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Lyr Add: Abraham Brown the Sailor (from Bodleian)
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Lyr Add: Abraham Brown the Sailor (from Bodleian) |
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Subject: Lyr Add: ABRAHAM BROWN THE SAILOR From: pavane Date: 19 Jul 01 - 03:39 AM ABRAHAM BROWN THE SAILOR Tune: My heart and Lute Who is it knocks at our door, Says a very nice young lady. Who is it &c. It's I myself and nobody else Says Abraham Brown the Sailor, Ti's I myself, &c. Oh! Open the door and let him in, Says this very nice young lady, And where am I to sleep to night Says Abraham Brown the Sailor You may sleep on my soft pincushion Says this very nice young lady And I've a pin, I'll run it in, Says Abraham Brown the Sailor I feel it rise between my –– Says this very nice young lady, It's in your –– up to the rim, Says Abraham Brown the Sailor Ah! now it's in let it remain, Says this very nice young lady, I'll be d––d if I do, I shall want it again Says Abraham Brown the Sailor When shall I have your pin again Says this very nice young lady When I can make it stand again Says Abraham Brown the Sailor NHJ From a copy in the Bodleian Ballad library Compare with Barnacle Bill! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abraham Brown The Sailor From: Charley Noble Date: 19 Jul 01 - 01:16 PM Nice to see the original after all the fleeting references from wimpy editors. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abraham Brown The Sailor From: pavane Date: 19 Jul 01 - 03:10 PM I suppose I could have inserted the missing words, but I just transcribed it exactly as printed. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abraham Brown The Sailor From: Charley Noble Date: 19 Jul 01 - 05:21 PM Bleep, bleep! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abraham Brown The Sailor From: Snuffy Date: 19 Jul 01 - 05:44 PM Is it the same tune that we use for the morris dance Abraham Brown - a relative of Merrily Kiss the Quaker's Wife?
X: 1 Wassail! V
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abraham Brown The Sailor From: pavane Date: 20 Jul 01 - 03:57 AM Unlikely, but I haven't managed to track down the specified tune 'My heart and lute' |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abraham Brown The Sailor From: Malcolm Douglas Date: 20 Jul 01 - 04:26 PM My Heart and Lute probably refers to the song by Thomas Moore; sheet music can be seen at The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music:
I don't know if the tune was Moore's own, or one of the traditional pieces he set poems to. You might also like to look at Carl Fischer's Complete Fife Tutor:
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abraham Brown The Sailor From: pavane Date: 20 Jul 01 - 06:39 PM Thanks Malcolm. But neither tune seems to be a fit to the words, as far as I can tell! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abraham Brown The Sailor From: Malcolm Douglas Date: 20 Jul 01 - 08:13 PM Oh, you have to force those recalcitrant words to fit; the broadside makers expected their customers to do the work for themselves. No guarantee that I'm right; I've not had time to look at the music. It's just a best guess in the circumstances. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abraham Brown The Sailor From: pavane Date: 21 Jul 01 - 05:41 PM If Abraham Brown turned into Barnacle Bill, as seems likely, then there may be two tunes, one for the question, 'Who's that knocking at the door' and one for the answer 'Only me from over the sea, It's Barnacle Bill the Sailor', which in current use are quite different. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abraham Brown The Sailor From: Charley Noble Date: 22 Jul 01 - 12:31 PM Where's Kendall when he's needed? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abraham Brown The Sailor From: GUEST,Q Date: 14 Apr 03 - 05:38 PM Lyr. Add: ABRAM BROWN THE SAILOR "Who's that knocking at my door?" Said the fair young maiden. "Who's that knocking at my door?" Said the fair young maiden. "It's me and I want to get in," Said Abram Brown the sailor. (Repeat) "Open the door and walk in," Said the fair young maiden. (Repeat) "There's only room in the bed for one," Said Abram Brown the sailor. (Repeat) "You can sleep between my thighs," Said the fair young maiden. (Repeat) "What is that hairy thing I see?" Said Abram Brown the sailor. (Repeat) "That is my pin cushon," Said the fair young maiden. (Repeat) "I have a pin and it must go in," Said Abram Brown the sailor. (Repeat) "What if we should have a child?" Said the fair young maiden. (Repeat) "I'd kill the dirty son of a bitch," Said Abram Brown the sailor. (Repeat) Undated Text 1109 from the Robert W. Gordon collection, University of Oregon. In Ed Cray, 1992, "The Erotic Muse," pp. 83-84, Univ. Illinois Press. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abraham Brown The Sailor From: Charley Noble Date: 14 Apr 03 - 06:32 PM Romantic fellow, old Abram! Charley Noble |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abraham Brown The Sailor From: EBarnacle1 Date: 15 Apr 03 - 01:51 AM He's got a lot of cousins, including "Bollicky Bill, the Sailor." "What do you do with a Drunken Sailor" has a rather long version on pp. 15--20. I don't have time for that much material tonight. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abraham Brown The Sailor From: EBarnacle1 Date: 16 Apr 03 - 01:07 AM Okay, here it is: "Who's that knocking at my door?" [3x] Cried the fair your maiden. "It's only me from over the sea," Says Barnacle Bill the Sailor. "I'm hard to windward and hard to lee," Says Barnacle Bill the Sailor. "I've just arrived upon the shore, And this is what I'm looking for: A jade, a maid or even a whore," Says Barnacle Bill the Sailor. "Are you young and handsome, sir?" [3x] Cried the fair young maiden. "I'm old and rough and dirty and tough," Says Barnacle Bill the Sailor. "I never can get drunk enough," Says Barnacle Bill the Sailor. "I drinks my whiskey when I can Drinks it from and old tin can, For whiskey is the life of man," Says Barnacle Bill the Sailor. "I'll come down and let you in," [3x] Cried the fair young maiden. "Open the door and lie on the floor," Said Barnacle Bill the Sailor. "'Cause whatta ya think I came here for," Said Barnacle Bill the Sailor. "I'll spin you yarns and tell you lies, I'll drink your grog and eat your pies, I'll tear your dress and black your eyes," Said Barnacle Bill the Sailor. "Oh, your whiskers scrape my cheeks," [3x] Cried the fair young maiden. "I'm dirty and lousy and full of fleas," Said Barnacle Bill the Sailor. "I stick my mast in who I please," Said Barnacle Bill the Sailor. "My flowing Whiskers give me class, The Seahorses eat them instead of grass, If they scrape your cheeks, they'll tick your ass," Said Barnacle Bill the Sailor. "Tell me that we'll soon be wed!" [3x] Cried the fair young maiden. "You foolish girl, it's nothing but sport," Said Barnacle Bill the Sailor. "And handsome girls is what I court." Said Barnacle Bill the Sailor. "With my false heart and flattering tongue, I fucks 'em all both old and young, I fucks 'em all but marries none," Said Barnacle Bill the Sailor. "When will I see you again?" [3x] Cried the fair young maiden. "Never no more, you fucking whore," Said Barnacle Bill the Sailor. "For I'm a-sailing from the shore," Said Barnacle Bill the Sailor. "I'm sailing away on another tack, To give another fair maid a crack, But keep it oiled 'til I get back," Said Barnacle Bill the Sailor. Morgan also cites a simpler version: "What's that running down my leg?" [3x] Cried the fair young maiden. "It's only a shot that missed your twat," Said Barnacle Bill the Sailor. "It's only a shot that missed your twat," Said Barnacle Bill the Sailor. The book is "What do you do with a drunken Sailor?" by Douglas Morgan, available from: www.swordsmith.com |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abraham Brown The Sailor From: Charley Noble Date: 16 Apr 03 - 08:33 AM Well, Eric, that one will clear the decks at the next Rise Up Singing song circle. In verse 4, I seem to remember some old salt singing: "If they scrape your cheeks, they'll TICKLE your ass," Is that a typo, or was I at the wrong song party? Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abraham Brown The Sailor From: GUEST,lighter Date: 16 Apr 03 - 02:01 PM The version offered by navy vet Douglas Morgan mostly combines Luther & Robison's rollicking popular song of 1930 ("Barnacle Bill the Sailor" (2) in DT) with a bawdy parody (inspired by still cruder predecessors) likely written by Oscar Brand and recorded on his 1960 Elektra album, "Every Inch a Sailor." Before Luther & Robison, the song/shanty was called "Abraham/Abram/Abel Brown the Sailor" or "Ballocky Bill the Sailor." |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Abraham Brown The Sailor From: Lighter Date: 28 Apr 10 - 01:57 PM My guess is that the prescription of the sentimental parlor-piece "My Heart and Lute" as the tune for "Abraham Brown" was the ballad printer's little joke. I certainly can't make it fit the words. |
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