The Sea Captain- Ryan (NL) 1929 Karpeles B
[From Maud Karpeles, “Folksongs from Newfoundland” 1934, version B, titled The Sea Captain or The Maid on the Shore.
R. Matteson 2014]
The ‘Lost Voices’ of Maud Karpeles, “Folksongs from Newfoundland”
by Glenn Colton
In September 1929, Maud Karpeles of the English Folk Dance and Song Society arrived in Newfoundland for the first of two pioneering expeditions. A disciple of Cecil Sharp and friend of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Karpeles was a central figure in the British folk revival and later co-founder of the International Folk Music Council. She had initially planned to visit the island with Sharp as early as 1918, however that trip was cancelled due to funding concerns and Sharp’s untimely death foiled similar plans seven years later. Undaunted, she undertook the challenge alone, notating more than 200 tunes from singers in forty outport communities in one of the earliest Newfoundland folksong expeditions of its kind.
B. Sea Captain. Sung by Mrs. Joanie Ryan at Stock Cove, Bonavista Bay, 18th September 1929; Karpeles B
'Twas of a sea captain 'twas deep in love,
He was deep in despair O;
For I shall die, the sea captain, he cried,
If we don't get this maid from the shore, shore,
If we don't get this maid from the shore.
I have silver and I have gold,
I have costly ware O,
And I will buy a jolly ship's crew,
If they'll row me this maid. from the shore, shore,
If they'll row me this maid from the shore.
With long persuaded they got her on boat,
The seas rose calm and clear O.
She sang so neat, so sweet and complete,
She sent sailors and captain to sleep.
she robbed them of silver, she robbed them of gold,
And robbed them of costly ware O;
She took a broad sword instead of an oar,
And paddled away for the shore.
When this man woke and found she was gone,
He was like a man in despair O.
He called up his men and commanded a boat
To row me away for the shore.
And this man's not drunk,
He's not deep in despair O.
She saluted the captain as well as the crew,
Said: I am a maiden once more on the shore.