Tug, there's one mention in the 1920s that has "roving kind," but all other known versions before Cavanaugh & Stanton's pop hit of 1950-51 have "rakish" or, in one case, "whoring."

The trad titles are "The Fireship" and "A Black [or "Dark"] and Rolling Eye." In the'60s the revival singers transferred the "Fireship" title to one branch of the "Cruising Round Yarmouth" family.

All these nuances, and more, are set to be explained here and on the "Yarmouth" thread.

This slip, from the Madden collection (and almost identically in the Bodleian) represents he next development. The date is uncertain, but the word "hath" was archaic (and perhaps regional) for some time before 1842, when the "Stockport Advertiser" of Manchester mentioned a ballad slip titled "The Black and Rolling Eye" (not necessarily *this* song, however!)

                        BLACK AND ROLLING EYE

        As I walked out one morning,
            All in the month of May,
        I met a pretty damsel
            So beautiful and gay:--
        Her shoes they were of velvet,
            Her stockings they were of silk,
        Her shift it was of Hollands fine,
            And breast as white as milk.

                   CHORUS.

        She hath a black and rolling eye,
            To my fal de ral laddy O,
           She is a nice girl,--
                And one of the rakish crew.

        I took her to a tavern,
            And call'd for cakes and wine,                
        But little did I think
            She was of a rakish mind;
        I took her to a tavern,
                As you shall understand ;
        She said -- kind sir, I am a maid,
            Be as easy as you can.

        She said -- kind sir, excuse me,
            For staying out so late
        My parents would be angry
            And sad would be my fate ;
        My father is a preacher--
            A good and pious man ;
        My mother is a Methodist,
            And I'm a true Briton.

        Come all you able seamen,
                That ploughs the raging main,
        That gets a little money
              By the cold wind and rain ;
        I'd have you shun those fiery ships,
              Or you will surely rue,
        Or else you'll get your cobbles sprung
              And set on fire too.

"Crew" = bunch.

"Cobbles" = cobble stones = "stones."

As in the earlier, similar songs, much emphasis is placed on the woman's fancy clothes - a feature soon to be lost.

Note too that, unlike the previous text, the speaker is explicitly identified as a sailor.