Noreen, if he did, he mis-spelled it since the Sharp-Campbell volume of 1917 was published in New York (Putnam). Of course he may have changed it in the later Oxford edition for the English reader. Harrumph! (Now as a pennance, I will have to add another version).

The song was collected by Cox about the same time (1917), obtained from a Miss Lucretia Collins of West Virginia by a Fred Smith, but as "Moment's River Side." Cox published it as "Sweet William (The Sailor Boy)," which could cause confusion for the careless with Child 74 (Fair Margaret and Sweet William) and Child 77 (Sweet William's Ghost). Here 'tis:

MOMENT'S RIVER SIDE

Way down on Moment's River side
The wind blew fair with gentle guide;
A pretty maid that sat and mourned;
"What shall I do? My true love's gone.

"His rosy cheeks, his coal-black hair,
Has drawn my heart all in a snare;
His ruby lips so soft and fine,
Ten thousand times I've thrust in mine.

"And if ten thousand were in a row,
My love would make the brightest show,
The brightest show of every one;
I'll have my love or I'll have none.

"I'll build myself a little boat,
And on the ocean I will float,
And every ship that I pass by,
I'll enquire for my sweet sailor boy."

She had not sailed far upon the deep,
Until a ship she chanced to meet:
"O captain, captain, tell me true,
Does my sweet Willie sail with you?"

"O no, kind miss, he is not here;
He lies in yonder deep I fear."
She wrang her hands, she tore her hair,
Just like a lady in despair.

The wind did blow and the waves did roll,
Which washed her body to the shore;
She viewed him well in every part,
With melting tears and bleeding heart.

With pen and ink she wrote a song,
She wrote it large, she wrote it long;
On every line she dropped a tear,
And every verse cried, "O my dear!"

Six weeks from then this maid was dead,
And on her breast this letter laid:
"Go dig my grave both wide and deep,
And strew it well with roses sweet.

"Plant by my side a willow tree,
To many years wave over me,
And on my breast a turtle dove,
To tell the world I died for love."

Cox, J. H., 1924, Folk-Songs Of The South, pp. 353-354. In another version, also communicated in 1917, "brought into the community in 1901," Willie was left on "Greenland's isle."

Noreen, note that I changed inquire to enquire just for you!