Hi,

I started the headnotes of Sailor Boy/Sweet William but left them, here's a link: http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/7a-the-sailor-boy-or-sweet-william.aspx

The Died for Love stanzas are found only in traditional versions. Here are two good examples from the UK in the late 1800s:

Sweet William- Collected by Lucy Broadwood from Mrs Harley, Bewdley, 1893

O father, father, build me a boat,
That on this wild ocean I may float,
And every ship that I chance to meet
I will enquire for my William sweet.

I had not sailed more than half an hour,
Before I met with a man on board (man of war?)
"Kind captain, captain, come tell me true,
Is my sweet William on board with you?"

"Oh no, fine lady, he is not here,
That he is drown-ed most breaks my fear,
For the other night when the wind blew high
That's when you lost your sweet sailor boy."

I'll set me down, and I write a song,
I'll write it neat, and I'll write it long,
And at every word I will drop a tear,
And in every line I'll set my Willie dear.

I wish, I wish, but it's all in vain,
I wish I was a sweet maid again,
But a maid, a maid I never shall be
Till apples grow on an orange tree.
For a maid, a maid, I shall never be,
Till apples grow on an orange tree.

* * * *

"Early, Early All in the Spring." Sung by Mrs Hollings, originally from Lincolnshire (c.1870?); collected by Frank Kidson; published in JFSS, 2 (1906), 293–4.

Early, early all in the spring,
My love was press'd to serve the King ;
The wind blew high and the wind blew low,
And parted me and my young sailor boy.

"O father, father, make me a boat,
That on the ocean I may float,
And every [French, fresh, king's] ship as I pass by,
I will enquire for my sailor boy."

She had not sailed far across the deep,
Before five king's ships she chanced to meet,
"Come, jolly sailors, come tell me true—
Does my love sail in along with you?"

"What clothes does your true love wear?
What colour is your true love's hair?"
"A blue silk jacket, all bound with twine;
His hair is not the colour of mine."

"Oh no fair lady, your love's not here—
He has got drown'd, I greatly fear;
For on yon ocean as we passed by,
'Twas there we lost a young sailor-boy."

She wrung her hands, and tore her hair,
Like some lady in deep despair,
Saying "Happy, happy is the girl," she cried,
"Has got a true love down by her side."

She set her down and wrote a song—
She wrote it wide, she wrote it long;
At every line she shed a tear,
And at every verse she said "My dear."

When her dear father came home that night,
He called for his heart's delight;
He went upstairs, the door he broke,
He found her hanging by a rope.

He took a knife and cut her down;
Within her bosom a note was found,
And in this letter these words were wrote:
"Father, dear father, my heart is broke.

Father, dear father, dig me a grave—
Dig it wide and dig it deep;
And in the middle put a lily-white dove,
That the world may know I died for love."

* * * *

The broadsides and Christie's "Sailing Trade" have no stanzas in common with Died for Love songs. Here's a short list of broadsides-- maybe Steve Gardham can add to this and provide an early print date:

1. Sailor Boy ("Down by a crystal river side") printed by Pitts c. 1820.
2. Sailor Boy and his Faithful Mary ("A sailor's life is a merry life") printed J. Harkness, printer, Preston: Printed at 121, Church-street; between 1840 and 1866 and also by Pitts.
3. A New Song call'd the Young Lady's Lamentation for the Loss of her True Love ("'Tis early, early all in the Spring") printed c.1867 by P. Brereton, 1, Lower Exchange St., Dublin.
4. The Sailor Boy and his Faithful Nancy, a Catnach broadside--Harvard College, 25242.17, vii, 198.
5. The Young Lady's Lamentation for the Loss of her True Love ("'Tis early, early all in the Spring") printed by James Guthrie, Illustrated by Jack Yeats, 1909 County Dublin.

The "Colour of Amber" or "Black is the Colour" stanza is the maid's response to the question 'What did her sailor boy look like?' (see 4th stanza of "Early, Early" above) after she hails a ship in search of her sailor boy.

The other stanza in common with Died for Love that's not as obvious is the "writing a letter/note (or song)" stanza which the maid does after she learns her sailor boy has drowned. This is similar to the writing of the note by the maid before she hangs herself in the Died for Love songs such as Cruel Father, Rambling Boy, Butcher Boy and Maiden's Prayer.

Richie