Sailor's Trade- Mrs. L.A. Lind (OH) 1939 Eddy C
[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]
C. [Sailor's Trade] From Mrs. L. A. Lind, Canton, Ohio. Sung by her father.
1. The sailor's trade is the dreariest life,
It robs pretty misses of their heart's delight,
It causes them for to weep and to mourn,
The loss of a true lover never will return.
2. "Dark was the color of my true love's hair,
His cheeks resembled a lady's fair;
If he would return it would give me joy,
For I never will have any but my sweet sailor boy.
3. "Oh father, oh father, build me a boat
That over the ocean I may float;
And every vessel as I draw nigh
Of him will inquire of my sweet sailor boy.
4. "Oh, captain, oh, captain, tell me true,
Does my sweet William sail with you?"
"No, honored lady, he is not here,
He's drownded in the gulf, my dear."
5. She wrang her hands and tore her hair
Just like a lady in despair;
She rowed her boat against a rock.
I really thought her heart was broke.
6. "Bring me a chair, and sit me down,
And a pen and ink for to write it down,"
At the end of every line she dropped a tear,
At the end of every verse cried, "Oh, my dear!"
7. "Go dig my grave both wide and deep,
Put a marble stone to both head and feet,
And on my breast a turtle dove
To let the world know that I died for love."
8. They dug her grave both wide and deep,
Put a marble stone to both head and feet,
And on her breast a turtle dove
To let the world know that she died for love.