The Merry Golden Tree- Bagwell (TN) 1933 Henry C
[From: Folk Songs from the Southern Highlands by Mellinger Edward Henry, 1933; Henry was a friend and associate of my grandfather, Maurice Matteson, and they collaborated on one book together, Beech Mountain Ballads. No date provided.
R Matteson 2014]
THE SWEET TRINITY (THE GOLDEN VANITY) (Child, No. 286)
For American texts, see Barry, No. 1; Belden, No. 78; Campbell and Sharp, No. 3 5; Colcord, p. 79; Cox, No. 32; Davis, No. 47; Barry-Eckstorm-Smyth, p. 339; Hudson, No. 22; Journal, XVIII, 125 (Barry); XXIII, 429 (Belden); XXX, 331 (Kittredge); McGill, p. 97; Pound, Ballads, No. 10; Shearin and Combs, p. 9; Shoemaker, p. 126 (Second Ed.); Wyman and Brockway, p. 72. Cf. the English version with music in Sharp's One Hundred English Folksongs, No. 14. Cox points out that "A fragment of this ballad, combined with an additional stanza of a comic character, has been popular as a college song" and supplies the following references: "Waite, Cartnina Collegensia (Boston, Cop. 1868), p. 171; The American College Songster (Ann Arbor, 1876), p. 101; White, Student Life in Song (Boston, Cop. 1879), p. 58." A fine text of the original ballad with the tune will be found in J. W. Raine's, The Land of the Saddle-Bags, p. 121. For a modern version of "The Golden Vanity", see John Masefield's A Sailor's Garland, p. 175. Add Flanders and Brown, p. 230; Randolph, p. 177; Brown, p. 9; Bulletin, No. 5, pp. 10—11.
C. "The Merry Golden Tree." The song was recorded near Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, by Ruth Bagwell, a student in Lincoln Memorial University.
1. There was a little ship and she sailed upon the sea,
And she went by the name of the Merry Golden Tree,
As she sailed upon the lone and the lonesome low,
As she sailed upon the lonesome sea.
2. There was another ship and she sailed upon the sea,
And she went by the name of the Turkish Robbery,
As she sailed upon the lone and lonesome low,
As she sailed upon the lonesome sea.
3. There was a little sailor unto the captain said:
"O Captain, O Captain, what will you give to me
If I'll sink them in the lone and lonesome low,
If I'll sink them in the lonesome sea?"
4. "Two hundred dollars I'll give unto thee,
And my oldest daughter I'll wed unto thee,
If you'll sink them in the lone and lonesome low,
If you'll sink them in the lonesome sea."
5. He bowed upon his breast and away swam he
Till he came to the ship of the Turkish Robbery,
As she sailed upon the lone and lonesome low,
As she sailed upon the lonesome sea.
6. Then out of his pocket an instrument he drew,
And he bored nine holes for to let the water through, [1]
As she sailed upon the lone and lonesome low,
As she sailed upon the lonesome sea.
7. Some had hats and some had caps,
And they tried to stop them awful water gaps,
For they were sinking in the lone and lonesome low,
For they were sinking in the lonesome sea.
8. He bowed upon his breast and back swam he
Till he came to the ship of the Merry Golden Tree,
As she sailed upon the lone and lonesome low,
As she sailed upon the lonesome sea.
9. "O Captain, O Captain, won't you take me on board?
O Captain, O Captain, won't you be as good as your word?
For I've sunk them in the lone and lonesome low,
For I've sunk them in the lonesome sea."
10. "Oh, no, I will neither take you on board,
Oh, no, I will neither be as good as my word,
For I'm sailing on the lone and lonesome low,
For I'm sailing on the lonesome sea."
11. "If it wasn't for my love for your daughter and your men,
I would do unto you as I did unto them,
I would sink you in the lone and lonesome low,
I would sink you in the lonesome sea."
12. He turned upon his back and down sank he:
"Farewell, farewell, to the Merry Golden Tree,
For I'm sinking in the lone and lonesome low,
For I'm sinking in the lonesome sea."
1. Found also in Chase, whose version is a compilation with Horton Barker's melody and may not be included in my collection because it is not traditional.