The Mermaid- Glassock (WV) pre1957 Musick
[From: Ballads and Folksongs from West Virginia by Ruth Ann Musick; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 70, No. 277 (Jul. - Sept., 1957), pp. 247-261. The chorus here is usually the last verse. The title was probably assigned by Musick- there is no mermaid in this version.
R. Matteson 2014]
Musick's notes: 14. Belden, pp. 101-102; Cox, pp. 172-173; Leach, pp. 673-674; Mackenzie, p. 165; McGill, pp. 45-49; Morris, pp. 328-329; Musick (1947), pp. 237-238, "The Saillers" (in 6 stanzas, second of which seems to be chorus); Randolph, I, pp. 202-204; Scarborough, pp. 189-190.
14. "The Mermaid" (The Mermaid, Child 289)
Contributed by Mrs. Glasscock, who learned it from her grandmother. This ballad seems to be not too widespread; most collectors have only one text or fragment. The verses have the same tune as the chorus (see Ex. 20.)
(1) Up stepped a man of our gallant ship,
A well-spoken man was he,
Saying, "I have a wife in fair New York town,
And this night she'll be waiting for me, me, me,
And this night she'll be waiting for me."
(2) Up stepped a girl of our gallant ship,
A well-spoken girl was she,
Saying, "I have a sweetheart in fair New York town,
And this night broken-hearted he will be, be, be,
And this night broken-hearted he will be."
(3) The stormy winds did blow,
The raging seas did roar,
While us poor seamen go flying to the top,
And the landlubber lies down below, below, below,
And the landlubber lies down below.