US & Canada Versions: 285. The High Barbaree
[I don't know when or where "The Coast of Barbary" ("High Barbaree") variants to "George Aloe" originated, but a broadside was published here in the United States in the 1700s. The Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society: 1639-1800 shows that a broadside number "3026. [Cut.] The Coast of Barbary, | And Black ey'd Susan. ] ships from England did sail, PC [Blow] high, blow low," was printed before 1800. Fortunately Barry obtained a copy of this and supplied the text in 1929.
D. "The Coast of Barbary." woodcut of a ship. From a photostat of a very old broadside, in the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Printed by courtesy of Mr. J. H. Tuttle, Librarian.
1 Two gallant ships from England did sail,
Blow high, blow-low, and so sailed we,
[The] one the prince of Luther, the other prince of Wales,
Cruizing down on the coast of Barbary.
2 Up aloft, up aloft, our merry boatswain cries,
Blow high, blow low, and so sailed we,
Look ahead, look astern, look a weather and a lee,
Look around on the coast of Barbary.
3. I 'spied on ahead, I 'spied on astern,
Blow high, blow low, and so sailed we,
I 'spied a rock at windward, or lofty ship at sea,
Cruizing down on the coast of Barbary.
4 Sail on, sail on, our merry boatswain cries,
Blow high, blow low, and so sailed we,
With a heavy press of sail and along side came we,
Cruizing down on the coast of Barbary.
5 Broadside and broadside, so boldly we did play,
Blow high, blow low, and so sailed we,
'Till the Prince of Luther fir'd all those pirates masts away,
Cruizing down on the coast of Barbary.
6 For quarters, for quarters, our merry pirates cry'd,
Blow high, blow low, and so sailed we,
But the quarters that we gave them, we sunk them in the sea,
Cruizing down on the coast of Barbary.
The foregoing copy of the ballad is the oldest that we have seen, and is doubtless close to the original text. On the same sheet with it, is printed Black-Ey'd Susan, the well-known song by John Gay. The broadside is listed, Ford 3026. It has no imprint or date.
The next earliest printed text I'm aware of is the broadside of three texts from American Memory titled: Constitution & Guerriere, Coast of Barbary, and Days of absence. Sold wholesale and retail, by L. Deming, No. 62, Hanover Street, 2d door from Friend Street, Boston. [n. d.] Leonard Deming, a "trader and barber," the publisher of the broadside containing the ballad, and who sold it according to a notice upon it at "No 62 Hanover Street, 2d door from Friend Street, Boston," was only in that city between 1831 and 1836. These dates therefore mark the limits within which it was published.
The American Songster (Cozzen) printed Coast of Barbary (no date, c. 1840) with an unusual last verse, The Forget-me-Not Songster (Turner and Fisher publishers, no date c. 1844-1850) and Jack Tar's Songster - Page 24 (dated 1851) printed versions similar to or copied from Demings.
American Songster (Last verse:)
6. For better than two hours this battle lasted as you see,
Blow high, blow low and so sail'd we,
The ship it was their coffin, and their grave it was the sea,
Cruising down the coast of Barbary.
The earliest traditional version is "Bold Pirates" from the Douglass MS, dated between 1841- 1860. Barry published the first traditional US version in the 1910 JOAFL.
Several researchers including Shay, Laws and Coffin attribute "The Coast of Barbary" ("High Barbaree") to Charles Didbin, however this is conjecture. Laws (1957) then Coffin apparently took Frank Shay's word that Charles Didbin wrote a similar ballad based on the "George Aloe" which developed into "Coast of Barbary/High Barbaree" songs. So far none has been found and it's a mix-up by Shay because one of Didbin's songs is titled "Blow High Blow Low" - a completely different song.
The 1937 Hilton Rufty publication of this ballad titled "High Barbaree" is the version from the JOAFL collected by Barry and published in 1905.
R. Matteson 2014]
CONTENTS:
1) The Coast of Barbary- Broadside (MA) 1700s
2) Coast of Barbary- Broadside (MA) c.1831 Deming
3) The Coast of Barbary- American Songster Broadside (NY) c1840 Cozzen
4) Bold Pirates- Douglass (NY) 1841-1860 Thompson
5) Coast of Barbary- Forget-Me-Not Songster (PA) 1844 Turner
The George Aloe- W. M. (?) c.1864 JOAFL 1905
High Barbaree- Gott (ME) pre1925 Barry A
The High Barbaree- Maynard (RI) 1862 Flanders A
Cruising Down- Kneeland (ME-MA) 1914 Flanders B
The Coast of Barbary- Richards(NH) 1941 Flanders C
Along the Coast- Fish (NH) pre1942 Flanders D
Coast of New Barbaree- McNally (ME) 1942 Fland E
New Barbary- Delano (VT-ME) 1930 Brown Flanders F
New Barbary- Morris (ME) 1940 Flanders G
High Barbaree- (MA) 1924 Taber; Colcord
The Queen of Russia and the Prince of Wales- Tillett (NC) 1924 Chappell; Brown
Wild Barbaree- Grover (ME) 1941; REC Lomax
The High Barbaree- Dingle (BM) pre1941 Lomax
High Barbary- Schallenburg (NM) 1951 Robb
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HI BARBAREE
Library of Congress AAFS recording 3401 A2
Performed by Alfred Osborne,
Ivan Walton, 1938
Port Huron Michigan
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HIGH BARBARY
"High Barbary." Communicated by Mr. Walter Hirschberg, Winter Park, FL. Morris 1950
[Music upcoming]
Look ahead, look astern, look a-weather and the lee;
Blow high, blow low, and so sailed we.
I see a wreck to windward and a lofty ship to lee,
A-sailing down along the coast of High Barbary.
"Oh, are you a pirate or a man-of-war?" cried we;
Blow high, blow low, and so sailed we.
"Oh, I am not a pirate, but a man-of-war," cried he,
A-sailing down along the coast of High Barbary.
For broadside to broadside we fought along the main;
Blow high, blow low, and so sailed we.
Until at last the frigate shot the pirates' mast away,
A-sailing down along the coast of High Barbary.
But, oh, it was a cruel sight and grieved us full sore;
Blow high, blow low, and so sailed we.
To see them all a-drowning as they tried to swim ashore,
A-sailing down along the coast of High Barbary.
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"High Barbaree"- Elsie Surber, Panama City FL, "from the singing of her brother, E. L. Surber, who learned it in the marines."
Morris, 1950
1. Two lofty ships of England sailed,
Sail high and low, and so sailed we,
And one was Prince of Luther and the other Prince of Wales,
Sailing down along the coast of the High Barbaree.
2. It was broadside to broadside a long time we lay,
Sail high and low, and so sailed we,
Until the Prince ol Luther shot teh pirate's mast away
Sailing down along the coast of the High Barbaree.
3. "Quarter, oh quarter!" the pirates then did say,
Sail high and low, and so sailed we,
But the quarter that we gave them, we sank them in the sea.
Sailing down along the coast of the High Barbaree.
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Coffin 1950:
285. THE GEORGE ALOE AND THE SWEEPSTAKE
Texts: George Aloe: JAFL, XVIII, 134 / Shay, Deep Sea Chanties, 58.
Coast of Barbary Examples : American Songster (Cozzens, N.Y.) / Barry, Brit Bids Me, 4.13 / Chappell, F-S Rnke Alb, 51 / Colcord, Roll and Go, 78 / Colcord, Sgs Am Sailormen, 153 / Flanders, Vt F-S Bids, 229 / Forget-me-not Songster (Turner and Fisher, Philadelphia and N.Y., c. 1840) / Lomax and Lomax, Our Sgng Cntry, 212 / Morris, F-S Flo,, 91 / Nesser, Aw Naval Sgs Bids, 303 / Shay, Am Sea Sgs Chanties, 91 / Shay, Deep Sea Chanties, 98 / Shay, My Ptotts Frnds Drkn Cmpns, 140 / Smith and Rufty, Am Anth Old Wrld Bids, 66.
Local Titles: The George Aloe and the Sweepstake.
Story Types: A: Two merchant ships, the Aloe and the Sweepstake ', are sailing by Barbary. The Aloe anchors, but the Sweepstake goes on and is attacked and boarded by a French man o' war. When those aboard the Aloe hear this, they sail out to meet the Frenchmen. They sight the enemy.
Examples: Shay.
B : A man o 5 war (originally she was a merchant ship) out cruising sights a frigate and, on hailing her, learns that she is a privateer (originally she was a French man o' war). A battle ensues, and the man o' war shoots the pirate's mast away. The robber calls for mercy, but none is shown.
Examples: JAFL, XVIII, 134.
Discussion: The American Types A and B, if placed together, give the complete story of the ballad. However, the Type B text has been changed to the extent that the merchantman and French man o' war have become a man o' war and a privateer respectively. As this version was collected from a United States Navy sailor and is of Civil War vintage, the change is understandable. See Child, V, 133 for his outline of the narrative and a discussion of a possible second part to the English ballad.
There are many American versions of a derivative of Child 285 that go under a variation of a Coast of Barbary title. These tell of a sea-fight between a privateer and a victorious man o' war (a feature that may account for the switch noted above in Type B) and trace back to a song based on the ballad and written for the British Navy by Charles Dibden (1745 1814). Little except the alternating refrain and the phrase "coast of Barbary" is retained of the Child song, however. Versions are found along the sea-coast. See Colcord's discoveries from New Bedford and Lomax's text from West Bermuda.
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Brian Peters: Peter Bellamy used the same version as that recorded by Jeff Warner and Jeff Davis on the wonderful 'Wilder Joy' LP (Flying Fish, 1987), i.e. that recorded from 'Tink' Tillett of the Outer Banks of North Carolina by Frank and Anne Warner, which appears in their 'Traditional American Folk Songs'. The printed melody shows significant differences from the version recorded from Mr Tillett several years previously, which appeared in Bronson under Child 285. Also, both PB and Warner & Davis seem to have made identical tweaks to the later Tillett melody, which suggests that W & D were influenced by the PB version - they were comparing notes with him at the time.
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