Sailor's Trade- Elizabeth Koffel (OH) 1939 Eddy B
[My title, none given. From ballads and Songs from Ohio by Mary Eddy, 1939. Most of these versions were collected in the 1920s or earlier. The A version, for example, was published in 1922,
R. Matteson 2017]
B. [Sailor's Trade] From Mrs. Elizabeth Koffel, Canton, Ohio.
1. A sailor's trade is a dreary life,
It robs pretty maids of their heart's delight,
It causes them to weep and to mourn,
The loss of their true love that never can return.
2. "Oh father, oh father, build me a boat,
That on this ocean I may float,
And every vessel that I pass by
Of them I will inquire of my sweet sailor boy."
3. As she was riding up the main,
She spied ships coming down from Spain,
She hailed the captain as he drew nigh,
And of him she did inquire for her sweet sailor boy.
4. "Captain, captain, tell me true,
Does my sweet Willie sail with you?
Tell me quick, and give me joy;
I'll never have any but my sweet sailor boy."
5. "Honored lady, he's not here,
He has drowned in the gulf, my dear,
A rocky island as we passed by,
There I've left your sweet sailor boy."
6. She wrung her hands, she tore her hair,
Just like a lady in despair;
She rowed her boat against a rock,
I thought that lady's heart was broke.
7. "Bring me a chair and sit me down,
A pen and ink to write it down;"
At the end of every line she dropped a tear,
At the end of every verse she cried, "Oh, my dear!
8. "Dig me a grave both wide and deep,
A marble stone at my head and feet,
And on my breast a turtle dove
To let this world know that I died for love."