Our Gallant Ship- Edwards (VT) pre1962 Cazden
[From Folk Songs of the Catskills, Cazden, Haufrecht, Studer. My title, no title supplied. This version, as with many of Edwards versions, is a bit of a mystery. Since he was an informant for many years starting in the early 1930s with Barry and Flanders, it seems that they would have collected it or he might have sent it in to them, since he knew the ballads. They certainly would have an interest in Edwards ballad, had they known of it. Since no mermaid is mentioned, perhaps Edwards did not associate his ballad with the Child ballad. It's also possible that he remembered it later.
Cazden, for whatever reason, did not concern himself with getting the date of the ballad, although he was an excellent and knowledgeable scholar.
R. Matteson 2014]
[Our Gallant Ship]- George Edwards (VT) c 1930s Cazden
We were sailing with the fair winds
In the fair winds we did go;
Our gallant ship had struck a rock
To the bottom she laid low.
(At) The very first blow our ship did strike
Our captain, he did cry,
"Lord God, have mercy on our souls
For into the deep we'll die,"
While here alone we sigh and mourn
While others sport and play;
If I had my Molly along with me
I would always think it day.
Sometimes on board, sometimes on deck
Sometimes we're here below,
While us poor sailors climb to the top
The landlubbers lie down low.