Cruising Down on the Coast of Barbary- Kneeland (ME-MA) 1914 Flanders B
[This version is from James Henry Kneeland in 1914, whose grandfather, Edward Kneeland, came to Cape Jellison from Boston about 1785. There is a resemblance to the 1700s broadside in the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society- also probably from Boston (no imprint, see Barry D- my version 1).
Flanders has 7 versions in her Ancient Ballads books published in 1966 with notes by Coffin. Coffin (and Laws before him)apparently took Frank Shay's word that Charles Dibden (Dibdin) wrote a similar ballad based on the "George Aloe" which developed into "Coast of Barbary/High barbaree" songs. So far none has been found and apparently it's a mix-up because one of Didbin's songs is titled "Blow High Blow Low" - which is a completely different song.
I'm also wondering what rare US or Canadian ballad has the "George Aloe" in it- since none have been found.
R. Matteson 2014]
The Coast of Barbary
(Laws K33, related to Child 285)
"George Aloe and the sweepstake" (Child 285), which the jailer's daughter sings in The Two Noble Kinsmen, is extremely rare in America and is not found in the Flanders Collection at all. However, the common sea ballad "The Coast of Barbary" telling a similal stoly is known widely in the States and to some extent in England. This song places back to a piece written for the British Navy by Charles Dibden (1745-1814). Dibden based his composition on "George Aloe and. the Sweepstake" but retained little of his model beyond the plot outline and the "Barbary" refrain. In songs based on Dibden's original, the man-of-war defeats a pirate or privateer, although the merchantman, George Aloe, originally conquered a French naval vessel. The Flanders texts follow the usual songster versions known in New England. Flanders A, very close to the A text in Phillips Barry's Britislt Ballads from Maine, 413, is also like The American Songster (New York) version, as are the Flanders E and F fragments. Flanders B and C follow The Forget-me-not Songster (Turner and Fisher, Philadelphia) text, which in turn is like an old American broadside now in the Massachusetts Historical Society library and given as Barry D.
See Coffin, 152-3, for American bibliography to "George Aloe" and to the "Coast of Barbary." Laws, ABBB, 157-8, and Dean-Smith, 58, list the latter song. The tunes for Child 285 are related, but not closely, with the exception of the Kneeland and Delano tunes. Tunes for this ballad are exceedingly rare in the standard American collections.
B. The words of this ballad were written down by Mrs. Bertha J. Kneeland of Searsport, Maine, in 1914, from the singing
of her father-in-law, James Henry Kneeland, whose grandfather, Edward Kneeland, came to Cape Jellison from Bos-
ton about 1785. M. Olney, Collector; June 17, 1941.
Structure: A B C D (2,2,2,2); Rhythm generally D; Contour: arc; Scale: Aeolian; t.c. A.
Tr. H. E. F.B. [music upcoming]
Cruising Down on the Coast of Barbary
Two ships, two ships, from England they came,
Blow high, blow low, and so sail-ed we;
One was the Prince of Luther and the other, Prince of Wales,
Cruising down on the coast of Barbary.
Our boatswain up in our foretop did stand,
Blow high, blow low, and so sail-ed we;
"Look ahead, look astern, look to weather and to lee,"
Cruising down on the coast of Barbary.
"There is nothing ahead, there is nothing astern,"
Blow high, blow low, and so sail-ed we,
"But I see a ragged wind and a lofty ship at lee,"
Cruising down on the coasr of Barbary.
"Ahoy! Ahoy!" our jolly captain cried,
Blow high, blow low, and so sail-ed we;
"Are you a man-of-war or a privateer?" said he,
Cruising down on the coast of Barbary.
"I am not a man-of-war, nor a privateer," said he,
Blow high, blow low, and so sail-ed we,
"But I am a jolly pirate, cruising for my fee,"
Cruising down on the coast of Barbary.
"If you're not a man-of-war nor a privateer," said he,
Blow high, blow low, and so sail-ed we,
"It is now to your guns, boys, and we'll show them pirate play,"
Cruising down on the coast of Barbary.
"A broadside! a broadside!" our jolly captain cried;
Blow high, blow low, and so sail-ed we;
At length the Prince of Luther cut the pirate's masts away,
Cruising down on the coast of Barbary.
. . . . [1]
Blow high, blow low, and so sail-ed we;
We lashed them back to back, threw them all into the sea,
Cruising down on the coast of Barbary.
1. line forgotten- the usual text is: For quarters, for quarters, our merry pirates cry'd,