The Merry Golden Tree- Drake (TX) 1952 Owens
[From: Texas Folks Songs by William Owens 1976. Rod Drake of the Drake settlement near Fred, Texas was one of Owens best informants giving him 47 songs and ballads.
R. Matteson 2014]
MERRY GOLDEN TREE- Rod Drake, 1952
There was a little ship that sailed upon the sea,
And it went by the name of the Merry Golden Tree,
And it sank in the lowland lonesome low,
And it sank in the lonesome sea.
There was another ship that sailed on the sea,
That went by the name of the Turkish Shivaree,
And she sailed on the lowland lonesome low,
And she sailed on the lonesome sea.
"Oh, Captain, oh, Captain, what will you give me
To sink this little ship in the bottom of the sea,
I can sink her in the lowland lonesome low,
I can sink her in the lonesome sea."
"I will give to you money, I'll give to you fee,
Besides my loving daughter I'll marry unto thee,
If you sink her in the lowland lonesome low,
If you sink her in the lonesome sea."
\Well, he had a little tool that5 was made for the use,
That bored nine holes in the bottom at once,
And it sank in the lowland lonesome low,
And it sank in the lonesome sea.
He bowed his head and away swum he
Until he came to the Turkish Shivaree,
And he sunk her in the lowland lonesome low,
And he sunk her in the lonesome sea.
He bowed his head and away swum he
Until he came to the Merry Golden Tree,
That's where he drowned in the lowland lonesome low,
Where he drowned in the lonesome sea.
"Oh, Captain, oh, Captain, take me on board,
For if you don't you have surely broke your word,
And I'll drown in the lowland lonesome low,
And I'11 drown in the lonesome sea."
"I won't give you money, I won't give you fee,
And I won't be as good as I said I would be,
You may drown in the lowland lonesome low,
You may drown in the lonesome sea."
'If it wasn't for the love that I have for your men,
would do unto you as I done unto them,
would sink you in the lowland lonesome low,
would sink you in the lonesome sea."