Lamp Burns Dimly- Henderson (NC) 1914 Brown A
[From the The Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore; the folklore of North Carolina, collected by Dr. Frank C. Brown during the years 1912 to 1943. There are actually three versions, one in Volume 4 by Tink Tillett (my version Brown C), which was also collected in 1924 by Chappell (published in 1939).
As pointed out by a Brown editor (although is wasn't landlubbers- haha), the chorus is unusual because apparently one of the singers of this version heard "lamps" instead of "Landsmen." Compare to Davis I.
R. Matteson 2014]
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.'
CHORUS: 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.'