- and the sun is shining .
The Mermaid
Melody -
On Friday morn when we set sail,
And our ship not far from the land;
We there did espy a fair, pretty maid,
With a comb and a glass in her hand.
Chorus:
For the raging seas did roar,
And the stormy winds did blow,
While we jolly sailor boys were up, up aloft,
And the landlubbers lying down below, below, below,
And the landsmen were all down below.
Then up spoke the captain of our gallant ship,
And a brave young man was he;
"I've a wife and a child in fair Bristol Town,
But a widow I fear she will be."
Chorus:
Then up and spake the little cabin boy,
And a pretty little boy was he;
"Oh, 1'm more grieved for my daddy and my mam
Than you for your wife may be."
Chorus:
Then three times round went our gallant ship,
And three times round went she;
For the want of a lifeboat, all went down,
And she sank to the bottom of the sea.
Chorus: (Richard Lewin, 1930s)
Now here up in Heaven we get all we want to eat
And there's good beer and grog as well.
The bunks are very cosy and the girls are very sweet
Which the land-lubbers haven't got in Hell, in Hell, in Hell -
Which the land-lubbers haven't got in Hell.
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Mermaids turn up in the folklore of almost every seafaring nation. The attributes of the species vary slightly, but nearly all mermaids are portrayed as having long blond hair which they comb whilst looking at themselves in a mirror. It is considered bad luck to see a mermaid and in some traditions sailors see mermaids before they die. This popular sea song bears out this legend.
The Lass That Loves a Sailor
Melody - Charles Dibdin
Charles Dibdin
The moon on the ocean was dimm'd by a ripple,
Affording a chequer'd delight;
The gay jolly tars pass'd the word for the tipple,
And the toast, for 'twas Saturday night.
Some sweetheart or wife, he lov'd as his life,
Each drank and wish'd he could hail her;
But the standing toast, that pleased the most,
Was "The wind that blows, the ship that goes,
And the lass that loves a sailor."
Some drank "The Queen" and some "Her brave ships",
And some "The Constitution";
Some "May our foes and all such rips
Yield to English resolution";
The fate that might bless some Poll or Bess,
And that they soon might hail her;
But the standing toast, that pleased the most,
Was "The wind that blows, the ship that goes,
And the lass that loves a sailor."
Some drank "The Prince" and some "Our Land",
This glorious land of freedom;
Some "That our tars may never want
Heroes brave to lead them";
"That she who's in distress may find
Such friends as ne'er may fail her";
But the standing toast, that pleased the most,
Was "The wind that blows, the ship that goes,
And the lass that loves a sailor."
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Charles Dibdin's last theatrical venture was a piece put on at the Haymarket in 1811 called The Round Robin. It was, sadly, a disastrous failure despite the fact that it contained one of his best songs - 'The Lass that Loves a Sailor'. It is typical of the composer that he managed to compose such a melodious and lighthearted song when he himself was in bad health and ruinous financial difficulties.
Life was never easy for this giant ot the sea song. Charles Dibdin was born in 1745, the twelfth of fourteen children. His father was a silversmith and his mother, the daughter of a West Country parson. Educated at Winchester where he learned the rudiments of organ playing and harmony, he travelled to London when stiII in his teens and with the help of his elder brother Tom (see 'Tom Bowling'), became apprenticed to a music shop proprietor in Cheapside. Seeing no future in it, however, Dibdin soon devoted his life to itinerant music-making and the composition of songs. Many of these were first heard at his own 'Table Entertainments' evenings of songs and recitations he gave himself, which were characterised by his informal and unstagey approach. Dibdin was also very much involved in the theatre and wrote over 200 plays with music. It is, though, as a composer of sea songs that he will be best remembered. The British Government granted him a pension of £200 a year in recognition of his services, through song, to the navy. He died in 1814.
Lorelei are German, no?
- and their boats capsized and the sailors were sucked into the maelstrom - poor fellows !
Loreley Lyrics
Merrily we sailed along
Though the waves were plenty strong
Down the twisting river Rhine
Following a song...
Legend's faded storyline
Tried to warn us all
Oh, they called her "Loreley"
Careful or you'll fall...
Oh, the stories we were told
Quite a vision to behold
Mysteries of the seas in her eyes of gold...
Laying on the silver stone, such a lonely sight
Barnacles become a throne, my poor Loreley...
And the winds would cry, and many men would die
And all the waves would bow down to the Loreley...
You would not believe your eyes, how a voice could hypnotize
Promises are only lies from Loreley
In a shade of mossy green, seashell in her hand
She was born the river queen, ne'er to grace the land...
Oh, the song of Loreley
Charms the moon right from the sky...
She will get inside your mind, loveley Loreley...
When she cries "Be with me until the end of time"
You know you will ever be with your Loreley...
Full many a wonder is told us in stories old,
of heroes worthy of praise, of hardships dire,
of joy and feasting, of weeping and of wailing;
of the fighting of bold warriors, now ye may hear wonders told.
