48. The Mermaid

48

The Mermaid (Child 289)

Though this ballad is not old — the earliest record of it that Child found is in a Newcastle garland tentatively dated 1765 — the belief that the sight of a mermaid means disaster for seamen is very old. For the vogue of 'The Mermaid' in songbooks and stall print, see Kittredge's note in JAFL XXX 333; for its occurrence as traditional song in recent times, see BSM 101i and add to the references there given North Carolina (FSRA 46-7), Florida (FSF 328-9), Arkansas (OFS I 203), Missouri (OFS i 202, 204), and Illinois (JAFL LX 232-8). Our two texts, only one of which is from North Carolina tradition, are peculiar in not using the familiar "landlubbers lie down below" refrain.

A. 'Oh, the Lamp Burns Dimly Down Below.' Contributed by Miss Amy Henderson of Worry, Burke county, in 1914. The refrain, which clearly derives from the more familiar form, is without parallel, except in a fragment in the Virginia collection (TBV 528).

1 The first to come up was the captain of the ship.
And a brave old tar was he.
Says he, 'I've a wife in Merrie England;
This night she is watching for me.'

Oh, the lamps burn dimly down below, down below.
Oh, the lamps burn dimly down below.

2 The next to come up was the captain's first mate,
And a brave young man was he.
Says he, 'I've a sweetheart in Merrie England;
This night she is waiting for me.'

3 The next to come up was the little cabin boy,
And a brave young lad was he.
Says he, I've a mother in Merrie England;
This night she is praying for me.'

4 The last to come up was the greasy old cook,
And a brave old tar was he.
Says he, 'All my pots and all my kettles too
Have gone to the bottom of the sea.'

No title. Reported by Thomas Leary of Durham as known by his brother, who learned it on Cape Cod. Although not from North Carolina tradition it is given her because it varies rather widely from other versions, not only in the refrain but also in the text.

1 In the gallant fleet
There was no ship so fine
As the brig-rigged lugger Maid o' Home;
And the galley there was mine.

Chorus: Oh long, long may the loud waves roar
On the rocks below the key;
But the Maid o' Home will turn no more.
No more my wife I will see.

2 She was standing out above the banks
When bosun seen a sight so fair:
A sea-witch fine upon the swell
Combing her golden hair.

3. Her comb was of the finest pearl,
Her mirror like the sun.
I have not seen a prettier maid,
A prettier maid not none.

4. She sang a song so soft and sweet
The crew could not move for the sound.
And where the Maid o' Home struck hard
It were fifty fathom down.

5. Then up there stepped the gallant mate,
His face was white and pale.
'Stand fast, stand fast, ye Plymouth men ;
No more we'll ever sail.'

6. Then up there sprang the captain bold,
A fearsome man was he.
'Stand fast, stand fast, ye sailor men;
Your homes you'll never see.

7. 'I have a wife, all neat and fair
And dressed in holland fine ;
But never more will I see her
Or tho.se broad lands of mine.'

8. The sea-witch sang so loud and clear
Above the roaring waves,
And all of us were there to hear ;
We knew it was our knell.

9. 'Come comb my hair for me a while,
Come stroke my hair so fair,
And you will never want your home,
Or your wife that weeps so sore.'

10. 'I will not comb your hair a while
Nor stroke your hair so fair ;
But I will always want my home
And my wife that weeps so sore.'

11. The cabin boy, he wept with fright,
The seas they were so high.
And all of us upon that ship,
We knew our death was nigh.

12. The ship it strained and rocked and tore.
Our pretty Maid o' Home.
And then we knew that she would no more
The broad, broad seas to roam.

13. Three times around went the Maid o' Home,
Three times around went she.
And then she sank with her sailor-men all
To the bottom of the sea.

14 In Plymouth there does stand a church
With many a woeful wife
Who mourns for her dear sailor-man
Who's losted of his life.
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48. The Mermaid [Collected also by Chappell in 1924]

(Child 289)

"Stormy Winds.' Sung by C. K. Tillett. Recorded at Wanchese, Roanoke Island, December 29, 1922. Other titles given are 'Mermaid' and 'The Wreck.' There is another version by the same singer printed in FSRA 46, which is a considerably later recording. The more surprising is it to find the latter almost identical in the general outline.

 

For melodic relationship cf. ***FSRA 46; *SharpK i 291, No. 42A, meas-
ures 1-5 and 293, version D, measures 1-4.

Scale: Heptachordal. Tonal Center: c. Structure: abca^aS (2,2,2,2,2) = ab
(4,6).

2 Oh, up spoke the captain of our gallant ship,
A well spoken man was he,
Saying-, 'I have a family in fair New York town,
And this night they'll be looking for me, for me,
And this night they'll be looking for me.'