Songs about lighthouses

Subject: RE: Songs about lighthouses
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 May 23 - 10:52 AM

Tattie, what a beautiful backstory for Da Slockit Light.

Subject: RE: Songs about lighthouses
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 18 May 23 - 02:29 PM

Robert Stevenson was very successful as a lighthouse engineer. His step-father was an engineer for the Northern Lighthouse Board. His sons Alan, David and Thomas also became lighthouse engineers.

David's sons, David Alan Stevenson and Charles Stevenson, designed lighthouses too. Thomas' son chose not to be an engineer. His name was Robert Louis Stevenson and he became famous as a writer.

From BBC Bitesize.

Subject: Lyr Add: BRASSWORK (Fred Morong)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 11 Jul 23 - 07:41 PM

This was mentioned by Bev and Jerry in the opening message of this thread.

From Historic Furnishings Report: Raspberry Island Light Station: Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Bayfield, Wisconsin, by David H. Wallace (Harpers Ferry, WV: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, 1989), page 257:

Lightkeepers in the U.S. Lighthouse Service often spoke of the trouble they had keeping the brasswork polished at their stations. In response to their cries of frustration, Fred Morong, who was known by the keepers as their "Unofficial Poet Laureate," wrote this poem to describe their plight.


BRASSWORK, or THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER'S LAMENT
Fred Morong

O what is the bane of a light keeper's life
That causes him worry, struggle, and strife,
That makes him use cuss words, and beat at his wife?
It's brasswork.

What makes him look ghastly, consumptive, and thin,
What robs him of health, of vigor and vim,
And causes despair and drives him to sin?
It's brasswork.

The devil himself could never invent
A material causing more worldwide lament,
And in Uncle Sam's service, about ninety percent
Is brasswork.

The lamp in the tower, reflector, and shade,
The tools and accessories pass in parade.
As a matter of fact, the whole outfit is made
Of brasswork.

The oil containers I polish until
My poor back is broken, aching; and still.
Each gallon and quart, each pint and each gill
Is brasswork.

I lay down to slumber all weary and sore.
I walk in my sleep; I awake with a snore;
And I'm shining the knob on my bedchamber door.
That's brasswork.

From pillar to post, rags and polish I tote.
I'm never without them, for you will please note
That even the buttons I wear on my coat
Are brasswork.

The machinery, clockwork, and fog-signal bell,
The coal hods, the dustpans, the pump in the well;
Now I'll leave it to you, mates, if this isn't—well,
Brasswork.

I dig, scrub and polish, and work with a might,
And just when I get it all shining and bright,
In comes the fog like a thief in the night.
Good-by, brasswork.

I start the next day and noontime draws near,
A boatload of summer visitors appear,
For no other purpose, than to smooch and besmear
My brasswork.

So it goes all the Summer, and along in the Fall,
Comes the district machinist to overhaul
And rub dirty and greasy paws overall
My brasswork.

And again in the Spring, if perchance it may be,
An efficiency star is awarded to me,
I open the package and what do I see?
More brasswork.

Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud,
In the short span of life that he is allowed,
If all the lining in every dark cloud
Is brasswork?

And when I have polished until I am cold
And I'm taken aloft to the Heavenly fold,
Will my harp and my crown be made of pure gold?
No; brasswork.

Subject: ADD: Haul for Glasson (Henry Peacock)
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 12 Jul 23 - 07:02 AM

Haul for Glasson!

In 1779 the Lancaster Port facilities were extended closer to the Irish Sea at Glasson Dock. In 1847 the Lancaster Port Commission built a pair of lighthouses near Cockersand Abbey to help guide ships into the port. The lower lighthouse still stands on Plover Scar. It was rebuilt in 2017 after being hit - at night time! - by a large, empty, cargo vessel en route to Glasson Dock. The old high light, a square wooden tower, was demolished in 1954 but the keeper's cottage still remains.

HAUL FOR GLASSON
(Henry Peacock)

Home to dear England, our ship she is bound
And in heaving the lead, we'll soon strike English ground
What pleasure we have, with what joy cry the men
When first we catch sight of old England again

And we call, Haul for Glasson! through sea spray and foam
Yes, we all haul for Glasson, now we're heading for home

We wait in Lune Deep then sail in with the tide
John Lamb will be waiting, dock gate open wide
By Cockersand Light and then past Plover Scar
Every family awaiting their home-coming tar

Now our ship she's inside of John Lamb's parlour door
Up to the Pier Hall we must go, to be sure
For there our dear girls come from town in great style
To welcome us home with their kisses and smiles

We climb Glasson Hill for a view of the Lune
And look over the valley we'll leave all too soon
We spend time in the arms of our sweethearts and then
Kiss them goodbye as we sail off again

And we call Haul for Glasson! through sea spray and foam
But when you're a sailor, the sea is your home

Written by Henry Peacock, inspired by fragments of songs collected in Glasson by Ruth Zanoni Roskell. Tune; Farewell to Tarwathie.

Subject: ADD: Old Fastnet (Cicely Fox Smith)+tune by RJM
From: GUEST,RJM
Date: 12 Jul 23 - 07:18 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqmLNHqYuKo
Fastnet old fastnet music DickMiles words c fox smith

---

(lyrics added by Joe Offer from https://allpoetry.com/Old-Fastnet


OLD FASTNET
(Cicely Fox-Smith)

The ships to the westward, by night and by day,
In storm and in sunshine go forth on their way,
The big ships and little ships, swift ships and slow . . . 
And Fastnet — old Fastnet — he watches 'em go.

Hull down to the westward they vanish afar,
Like the waft of a wing or the flash of a star,
A feather of smoke on the rim of the sky . . . 
And Fastnet — old Fastnet — he waves 'em good-bye.

Strange stars will behold them, strange harbours will know,
Strange lights for their guiding will beacon and glow,
And they'll maybe remember and maybe forget
That Fastnet — old Fastnet — he's waiting there yet.

A-waiting the day, be it distant or soon,
When the ships from the westward, by night or by noon,
In storm or in sunshine rejoicing will come . . .
And Fastnet — old Fastnet — he'll welcome them home!


From ROVINGS: Sea Songs and Ballads, edited by Cicely Fox Smith, published by Elkin Mathews, London, UK, ©1921, p. 50.

"Fastnet" here refers to the Fastnet Rock off Southern Ireland, the last land to be sighted by early Irish immigrants and the first to be sighted by returning trans-Atlantic sailors.

Subject: RE: Songs about lighthouses
From: GUEST,Guitarfumbler
Date: 12 Jul 23 - 07:26 AM

Check out 'Lighthouse' by that wonderful Australian band 'The Waifs'

Subject: Lyr Add: THE ANGEL OF SUNSET ROCK (Charles Graham)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 12 Jul 23 - 08:45 AM

This song was mentioned by Bev and Jerry in the opening message, and again by Masato:

From the sheet music in the Levy collection at Johns Hopkins University:


THE ANGEL OF SUNSET ROCK
Words and music by Charles Graham, ©1897.

1. The lighthouse keeper on Sunset Rock had trimmed his lamp for the night,
And over the ocean, far and near, it spread ifs brilliant light.
His daughter fair, on the winding stair, awaited his safe return,
But he fell; his work it was over; his own light had ceased to burn.
She took on her shoulders the burden her father had borne for years,
And banished her grief forever, chose duty instead of tears.
She sometimes wept, but her vows she kept, till ev’ry sailor knew
About the keeper’s daughter and the trouble she’d been through.

CHORUS: On the wildest night, her light shone bright, to give the sailors warning.
No thought of sleep, her watch she’d keep, until the peep of morning.
In ev’ry ship, on her outward trip, from river, canal, and dock,
The sailors all said, “God bless her; she’s the angel of Sunset Rock.”

2. One stormy night, from a foreign land, a ship for the harbor steered,
And ev’ry brave heart on board rejoiced; a home they swiftly neared.
Alas! no light on the Pilot’s sight, from Sunset Rock shed its gleam,
And the vessel struck, in the darkness, where safety had always been;
But some who escaped to the lighthouse soon opened the little door.
They saw that the girl was blameless, for stretched on the lighthouse floor,
True to the last, her young life had passed; she lay with features cold.
She died just as her father did, back in the days of old.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE FOG BELL (de Burgh/Pontet, 1878)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Jul 23 - 10:33 AM

Another song that was mentioned first by Bev and Jerry and later by Masato:

From the sheet music in the Levy collection at Johns Hopkins University:

[The stanza breaks and indentations were inserted arbitrarily by me; no breaks are evident in the sheet music.]


THE FOG BELL
Words by Hubert de Burgh, music by Henry Pontet, [1878].

Around the lighthouse saps the tide.
Above its head, the sea-gulls glide,
And o’er the ocean waste and wide,
Afar its starry light is spied
By ships home-bound, by ships home-bound;
But when the mists around it close,
And hush the winds in dull repose,
Through the dun pall around it goes
A sullen sound, a sullen sound!

The thick cold fog, than night more dead,
Is folded round its lifted head,
Nor through the gath’ring darkness shed,
Is seen the glimm’ring beacon red,
To guide the sail, to guide the sail;
But still above the surge’s moan
The warning fog bell’s hollow tone
Is wafted to the vessel lone
In fun’ral wail, in fun’ral wail!

Loud as the raving breakers roar,
On the dread storm-beat rugged shore,
The fog bell soundeth more and more,
The waves along with iron tongue, with iron tongue, with iron tongue.

All through the long lone night of fear,
The seaman holds his breath to hear,
Now faint and low, now loud and clear:
The fog bell! the fog bell!
Calling: “Danger, danger here!
Danger here! Danger here! Danger here!”

The storm is o’er; the night has fled.
The vex’d seas with the morn are red.
Back creeps the dun fog slowly sped,
Above the mist, its stately head
The lighthouse rears, its stately head the lighthouse rears,
While o’er the calming ocean’s swell
Now gladly calling: “All is well!”
The last note of the grave fog bell
The sailor hears, the sailor hears,
Gladly calling: “All is well!”
The last note of the grave fog bell!

Subject: Lyr Add: BELL OF BOSTON BAY (Smith/Catlin, 1869)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Jul 23 - 12:44 PM

Another song that was mentioned first by Bev and Jerry and later by Masato:

From the sheet music in the Levy collection at Johns Hopkins University:


BELL, OF BOSTON BAY, or, THE LIGHT-HOUSE KEEPER’S DAUGHTER.
Words by Dexter Smith, music by E. N. Catlin, ©1869.

1. When the world is fast asleep,
And the stars shine o’er the deep,
And the winds roar wildly at their play;
When the white-winged ships go by,
When the sea runs mountains high,
Then I think of Bell far down the bay,

CHORUS: Raven hair and eyes of jet,
Sparkling orbs that haunt me yet,
Has the maiden of the dashing spray.
Yes, let me go where I will,
I am thinking of her still,
Bell the lighthouse girl of Boston Bay.

2. ’Mid the ocean’s fitful damps,
Sits she there and trims the lamps,
A beacon to the storm-lost bark;
And she fears not wind or tide,
For her duty is her pride,
And she sits and sings like any lark.

3. There’s a sailor, far away
From the lights of Boston Bay.
She has promised to become his bride,
And when he returns again,
To his home far o’er the main,
He will have the maiden by his side.

Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN THE BELL IN THE LIGHTHOUSE RINGS
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Jul 23 - 01:51 PM

Masato mentioned this on 19 Aug 2002.

From the sheet music at York University:


“Sung by Mr. Harry Smith, with Eddie Leonard’s Minstrel Co.”
WHEN THE BELL IN THE LIGHTHOUSE RINGS (Ding Dong)
Words by Arthur J. Lamb, music by Alfred Solman, ©1905.

1. Just a glance in your eyes, my bonnie Kate,
Then over the sea go I,
While the seagulls circle around the ship,
And the billowy waves roll high;
And over the sea and away, my Kate,
Afar to the distant west;
But ever and ever a thought I’ll have,
For the lassie who loves me best:

CHORUS: When the bell in the lighthouse rings ding dong,
When it clangs its warning loud and long,
Then a sailor will think of his sweetheart so true,
And long for the day he’ll come back to you;
And his love will be told in the bell’s brave song,
When the bell in the lighthouse rings ding dong,
Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong!
When the bell in the lighthouse rings ding dong, ding dong, ding dong!

2. For a day is to come, my bonnie Kate,
When joy in our heart shall reign;
And we’ll laugh to think of the dangers past,
When you rest in my arms again;
For back to your heart I will sail, my Kate,
With love that is staunch and true.
In storm or in calm there’s a star of hope
That is always to shine for you: CHORUS

---
This song resembles ASLEEP IN THE DEEP (which, by the way, is another song about a lighthouse with words by Lamb) in that it seems to be written to show off the ability of a basso singer to sing very low notes.

The Internet Archive has recordings by Frank C. Stanley (1905) and by Wilfred Glenn (1923).

Subject: RE: Songs about lighthouses
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 14 Jul 23 - 11:55 AM

Fog Horn
Words & music by Bob Gibson and Shel Silverstein

When it’s midnight time by the waterfront
And the night’s callin’ out to its own
And the fog rolls in from a troubled sea
And I walk down by the docks all alone

Hear that fog horn, hear it moanin’
Sad song for a lonely few
And I’m walkin’, and I’m callin’
Where are you? Where are you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPN8DuNV3e4 Bob Gibson

BBC Radio 4 The Foghorn: A Celebration
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00yqp5z The Foghorn

Subject: RE: Songs about lighthouses
From: GUEST,Rob Mad Jock Wright
Date: 14 Jul 23 - 01:11 PM

Wang Dang Delta have a song written by Ian McLaren titled ‘the Lighthouse’ on their album Delta Road.
Think it might be on Spotify.

Subject: RE: Songs about lighthouses
From: GUEST,Guitarfumbler
Date: 20 Jul 23 - 11:33 AM

https://youtu.be/Uv9z8HSWEd4

I think this version of 'Lighthouse' trumps all others I've heard.
What a talented band!

Subject: Lyr Add: LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER (Mark J. Bradlyn)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 20 Jul 23 - 04:00 PM

Masato mentioned this on 19 Aug 02. My transcription from the recording at YouTube:


LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER
As recorded by Mark J. Bradlyn on “Lighthouse Keeper” (2000).

Down at the harbor, seals are barking.
Somebody’s building a fire on the sand.
Up in the lighthouse, the keeper is sleeping—
Dreams filled with darkness that he can’t understand.

Out on the jetty, breakers are crashing.
Salt spray falls softly on my true love and me.
Up in the lighthouse, a keeper is pacing,
Watching and waiting for a vessel lost at sea.

Up on the clifftop, we stand embracing.
Dolphins are leaping, half circles on the waves.
Up in the lighthouse, the keeper is praying,
Hoping for shipwrecks and sailors he can save.

On the horizon, a tall ship is passing,
Sails reefed and ready, the sky going gray.
Up in the lighthouse, the keeper is weeping.
Where is the wreckage? When will he have his day?

Out at the buoy, our dory is rocking,
Oars sweeping even, arms pulling strong.
Up in the lighthouse, the keeper is packing—
Decades of watching, now it’s time to move along,
Time to move along,
Time to move along.

Subject: Lyr Add: A LITTLE WHITE LIGHTHOUSE (Leslie/Burke)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 21 Jul 23 - 12:20 PM

This is my transcription from several recordings (which are remarkably consistent):


A LITTLE WHITE LIGHTHOUSE
Words by Edgar Leslie, music by Joe Burke, ©1937.

There’s a little white lighthouse by a blue lagoon
And it twinkles like a love light when clouds hide the moon.
There’s a little white lighthouse where the night birds croon.
We can stroll beside the seaside by love’s lagoon,
Dreaming in the gloaming,
Where the sea is foaming,
Just a happy pair with hearts in tune;
And the little white lighthouse will be twinkling soon
As we sail away to Love Land on our honeymoon.

- - -
The Internet Archive has these recordings:
Bert Block and his Bell Music, with vocal refrain by Bill Johnson, on Vocalion 3958, 1938.
Dick Robertson and His Orchestra, with vocal refrain by Dick Robertson, on Decca 1585 B, 1937.
Music in the Russ Morgan Manner, with vocal refrain by Russ Morgan, on Brunswick 8047, 1938.
Rudy Vallee and His Connecticut Yankees, with vocal refrain by Rudy Vallee, on Bluebird B-7331-B, 1937.
The Melody Masters, with vocal refrain by Rudy Vallee, on Regal Zonophone G23630, no date.
Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra, with vocal refrain by Jack Leonard, on Victor 25733-A, 1937.

YouTube also has:
Maurice Winnick and His Sweet Music, 1938.

Subject: Lyr Add: LIGHTHOUSE SONG (from Burt Taylor))
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 22 Jul 23 - 12:37 PM

If you remember this song from your childhood, you might have some nostalgia for it, but other than that, I predict it will have little appeal. I post it here mainly for completeness:


LIGHTHOUSE SONG
Words and music by Cam Morris
As recorded by Burt Taylor with Percy Faith and His Orchestra on Columbia 39557, 1951.

CHORUS: Ding-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling went the old lighthouse bell,
Over the ocean so blue.
Ding-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling! I’ve a story to tell:
Maidens are ever untrue.

1. Oh, once I was happy and gay as could be,
With never a worry or woe.
I lived in a lighthouse way down by the sea,
Watching the boats come and go.

2. I met a sweet maiden and wooed her one day,
And all of my love did bestow,
When along came a sailor and took her away,
Out where the boats come and go. CHORUS

3. She whispered she loved me and said she’d be mine,
That maiden I loved long ago.
Now she is sailing way over the brine,
Out where the boats come and go.

4. Oh, now as the words of the bell come to me,
They tell a sad story, I know;
While I am standing alone by the sea,
Watching the boats come and go. CHORUS

- - -
The Internet Archive has 3 copies of this recording: 1, 2, 3.

Subject: Lyr Add: LIGHTHOUSE IN THE HARBOR (from Sammy Kaye
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 22 Jul 23 - 06:04 PM

My transcription from the recording at the Internet Archive:


LIGHTHOUSE IN THE HARBOR
Words and music by Pinky Herman, Bill Harrington, & Bob Emmerich, ©1953
As recorded by Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye, with vocals by The Kaydets & Jeffrey Clay, on Columbia 39936, 1953.

There’s a lighthouse in the harbor
On a shore that’s far away.
There’s a white house with an arbor
Where we kissed farewell that day.

[§] Darling, keep the love light shining
For this heart of mine so true,
Till the lighthouse in the harbor
Lights my way back home to you.

[INSTRUMENTAL INTERLUDE, THEN REPEAT FROM §.]

- - -
There is a catalog entry that indicates there is a missing verse that begins “I'm watching the stars and counting the days.” This line apparently occurs in the sheet music but not in the recording. I have not found any other recording of this song; however, there are other songs with the same title, or with “lighthouse in the harbor” as part of the lyrics.

Subject: Lyr Add: LIGHTHOUSE (Jim Lowe; from Rusty Draper)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 22 Jul 23 - 06:38 PM

The arrangement of this song suggests that it’s trying to recreate the spookiness of “[Ghost] Riders in the Sky.” My transcription from the recording on the Internet Archive:


LIGHTHOUSE
Words and music by Jim Lowe.
As recorded by Rusty Draper (with the Jack Halloran Singers, and with orchestra conducted by David Carroll), on Mercury 70188, 1953.

I don’t know where I came from and I don’t know where I’ve been.
I’ve lived all my life in the rollickin’ sea, I guess since time began.

I recall the Flyin’ Dutchman, the Mayflower and the Maine,
And along about five hundred years ago, I saw three ships from Spain.

My castle is the lighthouse; my kingdom is the sea.
I rule all alone in the middle of the night and no one cares for me. (And no one cares for me.)

I can see the Vikings, their sails so white and clean.
The skull and bones and old Davy Jones are sights that I have seen.

I recall the great Titanic; my light she couldn’t see,
And along about mornin’ I heard the strains of “Nearer, My God, to Thee.”

And once I had a sweetheart I still recall with joy.
We loved all alone in the rollickin’ sea when I was but a boy.

But the poundin’ surf and trade winds were jealous as can be,
And along about nine hundred years ago, they took my love from me. (They took my love from me.)

But I cannot forget her, my lady from above.
When you see my light in the blackness of the night, I’m searchin’ for my love.

I’m searching for my love.

Subject: RE: Songs about lighthouses
From: Charley Noble
Date: 27 Jul 23 - 11:11 AM

Reminds me of this well documented story that appeared in the newspapers in Portland, ME, in the 1880s, which inspired this ballad:

By Charlie Ipcar, ©2021 (9-25-21)
Tune traditional “Whiskey before Breakfast”
Key: F(5/C)
The Wreck of the Anne C. Maguire-1886

C--------------------F--------C
On a moon lite night so clear,
F-----------C-------G
Whiskey for me Johnny-o,
C------------------------F----------C
Portland Head was drawing near,
F-----------C-------G------C
Whiskey for me Johnny-o!
-----------------------G----C---------G---C
Our gallant bark sped through the night,
-------G------------------C---F----C---G
She struck the ledge be-fore the Light,
------C---------G7-------F----------C
And it was a totally dreadful sight,
F----------C-------G-------C
Whiskey for me Johnny-o!

The Anne Maguire swung half around,
Whiskey for me Johnny-o,
Broadside to the cliff, hard aground,
Whiskey for me Johnny-o,
“All hands on deck!” our Captain cried,
We pounded the deck from side to side,
But she wouldn’t budge, though hard we tried,
Whiskey for me Johnny-o!

The year was eighteen eighty-six,
Whiskey for me Johnny-o,
We found ourselves in a helluva fix,
Whiskey for me Johnny-o,
‘Twas Christmas Eve, disaster bound,
Our Captain’s shout did resound,
“Abandon ship, ‘lest we all drown!”
Whiskey for me Johnny-o!

We heaved a ladder o’er the rail,
Whiskey for me Johnny-o!
And tumbled ashore without fail,
Whiskey for me Johnny-o!
The lighthouse keeper and his spouse,
Warmed us up with Liverpool scouse,
On salvaged Scotch we all got soused,
Whiskey for me Johnny-o!

Early next day to town we rode,
Whiskey for me Johnny-o!
The ship was bilged, her bottom stove,
Whiskey for me Johnny-o!
Wreckers saved her sails and chains,
Only her standing rigging remained,
While we drowned our sorrows and pain,
Whiskey for me Johnny-o!

Here’s to our Captain where e’er he be,
Whiskey for me Johnny-o!
A friend to the sailor on land or sea,
Whiskey for me Johnny-o!
And may his soul fore’er be blessed,
Of all good fellas he was the best,
He shared the insurance at our request,
Whiskey for me Johnny-o!(2X)