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The only version of this song I find right off in the Digital Tradition is one recorded by Mike Cross, but it's not the one I remember. There are several versions scattered over the Forum, and I'd like to post copies in this thread to consolidate the information we have.
-Joe-
Here's the Mike Cross version from the Digital Tradition:
FARE THEE WELL MARIANNE
Fare thee well, my own true love
Fare thee well, my dear
The ship is sailin' and the wind blows free
And I am bound away to the sea, Marianne
Ten thousand miles away from home
Ten thousand miles or more
The sea may freeze or the Earth may burn
If I never more return to you, Marianne
The lobster boiling in the pot
The bluefish on the hook
Their sufferings long but it's nothing like
The ache I bear for you, Marianne
And if I had a flask of gin
Sugar here for two
And a great big bowl to mix them in
I'd pour a drink for you, Marianne
So fare thee well, my own true love
Fare thee well, my dear
The ship is sailing and the wind blows free
And I am bound away to the sea, Marianne
as sung by Mike Cross
@parting @sailor
filename[ FRWLMRNN
DS
Here's the entry from the Traditional Ballad Index:
Mary Anne
DESCRIPTION: "Oh fare thee well, my own true love, Oh fare thee well my dear, For the ship is waiting and the wind blows free, And I am bound away to the sea, Mary Ann." The singer compares his pain at parting to that of a mourning dove or a lobster in a pot
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1860 (broadside, LOCSinging as110580)
KEYWORDS: sailor separation love sea floatingverses
FOUND IN: Canada(Que) US(Ap,MA,SE) Britain(England)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
BrownIII 300, "My Martha Ann" (1 text)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 142-143, "Mary Ann" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 48, "Mary Ann" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 75, "Mary Ann" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 147, "Mary Ann" (1 text)
DT MARYAN*
Roud #4438
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 1111, "My Mary Ann," A. Ryle and Co. (London), 1845-1859; also Firth c.12(366), Firth c.12(368), "My Mary Ann"
LOCSinging, as110580, "Our Mary Ann," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also sb30400b, "Our Mary Ann"; as109170, "My Mary Ann"; Harding B 15(288b), "My Mary Anne"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot" (floating lyrics) and references there
cf. "Fare You Well, My Own True Love (The Storms Are on the Ocean, The False True Lover, The True Lover's Farewell, Red Rosy Bush, Turtle Dove)" (lyrics)
cf. "The Lass of Roch Royal" [Child 76] (lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Ten Thousand Miles
Notes: Cazden et al report that the distinct subtext of "pretty little foot" group "...was written by stageman Barney Williams to a variant of the traditional tune, ascribed to M. Tyle. It was published as sheet music in Baltimore during 1856...."
Don Duncan reports of this version, "The melody is clearly related to the version re-popularized by Ian & Sylvia; Revels lists it in their songbook as having been collected by Marius Barbeau from a Canadian who had learned it from an Irish sailor "around 1850." I&S's "lobster/bluefish" verse is from the Williams version, which apparently was a bit of a spoof; the fourth verse is downright funky:
The pride of all the produce rare,
That in our garden grow'd
Was punkins, but none could compare
In angel form to my Mary Ann,
In angel form to my Mary Ann.
The Library of Congress has at least three song sheets (that is, I found three, one published in Baltimore and two in New York) in their American Memory 19th century song sheets collection... These have almost identical lyrics to the original, but rather than repeating the final line of each verse (as the original did) they use the first verse as a chorus. "Our Mary Ann," by de Marsan in New York... identifies it as a minstrel song."
It is likely that some badly worn down versions of this song are filed with "Fare You Well, My Own True Love (The Storms Are on the Ocean, The False True Lover, The True Lover's Farewell, Red Rosy Bush, Turtle Dove)"; the latter song is a catch-all for songs of this type that don't mention Mary Anne or have the Roch Royal plot. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging as110580: J. Andrews dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: FJ142Go to the Ballad Search form
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Go to the DiscographyThe Ballad Index Copyright 2008 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.
Let's be careful to keep this song separate from "Leaving of Liverpool" and a few others that share phrases with this song.