The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #159568   Message #3782279
Posted By: Jim Brown
30-Mar-16 - 12:10 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Gosport Tragedy/ Cruel Ship's Carpenter
Subject: RE: Origins: Gosport Tragedy/ Cruel Ship's Carpenter
William Christie's Traditional Ballad Airs can be downloaded from the website of the School of Celtic and Scottish Studies at Edinburgh University: http://www.ed.ac.uk/literatures-languages-cultures/celtic-scottish-studies/research-publications/research/internal-projects/trad

The Gosport Tragedy is at pp. 98 and 99 of vol. 2. Only the first six stanzas are given:

IN Gosport of late a young damsel did dwell,
For wit and for beauty did many excel,
A young man did court her for to be his dear,
And he by his trade was a ship carpenter. A young man, &c.

He said, " My dear Molly, if you will agree,
And now will consent, love, for to marry me,
Your love it will ease me of sorrow and care,
If you will but marry a ship carpenter." Your love, &c

"The life of a virgin, sweet William, I prize ;
For marriage brings sorrow and trouble likewise;
I'm loth for to venture, and therefore forbear,
For I will not marry a ship carpenter." I'm loth, &c.

This pass'd on a while, at length we do hear,
The king wanted sailors, to sea he must steer;
Which griev'd the young damsel indeed to the heart,
To think that with William she now soon must part. Which griev'd, &c.

She said, "My dear William, ere you go to sea,
Remember the vows which you made unto me;
And if you now leave me, I ne'er shall have rest,
Oh, why will you leave me with sorrow oppress'd !" And if, &c.

The kindest expressions to her he did say,
"I'll marry my Molly ere I go away;
And if that to me to-morrow you'll come,
The priest shall be brought, love, and all shall be done." And if, &c.

This is from Buchan's version (as indeed Christie says in his note to the song), with "kindest expressions" rather than the Roxburghe version's "kind embraces" (compare the "tender expressions" in the Deming version) and the line about bringing the priest instead of "A licence I'll buy, and it shall be done" (different also from "The ring I can buy, our fond union to crown" in Deming). The air on p. 98 is described as "from the singing of Jamie Coul, Port Gordon". According to the note, when he sang the whole ballad and people said: "Jamie, that's a lang sang!" he would reply: "I wouldna care sae muckle for the lenth o't gin it werena sae wicious cruel on the woice."

It says on page 99 that there is another version of the air in the appendix, but there doesn't seem to be.