The Mermaid- Lovingood (NC) 1936 Scarborough
[From: A Song Catcher; Scarborough pre1936; I'm leaving the Scarborough notes at the end (they are at the beginning as well) and commenting on them there. Scarborough's quote from Gummere (below) was picked up by Kyle Davis Jr. (More Ballads) who apparently didn't look at it carefully- and so it goes on.
R. Matteson 2014]
THE MERMAID
(Child No. 289)
Another sea piece with an unhappy ending is preserved in America. Cox reports a version from 'West Virginia, and the Virginia collection includes thirteen items and two tunes. This ballad is popular among college singers, as Cox and Mackenzie have observed, and is included in many collections both in America and Great Britain. Mrs. Rachel Slocumb contributed this version, which she had from Mrs. Charity Lovingood of Murphy, North Carolina.
The Mermaid
'Twas 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,
And the land lubbers lie down below.
Then out spoke 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."
Then out spake the cook of our gallant ship,
And a fat old cookie was he;
"I care much more for my potties and my kets [1]
Than I do for the depths of the sea."
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.
"Oh, the moon shines bright and the stars give light,
Oh, my mammy she'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."
Then three times round went our gallant ship,
And three times round went she;
Then three times round went our gallant ship,
And she sank to the bottom of the sea.
1. See Davis A, usually it's "kettles and pots."
This ballad is used in children's games, as recorded in Gomme's Traditional Games, II, 143, 422. It has been parodied, as its rather jovial air lends itself well to that. Gummere says, "Actual burlesque, always a proof of-antecedent popularity, reaches this climax in a version of The Mermaid:
Out and spoke the cook of our ship,
And a rusty old dog was he.
Says, "I am as sorry for my pots and pans
As you are for your wives all three."
Here is Francis Barton Gummere complete quote from The Popular Ballad; page 125; 1907. There are two footnotes:
Actual burlesque, always a proof of antecedent popularity, reaches this climax of relatives in a version of the " Mermaid,"[1] still beloved for its swing and its lively chorus. Captain, mate, and boatswain of the doomed ship cry incrementally that their wives will soon be widows; when
"... next bespake the little cabbin-boy,
And a well bespoke boy was he:
'I am as sorry for my mother dear
As you are for your wives all three," —
pathetic enough; but in the burlesque it runs: —
"Out and spoke the cook of our ship,
And a rusty old dog was he;
Says, 'I am as sorry for my pots and pans
As you are for your wives all three.'"
So much for the use of incremental repetition in a commanding motive or typical, important formula.[2]
1 No. 289. A is serious; E is the burlesque.
2 If incremental repetition appeared only in these formulas of relative climax, best of three, legacy, and what not, which themselves occur not only in ballads, but in folk tales and other forms of literature, then one could argue that borrowing could account for it and its origin need not be sought in choral conditions of the primitive ballad. The point is that incremental repetition is the fundamental fact in ballad structure.
[I don't see it-- version E from Motherwell doesn't seem like a burlesque: the last line refers back to the previous three stanzas and is not a flippant comment about having three wives!!!]