There Was A Ship Sailing- Thomas (TN) 1950 Boswell
[From: Folk Songs of Middle Tennessee: The George Boswell Collection; Charles K. Wolfe - 1997, p. 37-39. The ending resembles the Cruel Ship's Carpenter where the ship springs a leak as retribution and sinks. The name of the ship which the cabin boy sails is the Turkish Willow Lee. They sink the Green Willow Tree which is a reversal of the usual names. Because the names are so similar it's hard to tell the ships apart.
R. Matteson 2014]
There was a Ship Sailing- Sung by Irene Farrar Thomas of Camden on Dec. 5 1950, who learned it from her father Pridgin Farrar (born in 1847).
1. There was a ship sailing on the lonesome sea,
Crying, Oh, the lonesome low,
There was a ship sailing upon the lonesome sea, Turkish sea,
It went by the name of the name of the Willow Lee,
And it sank 'em in the lowland lonesome sea,
And it sank 'em in the lowland sea.
2. It hadn't been a-sailing a week or three,
Crying, Oh, the lonesome low,
It hadn't been a-sailing a week to three,
Till it espied the Green Willow Tree,
And it sank 'em in the lowland lonesome sea,
And it sank 'em in the lowland sea.
3. Up sprang a cabin boy, "What'll you give me?"
Crying, Oh, the lonesome low,
Up sprang a cabin boy, "What'll you give me,
If I sink them into the lowland low
If I sink 'em in the lowland lonesome low,
If I sink 'em in the lowland sea?"
4. "I'll give you gold and I'll give you fee,"
Crying, Oh, the lonesome low,
"I'll give you gold and I'll give you fee,
Besides my youngest daughter your wedded wife shall be,
If you'll sink 'em in the lowland lonesome low,
If you sink 'em in the lowland sea."
5. He jumped into the water and away swam he,
Crying, Oh, the lonesome low,
He jumped into the water and away swam he,
Till he arrived at the Green Willow Tree,
And he sank 'em in the lowland lonesome low,
And he sank 'em in the lowland sea.
6. He had a little auger just fitted for the work,
Crying, Oh, the lonesome oh,
He had a little auger just fitted for the work,
He bored nine holes and he bored 'em in a jerk,
And he sank 'em in the lowland sea.
7. He turned in the water and away swam he,
Crying, Oh, the lonesome low,
He turned in the water and away swam he,
Till he reached the Turkish Willow Tree,
For he had sunk 'em in the lowland lonesome low,
For he sunk 'em in the lowland sea.
8. "Captain, captain, draw me on a-board,"
Crying, Oh, the lonesome low,
"Captain, captain, draw me on a-board,
And do unto me as good as your word,
For I sank 'em in the lowland lonesome low,
For I sank 'em in the lowland sea."
9. "You said you'd give me gold, and you said you'd give me fee,"
Crying, Oh, the lonesome low,
"I'll neither give you gold nor I'll neither give you fee,
Besides my youngest daughter your wedded wife shan't be,
For you sank 'em in the lowland sea."
10. "If it wasn't for the love that I bear for your men,"
Crying, oh, the lonesome low,
"If it wasn't for the love that I bear for your men,
I'd do unto you as I did unto them,
And I'd sink you in the lowland lonesome low,
And I'd sink you in the lowland sea."
11. They threw out a rope and they drew him on aboard,
Crying, Oh, the lonesome low,
There was a ship a-sailing upon the lonesome sea,
It went by the name of the Turkish Willow Lee,
And it sank 'em in the lowland lonesome low,
And it sank 'em in the lowland sea.
I2. It hadn't been a-sailing a week to three,
Crying, Oh, the lonesome low,
It hadn't been a-sailing a week or three,
'Til up sprang a leak in the Turkish Willow Lee,
And it sank 'em in the lowland lonesome low,
And it sank 'em in the lowland sea.