The Mermaid- Howells (RI) 1945 Flanders D
[From Flanders; Ancient Ballads; 1966; Her E version dated 1904 was already printed by Barry in the JAFL. Notes by Coffin although they may be by Flanders in this case. She refers to Sharp 1 (as in first edition) but it should be Sharp 2 (the 1932 edition).
This version uses the extended last line as in Child B-D.
R. Matteson Jr. 2014]
The Mermaid
(Child 289)
It is an established belief among sailors that it is unhappy to sail on Friday and that mermaids both bode bad weather and lead ships to destruction. The ship in "The Mermaid" is therefore doomed. It goes down, carrying the crew to Davy Jones's locker. In Child's A text, the tragedy of the voyage is retained, though a bit sentimentally; however, in the Child B-D series the mood lightens and nobody seems to care very much. American versions, with their "stormy winds" refrain, follow this B-D tradition and are generally close to print and full of spirit. This is undoubtedly because of the popularity of the ballad in college songbooks and in the music halls of Britain and America during the last 150 years. See Coffin, 158, for a start on the extensive bibliography to such material. He also gives references to the game-song and play-party uses to which the ballad has been put.
Dean Smith, 88, and Belden, 101 (English), and Greig and Keith, 242, and Ord , 333-4 (Scottish) include British citations. Coffin, 157, gives a list of texts from oral tradition in America. The Flanders material and all but one of the versions referred to there are much alike.
The three tunes for Child 289 are related, but fairly distantly.
D. As sung by Daniel Howells of Providence, Rhode Island. Learned when a boy in England where he was born
M. Olney, Collector; January 27,1915 Structure: A B C I)1 D2 (2,2,2,2,2); Rhythm C; Contour: undulating; Scale: major
For mel. rel. see Sharp 1, 293, C and D; DV, 602, (B); ROI, 203.
The Mermaid
Oh, one Friday morn when we set sail
And our ship not far from land,
We there did espy a Pretty mermaid
With a comb and a glass in her hand, oh, in her hand,
With a comb and a glass in her hand.
While the raging seas did roar,
And the stormy winds did blow,
While we jolly sailors were a-sitting up aloft,
And the landlubbers lying down below, below, below,
And the landlubbers lying down below.
(Repeat refrain after each stanza as indicated)
Oh, then up starts the cook of our gallant ship,
And a gruff old soul was he;
"Oh, I have a wife in fair Plymouth-town,
But a widow I fear that she will be, that she will be,
But a widow I fear she will be."
And the raging seas did roar, etc.
And up spoke the little cabin boy,
And a pretty little boy was he,
"Oh, I am more grieved for my daddy and my mammy
Than you for your wives all three, all three, all three,
Than you for your wives all three."
And the raging seas did roar, etc.
Then three times 'round went our gallant ship,
And three times 'round went she,
For the want of a lifeboat they all went down,
And she sank to the bottom of the sea, the sea, the sea,
And she sank to the bottom of the sea.
While the raging seas did roar, etc.