife in Salem town
Who this night a widow will be."
3. Then up spoke the cook of our gallant little ship,
And a well-spoken man was he:
"I care much more for my kettles and my pots
Than I do for the depths of the sea."
4. And three times around went our gallant little ship,
And three times around went she,
And as she was going the last time around,
She went to the bottom of the sea.