The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #148194   Message #3438962
Posted By: Richie
19-Nov-12 - 08:41 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Child Ballads: US Versions Part 4
Subject: RE: Origins: Child Ballads: US Versions Part 4
Here's Child's info from Motherwell on 286, whose version is C f:

C f. 'The Turkish Galley,' Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 392, and Note-Book, p. 50.

1   I spied a ship, and a ship was she,
      Sing, Oh, the low and the Lowlands low
And she was called the Turkish Galley,
She was sailing in the Lowlands, low, low, low,
She was sailing in the Lowlands low.

2   'Master, master, what wud ye gie me
      Sing, Oh, the low and the Lowlands low
Gin I wud sink yon Turkish galley?
She's sailing in the Lowlands, low, low, low,
She's sailing in the Lowlands low.

3   'I'll gie you gold, I'll gie you fee,
      Sing, Oh, the low and the Lowlands low
Gin ye wud sink yon Turkish galley,
That is sailing in the Lowlands, low, low, low,
That is sailing in the Lowlands low.

4   He bent his breast, and awa swam he,
      Sing, Oh, the low and the Lowlands low
Till he cam to yon Turkish galley,
That's sailing in the Lowlands, low, low, low,
That's sailing in the Lowlands low.

5   He had an instrument, made for the use,
      Sing, Oh, the low and the Lowlands low
He bored nine holes in her water-sluice,
Left her sinking in the Lowlands, low, low, low,
Left her sinking in the Lowlands low.

6   Some took their hats, and some took their caps,
      Sing, Oh, the low and the Lowlands low
All for to stop her watery leaks.
She was sailing in the Lowlands, low, low, low,
She was sailing in the Lowlands low.

7   They took him up by their ship-side,
      Sing, Oh, the low and the Lowlands low
They sewed him in an auld cow's-hide,
Left him sinking in the Lowlands, low, low, low,
Left him sinking in the Lowlands low.

Motherwell sent this copy to C.K. Sharpe in a letter dated October 8, 1825, in which he says: I also send rather a curious song, which perchance you may have seen, entitled 'The Turkish Galley,' the air of which pleased me much. But as I learn there are two other different sets of the words more complete than my copy, and with different airs, I shall defer sending the musick till I can send also that which belongs to the other copies.