Sailor Boy- Earl Cruickshank (KS) 1920 Belden E
[From Belden's "Songs and Ballads," p. 188. Belden's notes follow. Version of Oikotype E.
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.
E. 'Sailor Boy.' Secured by Miss Lowry in 1920 from Earl Cruickshank of Columbus, Kansas.
'Father, O father, build me a boat,
That on the ocean I may float;
I'll hail the ships as they pass by
And inquire for my sailor boy.
I'll hail the ships as they pass by
And inquire for my sailor boy.'
(Repeat thus the last two lines of each stanza)
She had not sailed far o'er the main
Till she spied three ships just out from Spain.
She hailed the captain as they drew nigh
And inquired for her sailor boy.
'Captain, O Captain, tell me true,
Does sweet 'Willie sail with you ?
Tell me quick and give me joy;
Say, do you know my sailor boy?,
'No, pretty miss, he is not here;
He's drownded in the gulf, my dear.
At Rocky Isle as we passed by
'We lost a fine young sailor boy.,
'Place me a chair to sit upon,
A pen and ink to write it down.'
At the end of every line she dropped a tear,
At the end of every verse cried, "O my dear!"
'Go dig my grave both wide and deep,
Place a marble stone at my head and feet;
Upon my breast a snow-white dove
To tell the world I died of love.'