Sailor Boy- Ada Belle Cowden (MO) 1909 Belden B
[From Belden's "Songs and Ballads," p. 186. Belden's notes follow. Ada Belle Cowden [Matteson] was born in 1893 and compiled a collection of ballads and songs in 1909 when she was about 16. Her family came to Woodlandville, 11 miles northwest of Columbia, in the early 1800s. While attending Christian College (now Columbia College) from 1911 to 1913, Ada Belle met faculty member Lucy Laws, a folklore scholar, who learned about Ada Belle’s ballad book and passed it along to Belden. See online: "Ballad of Ada Belle; A century after her student days, Ada Belle Cowden Matteson’s notebook remains a playlist for the ages" by Dale Smith published March 30, 2016
R. Matteson 2017]
The Sailor Boy
This song is a general favorite on both side of the water. The core of it is that the girl asks her father to build her a boat that she may go in search of her sailor lover; that, meeting ships, she inquires for him and is told that he was drowned (or simply 'lost') at an island (commonly 'Rocky Island'); and that she then runs her boat upon a rock or throws herself overboard. Very often the conclusion is borrowed. from The Butcher Boy: she calls for pen, ink, and paper and writes a letter directing that her grave be dug long and deep and a turtle dove be placed on her breast to show that she died for love. The Lincolnshire text shows a pretty complete contamination of the two: she hangs herself, and her father comes home, cuts her down, and finds the letter. Stall texts were printed by Catnach and Such, and one by Pitts is allied to it in story tho not in language. It is recorded from tradition in Scotland (Christie I 249), Ireland. (JFSS VIII 213), Lincolnshire (JFSS II 293-4), Sussex (JFSS 199), Worcestershire (ECS 71-5, Dorset (JFSS VIII 212), Somerset (NSS IV 2-3); in Newfoundland. (FSM9-62), Nova Scotia (SBNS 89-91), Quebec (JAFL xxxl 1?0-1), ottawa (JAFL XXXI 162); in Virginia (SharpK II 87-8, scsM 319-20), West Virginia (FSS 353-?), Kentucky (SharpK II 87), Tennessee (JAFL XXX 363-4, XIJV 79-80, FSSH 188-9, SharpK II 86-7), North Carolina (JAFL XIIV 80-1, SSSA 177-8, FSSH 189-90, SharpK II 84-6, 88-9), Georgia (JAFL XXIX 199), Ohio (JAFL XXXV 410-1), and Wisconsin
(BSSB 85-6, adapted to the life of raftsmen). 'Careless Love,'reported by Henry from North Carolina (BMFSB 24-5), and "A Soldier's Life," reported by Cox from West Virginia (FSWV 29-30), use parts of it. I have not found it reported from the North Atlantic states.
B. 'The Sailor Boy.' From the manuscript ballad book of Ada Belle Cowden of Woodlandville, Boone County, compiled about 1909 and secured for me by Miss Laws.
'Brown was the color of my true love's hair,
His cheek resembled. a lily fair"
Oh ! if he would return and. give me joy,
None would I have but my sweet Willie boy.
'Father! Father! build me a boat,
That all over this world's ocean I may float.
And I'll hail each captain as he passes by
And there inquire of my sweet Willie boy.
'Captain! Captain! do tell me true,
Does my sweet-Willie sail with you?
Speak! Oh do! and give me joy,
For none will I have but my sweet 'Willie boy.'
'Dear honorable lady! he's not here.
He got drowned in the wide gulf near.
The Rocky isle as we passed by,
There we left your sweet Willie boy.'
She wrung her hands, she tore her hair,
Just like a lady in despair.
She called for a chair to sit her down,
With pen and ink for to write it down.
On every line she dropped a tear,
In every line was 'O! Willie my dear.'