The Mermaid- Heart Songs (MA) 1909 Chapple
[From Heart Songs: Dear to the American People, and by Them Contributed in the search for Treasured Songs. The inclusion of "The Mermaid in this edition as well as the Carmina Collegensia (songs for college students) and various songsters shows that print versions were available and people knew them. How many we don't know--but they promoted the spread of this ballad. For example, Heart Songs boasted that it was, "a collection of favorite songs voted on by 20,000 persons."
The chorus has the familiar extended last line found in the 18168 Carmina Collegensia and in Child B, C, and D.
R. Matteson Jr. 2014]
THE MERMAID- from Heart Songs, with music. Published by Joe Mitchell Chapple, Boston, 1909.
'Twas Friday morn we set sail,
And we where not far from land,
When the captain spied a lovely Mermaid,
With a comb and glass in her hand
CHORUS: O the ocean waves may roll
And the stormy winds may blow,
While we poor sailors go skipping to the tops,
And the landlubbers lie down below, below, below,
And the landlubbers lie down below.
Then up spake the captain of our gallant ship,
And a well-spoken man was he,
"I've married as wife in Salem town,
And tonight she a widow will be.
Then up spake the cook of our gallant ship,
And a red hot cook was he,
I care much more for my kettle and my pots,
Than I do for the debts of the sea.
Then three times round went our gallant ship,
Then three times round went she,
Then three times round went our gallant ship,,
And she sank to the debts of the sea.