Father Build Me a Boat (Kerry) 1930 Hughes
[No informant named. From: Herbert Hughes', "Irish Country Songs Volume 4," Boosey & Co., 1930, pp. 13-17. The opening stanza is reminiscent of "Constant Lady and the False-Hearted Squire," a 1686 broadside used in Died for Love songs.
R. Matteson 2017]
Oh Father Father Build Me a Boat
It was early early in the month of May
Down by the green fields I chanced to stray,
I heard a female to sigh and say,
The lad she loved was gone far away.
Oh father, father build me a boat,
For it's o'er the ocean I long to float
To watch the big ships as they pass by
And to enquire of my sailor boy.
She was not long floating on the deep
When three large vessels she chanc'd to meet,
Saying, "Captain, captain come tell me true,
Was my love Willie on board with you?"
What coloured clothes did your Willie wear?
What colour was your true love's hair?
"His hair was light and his eyes were blue,
And he wore a coat of the navy blue."
Oh no, no, maiden he is not here,
He's swamp'd and drown'd I dreadly fear,
It was at the Green Island as we passed by,
We lost three more and your sailor boy.
She wrung her hands and she tore her hair,
Like any fair maid in deep despair,
She dashed her small boat against the rocks
Saying, What will I do now my love is lost?"
Now I'll sit down and write a song,
And I'll write it [wide] I'll write it long,
For every line I'll shed a tear,
And for every verse I'll cry Willie dear.
Oh dig my grave and dig it deep
Put a marble stone at my head and feet,
And in the middle put a turtle dove
To let the world all know that I died for love.