Origins: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye

Subject: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: Mountain Dog
Date: 04 Apr 97 - 06:58 PM

Looking for lyrics and chords to an old tune with a nautical flavor my Dad used to sing, accompanied on a tenor ukelele.

I remember these lines from the chorus:

"She had a dark and a roving eye

And her hair hung down in ring-gel-lets

She was a _____ girl, a proper girl,

But one of the roving kind."

Any help would be appreciated.

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Apr 97 - 08:43 PM

The song is "The Roving Kind," by Jessie Cavanaugh and Arnold Stanton. You'll find it on "The Best of the Decca Years" CD by the Weavers, which I'm too lazy to transcribe this evening. Good song, though. I'm going to wait and see if I can find the lyrics or maybe somebody else will transcribe it.

It's got kind of a "big band" sound to it, which is not what you'd expect from the Weavers. I used to hear it occasionally when one of our local radio stations played the "Music of Your Life" format - it was the ONLY Weavers song they played.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: Les Blank
Date: 04 Apr 97 - 10:47 PM

This song was also recorded by Guy Mitchell (of Pittsburg Pennsylvania and Sparrow in the Treetop fame) in the late fifties or early sixties. As much of a fan as I am of the Weavers I have never heard their rendition. Joe, where can I look for the album you mentioned ?

Les Blank

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: Les Blank
Date: 04 Apr 97 - 10:55 PM

Just as I hit the SEND button, a verse popped into my head. Don't know for sure, but it may belong to this song.

As I sailed out one evening upon a night's career,

I saw a lofty clipper ship and to her I did steer.

I hoisted up my sig-ga-nals, which she so quickly knew.

And when she saw my bunting fly, she immediately hove too-oo-oo.

Chorus

Am I mad ??

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: Arnowitt
Date: 04 Apr 97 - 10:58 PM

Nope. The Black family also did a lovely, clear record- ing of it. I'll write em out over the next few days. once I dig out my tape. I've been meaning to do it anyway.

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: Dick Wisan
Date: 04 Apr 97 - 11:07 PM

I believe I recall that this song had a fair run as a pop song in the 50's --has to be the early 50's-- which explains the non-Weaverish style of some of the recordings. I remember some Folkish person singing

She was a nice girl, a proper girl
But, one of the rakish kind.

He explained that "rakish" was the original word (dangerous thing to say). You could tell who was pop and who knew the real thing by whether they sang "rakish" or "roving".

Can't remember any more of the words than poster has. It's one of those perennials about the sailor ashore:

Boy meets girl,
Boy gets girl
Girl gets everything boy has,
Boy loses girl & everything else.

HTML fixed. --JoeClone, 16-Apr-03.

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: Ralph Butts
Date: 05 Apr 97 - 07:09 AM

Dick.......If you do your editing in Notepad or a word processor first, you can probably view the page with your browser to check the appearance. With Netscape, it's "Open File in Browser".....Tiger

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: Ralph Butts
Date: 05 Apr 97 - 07:18 AM

That's interesting. The italics are still set on. The whole thing is one big HTML page. That means your tags will be influenced by what happened before. If someone goofs, it's harder to undo. Adding a to this message should remove the italics.....Tiger

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 05 Apr 97 - 11:05 AM

Hi- The requested song is called The Fireship. It's in the database (if you can't remember the title, you could always search for [Dark and roving])

The one quoted is a Weavers re-write (to clean it up and avoid offending Methodists) of a fine old bawdy sea song.

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: Bob Schwarer
Date: 05 Apr 97 - 03:14 PM

More's the pity. I love those old sea songs, bawdy or not. Bob S.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE ROVING KIND (Guy Mitchell)
From: Gene Graham
Date: 05 Apr 97 - 09:37 PM

Here's the lyrics to the version of THE ROVING KIND that I remember; as recorded by GUY MITCHELL/1981 CBS/ENCORE - The SMASH HIT that made him a star. It was backed with: MY HEART CRIES FOR YOU, also a BIG HIT. Liner notes say Mitch Miller "pitched" MY HEART CRIES TO YOU to Frank Sinatra, who turned it down.

THE ROVING KIND - Guy Mitchell

REFRAIN: She had a dark and a roving eye-i-i
And her hair hung down in ring-a-lets
She was a nice girl, a proper girl
But - one of the roving kind."

As I cruised out one evening upon a night's career
I spied a lofty clipper ship and to her I did steer
I hoisted (heisted) out my sig-a-nals, which she so quickly knew
And when she saw my bunting flag, she immediately hove too-oo-oo. REFRAIN:

I took her for some fish and chips and treated her so kind
And hardly did I realize she was the rovin' kind
I kissed her lips, I missed her lips and found to my surprise
She was nothin' but a pirate ship rigged up in a dis-gui-se. REFRAIN:

So come all ye good sailor men who sail the wintry sea
And come all ye apprentice lads, a warning take from me
Beware of lofty clipper ships, they'll be the ruin of you-ou
For it was there that she made me walk the plank and pushed me under too-hoo-hoo. REFRAIN:

TAG: She was a nice girl, a proper girl; But one of the rovin' kind.

Source: THE ROVING KIND - GUY MITCHELL/1981 CBS

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Apr 97 - 09:46 PM

The words in the database sure have a lot more spice to them. I searched under "roving," so I missed it because the word was "rovin.'" Good song - much better than the censored version, I think.

The Weavers "The Best of the Decca Years" is on MCA, MCAD-11465. I think it's widely available, and I'm sure you can get it on the Web at CDWorld or CD Now. MCA also came out with a nice Burl Ives collection - and both of these CD's are at budget prices.

The Weavers Decca recordings are interesting because they are SO commercial. They really do sound like big band songs. I'm glad they didn't do that for very long, although I have to say I still like the stuff.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: belter
Date: 05 Apr 97 - 09:52 PM

even big band sounds good when the weavers did it.

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: Dick Wisan
Date: 06 Apr 97 - 12:05 AM

Have I stopped the italics? I put in the end-italics sign.

It might be good to use some other editor, but how do we then upload what we've written to this editor? No sign of the usual Windows edit facilities. Is there a way to do an ASCII upload?

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: Joe Offer
Date: 06 Apr 97 - 12:20 AM

You're still in italics, Dick. I use cut-and-paste from any Windows 95 program into the reply box on the forum here, and it works fine - except that the line feeds don't copy over. -Joe-

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From:
Date: 06 Apr 97 - 07:01 PM

I downloaded this file and looked at it. My ital/unital marks (<I>/</I>) were changed by the editor into general "emphasize" marks (<EM>). So my unital didn't work. Now let me try de-emphasize: Well is it now de-emphasized?

I'm using Win31. Does it have an equivalent cut-and- paste? Would ^V drop the contents of my clipboard?

This is written on my notepad and copied to the clipboard.

Hey! it did. Well, that looks promising. Now to get a look at the effect before I upload...

Still, I think it would be better if we didn't have HTML capacities here. The whole trouble is that HTML refuses to let the text alone. The only advantage of an HTML page here is that it lets you click on a name at the top of the file and jump to it. But, it really wouldn't be any trouble if we had a plain ASCII sheet with a simple scroll facility.

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: Joe Offer
Date: 07 Apr 97 - 01:28 AM

Say.....I just noticed that everybody is in italics. Dick Wisan said the word "original," and apparently put it in italics. He apparently turned the italics on, and nobody yet has entered the proper code to turn it off.

Elementary, Dr. Watson.....

-Joe-

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: Dick Wisan
Date: 08 Apr 97 - 12:34 AM

Exactly right, and I've been making bungling efforts to put it right.

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: Dick Wisan (more cheerful, this time)
Date: 08 Apr 97 - 12:35 AM

And, _this_time_ (not put in italics not put in emphasis), it worked. :-)

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: Dick Wisan (nervously)
Date: 08 Apr 97 - 12:26 PM

This is a test to see if the <PRE> and </PRE> command can do the trick for us. What I'm hoping for the ability to

    

   Lay Out Text     ------------  (very clumsy underlining with hyphens)    

  This way, without breaks       and preserving        the whitespace    as you would need     in posting poetry.    

The lines above should be indented two spaces from the left margin with three   extra spaces for the lines starting "and" and "the".  There should be one blank   line                 before and after the text, and there's a wide blank between   "line" and "before" in (what should be) the line above this one.  

Now, we're out of the PRE zone, and HTML should be wreaking its usual havoc. What I did to produce this is put <PRE> at the top and </PRE> at the bottom of the text. There are no HTM marks in it.

If that text preserves its layout I wonder if the editor could be taught to automatically enter <PRE> at the beginning and </PRE> at the end of the text. It seems to insert certain other things automatically.

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: Dick Wisan (Irritated)
Date: 08 Apr 97 - 12:37 PM

No, it didn't work, and the reason is that this blasted editor not only uses HTML code but REWRITES it. It added paragraph markings at the ends of some but not all of my lines, while preserving the whitespace but not the line breaks. Pulling my text into Netscape, it appears in proper layout. Viewed here, it's a mess.

This is not a bad editor, it's an evil editor.

Subject: RE: She Had A Dark & A Rovin Eye
From: Bill
Date: 09 Apr 97 - 03:57 AM

Howdy Dick Wissan,

I admire your efforts to figure out the editor, and I have great confidence that you'll conquer the beast if you anthropomorphize it enough.

Allinkausay, Bill

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: GUEST,ARTIE
Date: 12 Jul 04 - 10:27 AM

We have the lyrics to "The Roving Kind" but would love to have the guitar chords to the song. Can anyone help?   Please reply to this site. Thanks!

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 15 Jul 04 - 10:58 PM

I found this information at http://www.lyricsdepot.com/guy-mitchell/roving-kind.html
(allmusic confirms authorship.)

THE ROVING KIND
[Recorded by] Guy Mitchell
Written by Jesse Cavanaugh and Arnold Stanton

Peaked at # 4 in 1951
Competing versions by The Weavers hit # 11 and by Rex Allen hit #20.
Adapted from the old 1800s English folk song "The Pirate Ship."

Sorry, I can't do chords, but there are sound samples at allmusic—see link above. Maybe someone can listen to them and work out the chords for you.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: TS
Date: 16 Jul 04 - 12:24 PM

same concept to an extent as "As I Roved Out"..: " she had a dark and rovin' eye and her hair it touched her shoulders.."

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 16 Jul 04 - 02:14 PM

Hey, where's my favorite part?

"Oh, pardon me," she says to me, "for being out so late.
But if my parents heard of this, oh, sad would be my fate.
My father is in politics, a good and righteous man.
My mother is an acrobat, and I do the best I c-a-n."

Chorus

Subject: Lyr/Chords Add: THE FIRESHIP
From: JWB
Date: 16 Jul 04 - 03:22 PM

Guest Artie,

Here's a full version, with all the naughty bits, and the chords I use.

The Fireship           
   G                            D        
As I walked out one evening upon a night's career,
    G                                D
I spied a lofty clipper ship and to her I did steer.
D                                    G                D7
She hoisted up her sig-a-nals which I so quickly knew,

G            D7            G       C            A7               D/A7/D7
And when she saw me bunting up she immediately hove to.
          G                              A7                               
She had a dark and a roving eye, and her hair hung downs in
D
ring-a-lets.
           G                            D                G
She was a nice girl, a decent girl, but one of the rakish kind.

"Oh sir, won't you excuse me for staying out so late,
And if my parents heard of this, then sad would be my fate.
My father, he's a minister, a good and righteous man,
My mother she's a Methodist; I do the best I can."

I eyed that girl both up and down for I'd heard such talk before,
And when she moored herself to me I knew she was a whore.
But still she was a pretty girl; she shyly hung her head.
"I'll go along with you, my lad," was what to me she said.

I took her to a tav-er-in and treated her with wine.
Little did I think that she was one of the rakish kind.
I handled her, I dandled her, and much to my surprise,
Turns out she was a fireship rigged up in a disguise.

So up the stairs and into bed I took that maiden fair.
I fired off my carronade into her thatch of hair.
I fired off a broadside until my shot was spent,
Then rammed that fireship's waterline until my ram was bent.

Then in the morning she was gone, my money was gone too.
My clothes she'd hocked, my watch she stole, my seabag bid adieu.
But she'd left behind a souvenir, I'd have you all to know.
And in nine days, to my surprise, there was fire down below.

So come all you good whaler boys that sail the wintry seas,
And come all you good sailor boys, a warning take by me:
Beware of lofty clipper ships, they'll be the ruin of you,
For she not only made me walk the plank, she set fire to me mainmast, too.

Enjoy,

Jerry

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: GUEST,ARTIE
Date: 17 Aug 04 - 11:30 AM

Jerry, Thank you for sending me the words and chords for the Roving Kind. I really appreciated it. I do a lot of sing-a-long songs and will include the Roving Kind in my selections. Once again, thank you so much for your help.
                            Artie

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: Mr Happy
Date: 16 Dec 08 - 10:17 AM

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6qlKZeQxtRY

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 16 Dec 08 - 04:18 PM

This thread brought to mind the late Guy Mitchell, who departed earth in 1999, I believe. His story is at least as interesting as the song legacy he has. A Croatian-American named Albert George Cernik, he was allegedly given his stage name by record producer, Mitch Miller, who introduced himself by saying, "My name's Mitchell. You seem like a nice guy; we'll call you Guy Mitchell."

He had been a child actor, saddlemaker, band and radio singer and adult movie actor. He had his own TV show in 1957. He eventually became as known and popular in the former Yugoslavia and in the U.K. and Australia as in America.

I remember "The Rovin' Kind," "Heartaches By The Number" and "Singin' The Blues" from my high school days in the 1950's. It was a short leap from material like his and Terry Gilkyson songs like "Marianne" to The Kingston Trio's "Tom Dooley" and the folk revival (as some call it).

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: JWB
Date: 21 Jan 09 - 11:29 PM

Wow, it isn't often a 200-year old song gets the Nelson Riddle treatment like that. Maybe I should start wearing a tux to gigs -- spruce up the act a bit -- and hire a band to back me up.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 22 Jan 09 - 05:52 PM

Don't forget the morning coat and spats - a nice touch! It also facilitates riding a horse to your gigs....

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Jul 09 - 03:26 AM

I've enjoyed the discussion on "The Roving Kind" tremendously. I know the melody for the chorus, but not for the verses. I'd love to find the sheet music for this. Does anyone have a copy? Can anyone tell me where to find it?

My father was in the Marines in the Pacific during World War II. He learned quite a repetoire of songs during his time there. After the war, he married my mother. I was their first child. I could carry a tune from my earliest years, and my father thought it was cute to teach me some of the songs he'd picked up in his years as a Marine.

At the age of four, I went to my first Sunday School class. Our Sunday School began with a worship service for all the grade levels together, then each grade would have a lesson in a separate room. During our first worship service, the head of the Sunday School asked whether anyone knew a song s/he could sing for the Sunday School. I raised my hand, stood up, and sang, "She Had a dark and a roving eye -i-i and her hair hung down (etc.)"

The church never let my father forget it.

But I didn't know there were verses and now that I DO know, I'd love to know the tune as well.

Thank you.
Lois

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: RamblinStu
Date: 29 Jul 09 - 03:47 AM

Just a reminder to you that there is a great version of "Fireship" on ex-Spinner Hughie Jones album Seascape.

Listen to the way he rolls his R's.......


Stuart Pendrill

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 29 Jul 09 - 01:34 PM

If memory serves, in Sniclair Lewis' Arrowsmith there was a somewhat tipsy Swedish chemist who bawled out the chorus of this.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: JWB
Date: 10 Aug 09 - 03:41 PM

Guest Lois,

That is a wonderful story. I hope no excommunication was involved.

You can find an admittedly rude version of the song, titled The Fireship, on the CD Salty Dick's Uncensored Sailor Songs. It's available as a single song download for a mere $0.99 on CD Baby, i-Tunes and others. Here's link to CD Baby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/saltydick

It's a great song.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: Joe_F
Date: 10 Aug 09 - 08:54 PM

I have always thought of this song under the name "The Fireship", as with JWB. A slightly different version of the last stanza:

So listen, all you sailormen who sail upon the sea:
Beware of lofty fireships: one was the ruin of me.
Beware of them; stay clear of them: they'll be the ruin of you,
For 'twas there I got my mizzen sprung and strongbox broken too.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: Lighter
Date: 11 Aug 09 - 11:17 AM

"Beware of them; stay clear of them." Internal rhyme often means Oscar Brand.

Just saying.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: KathyW
Date: 11 Aug 09 - 11:40 PM

To Lois, who is looking for sheet music to the song: there is music for it in Stan Hugill's "Shanties from the Seven Seas" under the name "The Fire Ship."

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Ey
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 12 Aug 09 - 01:34 AM

I recently ran across this field recording:
recording

I can't remember how many times I must have sung it during a really long drive, ha ha

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: Lighter
Date: 12 Aug 09 - 10:52 AM

Another gem from Steve Gardham's collecting. But I think it came ultimately from the version sung by Brand 25 years earlier. The tune is a little different though.

Am putting the finishing touches on a report (decades in the making) on this song and its relatives.

Would any 'Catters with reactions, different versions, or special recollections, etc., of the song please post 'em?

The same goes for the similar "Ratcliffe Highway/ Cruising 'Round Yarmouth" family.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 12 Aug 09 - 11:49 AM

I guess the Kipper family had the last word(s):

She had a dark and roving eye,
And another one quite similar..."

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 12 Aug 09 - 02:14 PM

Seamus Kennedy does a great version of it on his Sailing Ships and Sailing Men CD.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: Lighter
Date: 12 Aug 09 - 05:47 PM

Thanks, Dick. I'd forgotten that one.

Subject: ADD version: Covent Garden Ramble
From: Lighter
Date: 10 Sep 24 - 09:51 AM

In its most familiar forms, this is related to George Ware's innocent 1863 music hall effort, "She'd a Black and a Rolling Eye," but based on a pair of much earlier broadsides.

The earlier broadside is "Covent Garden Ramble," printed by Davenport of West Smithfield about 1801:

COVENT GARDEN RAMBLE

            One night in Covent Garden
                With pleasure I did steer,
            I met a pretty fair maid,
                  Taking of the air;
            Her shoes were made of kerseymere,
                  Her stockings they were silk.
            Her shift was made of the best lawn,
                  And her skin was white as milk.
                     She’d a black and rolling eye.

            I took this charming creature,
                  I took her to an inn,
            I swore I’d ne’er forsake her,
                  If that she would be mine,
            I detain’d this charming creature,
                  So long, she would not stay,
            She sigh’d and said I am a maid,
                  Pray let me go my way.

             I hope you will excuse me,
                  I dare not stop out so late,
             For if my mother she should know;
                  I would not for a groat;
             My father he’s a preacher,
                  A very holy man,
             My mother she’s a methodist,
                  And I am a true Britain.

             When I kiss’d this charming creature,
                  I had my heart’s desire,
             This little dirty stinking slut,
                  Set me all on fire,
             She set me all on fire,
                  Which caused me for to rue,
             This little dirty stinking slut
                  She’s one of the wicked crew.

The ballad was reprinted more than once. There are two printings in the Bodleian, one datable to as late as 1840-1851. The Davenport printing is from the Madden Collection.

"Kerseymere" is a fancy woolen twill noted for unusual softness and its use in expensive garments.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: GUEST,tug the cox
Date: 10 Sep 24 - 02:30 PM

Most people on this thread call it 'one of the Roving kind', Iv'e only ever heard it as 'one og the Rakish Kind.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: Lighter
Date: 11 Sep 24 - 08:50 AM

Tug, there's one mention in the 1920s that has "roving kind," but all other known versions before Cavanaugh & Stanton's pop hit of 1950-51 have "rakish" or, in one case, "whoring."

The trad titles are "The Fireship" and "A Black [or "Dark"] and Rolling Eye." In the'60s the revival singers transferred the "Fireship" title to one branch of the "Cruising Round Yarmouth" family.

All these nuances, and more, are set to be explained here and on the "Yarmouth" thread.

This slip, from the Madden collection (and almost identically in the Bodleian) represents he next development. The date is uncertain, but the word "hath" was archaic (and perhaps regional) for some time before 1842, when the "Stockport Advertiser" of Manchester mentioned a ballad slip titled "The Black and Rolling Eye" (not necessarily *this* song, however!)

                        BLACK AND ROLLING EYE

        As I walked out one morning,
            All in the month of May,
        I met a pretty damsel
            So beautiful and gay:--
        Her shoes they were of velvet,
            Her stockings they were of silk,
        Her shift it was of Hollands fine,
            And breast as white as milk.

                   CHORUS.

        She hath a black and rolling eye,
            To my fal de ral laddy O,
           She is a nice girl,--
                And one of the rakish crew.

        I took her to a tavern,
            And call'd for cakes and wine,                
        But little did I think
            She was of a rakish mind;
        I took her to a tavern,
                As you shall understand ;
        She said -- kind sir, I am a maid,
            Be as easy as you can.

        She said -- kind sir, excuse me,
            For staying out so late
        My parents would be angry
            And sad would be my fate ;
        My father is a preacher--
            A good and pious man ;
        My mother is a Methodist,
            And I'm a true Briton.

        Come all you able seamen,
                That ploughs the raging main,
        That gets a little money
              By the cold wind and rain ;
        I'd have you shun those fiery ships,
              Or you will surely rue,
        Or else you'll get your cobbles sprung
              And set on fire too.

"Crew" = bunch.

"Cobbles" = cobble stones = "stones."

As in the earlier, similar songs, much emphasis is placed on the woman's fancy clothes - a feature soon to be lost.

Note too that, unlike the previous text, the speaker is explicitly identified as a sailor.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: Lighter
Date: 17 Sep 24 - 11:12 AM

Seemingly the earliest modern text of the song was collected by James M. Carpenter in 1928 from William Fender of Barry Docks, South Wales. Fender "learned [it] in [the] foc's'le early eighties."

                   DARK AND ROLLING EYE
As I strolled out one evening to take my night's career,
I overtook a fine looking craft and after her I did steer.
I gave to her the signal: the signal she well knew,
She hauled around her main yard, and then she did lay to.

        She had a dark and rolling eye,
        To me fal-the-addle-diddle-di-do!
        She was a nice fair pretty young maid,
        But one of the rakish style.

She said, Young man, excuse me, for being out so late.
If my parents only knew of this, how sad would be my fate.
My father is a parson, and a pious good old man,
My sister she is (just G. T.) and I am the roving hand.    [sic

Now all you young seamen who gather your fortunes on the main,
Who have to stem the ocean amidst the wind and rain,
Beware of all these fiery old ships, for the day you'll surely rue.
It was with one I got my main yard sprung,
                         and my quarterblocks chafed right through.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: Anglo
Date: 19 Sep 24 - 02:34 PM

I came across an Australian version years ago:

She had a dark and a roving eye,
And rum stains down her singlet…

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: She Had a Dark and a Rovin' Eye
From: Lighter
Date: 22 Sep 24 - 09:02 AM

As mentioned earlier, the modern song utilizes the tune - and the theme of deception by a woman) of George Ware's 1863 patter song, "She'd a Black and a Rolling Eye." Kudos to John Baxter for calling this to our attention:

https://folksongandmusichall.com/index.php/shed-a-black-and-rolling-eye-railway-version/

You can here Bill Botting's performance of Ware's song in Sussex in 1968 here:

https://sussextraditions.org/record/black-and-rolling-eye-the/