Ship That Never Returned- McDowells c. 1890s
[The Ship That Never Returned is an 1865 song written by Henry Clay Work, about a ship that left a harbor and never came back. No reason for why the ship never returned is given in the words of the song. The song became popular and was the basis of "Wreck of the Old 97", about a 1903 train wreck. It was used for "Charlie on the MTA," created in 1948, as a campaign song for Walter A. O'Brian about a man who couldn't get off a Boston subway train because, rather than change all the turnstiles, the M.T.A added an exit fare—Charlie did not have the extra nickel to get off the train. The Kingston Trio recorded the song in 1959 (as "M.T.A.") and had a hit with the recording in the same year. (wiki)
R. Matteson 2014]
SHIP THAT NEVER RETURNED
1. Oh, a summer's day when the waves were rippling
By the softest gentlest breeze,
Did a ship set sail with a cargo laden
For a port beyond the seas.
There were sweet farewells there were loving signals
While a form was yet discerned;
Though they knew it not 'twas a solemn parting
For the ship, she never returned.
REFRAIN:
Did she ever return,
No, she never returned
Oh, for years and years there are fond hearts waiting
For the ship that never returned
2. Said a feeble lad to his anxious mother,
"I must cross the deep blue sea,
And there perchance in some foreign country
There is health and strength for me."
With a ray of hope there was more of sorrow,
And her heart within her yearned,
As she sent him away with a smile and a blessing
On the ship that never returned.
3. "Only one more trip," said a gallant seaman,
As he kissed his weeping wife,
"Only one more load of golden treasure,
That will last us all our life.
Then we'll settle down in our cozy cottage,
And enjoy the rest we've earned."
But, alas; poor man, he sailed commander
On the ship that never returned.
4. "Do not leave, my love," cried an anxious maiden,
"Do not cross the angry sea;
For my heart will break in its lonely sorrow
When you're far away from me."
Then he sailed away, for he dared not linger,
Though with her to stay he yearned,
And, for year's she wept; vainly watching, waiting,
For the ship that never returned.
This is remembered in almost exactly the same form by both L. L . McDowell and Mrs. McDowell both words and music. As written above the words are those remembered by L. L. McDowell as he learned them from school children and Mrs. Swindell who went to school with him in his childhood.
The tune is as remembered by Mrs. McDowell, though the differences are so slight as to make practically no difference at all.
The poem shows internal evidences of individual composition, with little of the usual folksong pattern visible.
It was, however, orally transmitted in the territory investigated, according to the evidence of every person who knew it, and had been behaving like a folk song for many years before the close of the last century.