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Subject: looking for sea song From: radriano Date: 24 Jun 02 - 12:49 PM I was approached by someone at the San Francisco Free Folk Festival who is looking for a song about "the cook not wanting to go to the bottom of the deep blue sea with his pots and pans" - anyone out there in Mudcat Land know about such a song? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song From: MMario Date: 24 Jun 02 - 12:55 PM The Mermaid... THE MERMAID (Digital Tradition version - click here)
THE MERMAID Twas Friday morn when we set sail And we were not far from the land When the captain, he spied a lovely mermaid With a comb and a glass in her hand O the ocean's waves may roll (let em roll) And the stormy winds may blow (let em blow) While we poor sailors go skipping to the top And the landlubbers lie down below (below, below) And the landlubbers lie down below And up spoke the captain of our gallant ship And a well-spoken man was he I have me a wife in Salem by the sea And tonight she a widow will be And up spoke the cookie of our gallant ship And a red hot cookie was he Saying I care much more for my pots and my pans Than I do for the bottom of the sea Then three times around went our gallant ship And three times around went she Three times around went our gallant ship And she sank to the bottom of the sea ************************************************ Penultimate verse Then up spoke the cabinboy, of our gallant ship And a nasty little lad was he. I'm not quite sure I can spell "mermaid" But I'm going to the bottom of the sea. (learned from my father ca 1931 --RG) ________ @supernatural @sea @sailor Child #289 recorded by Harry Tuft and Michael Cooney filename[ MERMDFRI TUNE FILE: MERMDFRI CLICK TO PLAY SOF |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE OCEAN WAVES^^^ From: GUEST,Foe Date: 24 Jun 02 - 01:40 PM Song I learned as a camp couselor, THE OCEAN WAVES.
Then up spoke the cookie of our gallent ship
Oh the Ocean waves they roll |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song From: GUEST,Foe Date: 24 Jun 02 - 01:42 PM The captain cares more for his maps and charts The mate cares more for his girls in every port |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song From: EBarnacle1 Date: 24 Jun 02 - 01:43 PM A recent addition to the song is: "Then up spoke the figurehead of our gallant ship, And a full-figured figurehead was she, I care much more for the tops of the waves Than I do for the bottom of the sea." enjoy |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song From: MMario Date: 24 Jun 02 - 01:51 PM Molly and the Tinker do an hysterical version with the aerobics instructor, cruise director, etc... |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song From: radriano Date: 24 Jun 02 - 04:14 PM Well, shiver me timbers! None of the versions of the Mermaid I've see had that verse. I sing the more traditional version of the song which is called "The Ship in Distress" in the Oxford Book of Sea Songs and does not use the more popular melody usually associated with the "Mermaid." Regards to all, Richard |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song From: Anglo Date: 24 Jun 02 - 05:38 PM Ahem. First off, "The Ship in Distress" is a completely different song. And what makes one version of a traditional song "more traditional" than another, pray? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song From: radriano Date: 24 Jun 02 - 06:59 PM Anglo, I know there is another song titled "Ship in Distress" but the song with that title in the Oxford Book of Sea Songs is clearly the same song as "The Mermaid." My use of the term "more traditional" is open to debate and is perhaps more of a personal taste issue. The melody supplied for this song in the book is much more sombre and ballad-like than the more upbeat better known version. It has always seemed odd to me that a song about a disaster should have such a cheerful melody. And most people I have heard singing "The Mermaid" slow down that last verse about the ship going three times round before it sinks which leads me to think that either it was popularized that way by some group or that it has been influenced by the Music Hall scene. In either case that kind of dramatization can be said to be less traditional. I don't pretend to be an expert, Anglo, and I certainly didn't intend my comment to come off as a "holier than thou" attitude. I do sing modern songs too but I find myself drawn to more traditional material. Regards, Richard |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song (Mermaid) From: Joe Offer Date: 24 Jun 02 - 07:07 PM The Digital Tradition has a song called Ship in Distress. The same song bears that same title in The Oxford Book of Sea Songs. I see Mermaid and versions 3, 4, and 5 in the Digital Tradition, but no #2. Richard - I added to the title of this thread to make it a bit less generic. Hope you don't mind. -Joe Offer- The Traditional Ballad Index has entries for several songs titled "The Mermaid." Here's the biggest one.
Mermaid, The [Child 289]DESCRIPTION: A group of sailors see a mermaid (meaning that they can expect a shipwreck). Various crew members lament the families they are leaving behind. The ship sinks.AUTHOR: unknown EARLIEST DATE: 1765? KEYWORDS: mermaid/man ship sea wreck FOUND IN: Britain(England(All),Scotland(Aber)) US(All) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland REFERENCES (68 citations): Child 289, "The Mermaid" (6 texts) Bronson 289, "The Mermaid" (42 versions) Bronson-SingingTraditionOfChildsPopularBallads 289, "The Mermaid" (5 versions: #2, #25, #30, #35, #40) Gardham-EarliestVersions, "MERMAID, THE" Greig/Duncan1 27, "The Mermaid" (8 texts, 3 tunes) {A=Bronson's #16, B=#2, C=#6} Ord-BothySongsAndBallads, pp. 333-334, "The Mermaid" (1 text plus a fragment) Sharp-EnglishFolkSongsFromSouthernAppalachians 42, "The Mermaid" (3 texts plus 1 fragment, 4 tunes) {Bronson's #17, #41, #24, #14} Lomax/Lomax-OurSingingCountry, pp. 151-152, "The Mermaid" (1 text, 1 tune) {compare Bronson's #41} Barry/Eckstorm/Smyth-BritishBalladsFromMaine pp. 363-368, "The Mermaid" (3 texts plus a fragment and a version from the Forget-me-not Songster, 1 tune) {Bronson's #25} Flanders-AncientBalladsTraditionallySungInNewEngland4, pp. 271-280, "The Mermaid" (4 texts plus a fragment, 3 tunes) {E=Bronson's #39} Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety, pp. 101-102, "The Mermaid" (1 text) Randolph 39, "The Wrecked Ship" (3 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #42, #40} Abrahams/Riddle-ASingerAndHerSongs, pp. 83-85, "Merrimac at Sea" (1 text, 1 tune, which is mostly this although the first verse probably floated in from somewhere else) Davis-TraditionalBalladsOfVirginia 48, "The Mermaid" (8 texts plus 4 fragments, the last of which may not be this song; 2 tunes entitled "The Stormy Winds," "The Mermaid"; 1 more version mentioned in Appendix A) {Bronson's #22, #12} Davis-MoreTraditionalBalladsOfVirginia 44, pp. 344-349, "The Mermaid" (3 texts, 1 tune) Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 48, "The Mermaid" (2 texts) Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore4 41, "The Mermaid" (1 excerpt, 1 tune) Chappell-FolkSongsOfRoanokeAndTheAlbermarle 23, "The Mermaid" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #9} Morris-FolksongsOfFlorida, #175, "The Mermaid" (1 text) Hudson-FolksongsOfMississippi 26, p. 127, "The Mermaid" (1 short text) Moore/Moore-BalladsAndFolkSongsOfTheSouthwest 57, "The Ship A-Raging" (1 text, 1 tune) Scarborough-ASongCatcherInSouthernMountains, pp. 189-190, "The Mermaid" (1 text) Creighton-MaritimeFolkSongs, p. 26, "The Mermaid" (1 text, 1 tune) Creighton/Senior-TraditionalSongsOfNovaScotia, pp. 106-107, "The Mermaid" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #31} Mackenzie-BalladsAndSeaSongsFromNovaScotia 16, "The Royal George" (1 text) Blondahl-NewfoundlandersSing, p. 90, "Black Friday" (1 text, 1 tune) Smith/Hatt/Fowke-SeaSongsBalladFromNineteenthCenturyNovaScotia, p. 38, "Then Turn Out You Jolly Tars" (1 fragment) Kane-SongsAndSayingsOfAnUlsterChildhood, pp. 129-130, "Up then spake our little cabin boy" (1 fragment) Thomas-BalladMakingInMountainsOfKentucky, pp. 34-35, (no title) (1 fragment) (OakEd, p. 47) Leach-TheBalladBook, pp. 673-674, "The Mermaid" (1 text) Friedman-Viking/PenguinBookOfFolkBallads, p. 404, "The Mermaid" (2 texts, 1 tune) Stout-FolkloreFromIowa 8, pp. 14-15, "The Mermaid" (1 text plus a fragment) Cazden/Haufrecht/Studer-FolkSongsOfTheCatskills 71, "The Mermaid" (1 text, 1 tune) Thompson-BodyBootsAndBritches-NewYorkStateFolktales, pp. 216-217, "(The Murmaid)" (1 text) Thompson-APioneerSongster 9, "The Mermaid" (1 text) Shoemaker-MountainMinstrelsyOfPennsylvania, "(Once around went our gallant ship) (1 fragment, probably this) (p. 157 in the 1919 edition; not found in the third edition) Musick-JAF-TheOldAlbumOf-William-A-Larkin 33, "The Saillers" [sic] (1 text) Niles-BalladBookOfJohnJacobNiles 62, "The Mermaid" (2 texts, 1 tune) VaughanWilliams/Lloyd-PenguinBookOfEnglishFolkSongs, pp. 70-71, "The Mermaid" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #36} Roud/Bishop-NewPenguinBookOfEnglishFolkSongs #13, "The Mermaid" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #4} Williams-FolkSongsOfTheUpperThames, p. 84, "While the Raging Seas Did Roar" (1 text) (also Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Ox 224) Cohen/Seeger/Wood-NewLostCityRamblersSongbook, pp. 98-99, "Waves on the Sea" (1 text, 1 tune) Botkin-TreasuryOfNewEnglandFolklore, pp. 562-563, "The Mermaid" (1 text, 1 tune) Harlow-ChantyingAboardAmericanShips, pp. 147-149, "The Mermaid" (1 text, 1 tune) Hugill-ShantiesFromTheSevenSeas, pp. 560, "The Mermaid" (2 texts, 1 tune) Shay-AmericanSeaSongsAndChanteys, p. 124, (no title) (1 fragment, almost certainly of this song) Kinsey-SongsOfTheSea, pp. 156-157, "The Mermaid" (1 text, 1 tune) Spaeth-ReadEmAndWeep, pp. 71-73, "The Mermaid" (1 text, 1 tune) Pound-AmericanBalladsAndSongs, 11, pp. 26-27, "Three Sailor Boys" (1 text) Cox-FolkSongsSouth 33, "The Mermaid" (1 text) Gainer-FolkSongsFromTheWestVirginiaHills, pp. 98-99, "The Mermaid" (1 text, 1 tune) Ashton-RealSailorSongs, #41, "The Mermaid"; #42, "The Seaman's Distress" (2 texts) Stone-SeaSongsAndBallads XI, pp. 17-18, "The Mermaid" (1 text) Palmer-OxfordBookOfSeaSongs 50, "The Seamen's Distress" (1 text, 1 tune) Chappell-PopularMusicOfTheOldenTime, pp. 742-743, "The Stormy Wind Do Blow" (1 text plus an excerpt, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1} Heart-Songs, pp. 360-361, "The Mermaid" (1 text, 1 tune) Jolly-Miller-Songster-5thEd, #150, "The Mermaid" (1 text) Wolf-AmericanSongSheets, #1422, p. 96, "The Mermaid" (1 reference) Forget-Me-Not-Songster, p. 79, "The Mermaid" (1 text) Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 93, "The Mermaid" (1 text) Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, pp. 38-43, 133, 175, 231, 238, 239, 241, 346, 348, 390, 427, 431, 500, 510, 528, "The Mermaid" (notes plus 3 texts on pp. 38-43 plus some extraneous matter from "Sir Patrick Spens"; bibliography on pp. 636-644; the first two are texts collected in camps, with instructions for gestures; these two versions probably derive ultimately from a 1929 Girl Scouts songbook) GirlScouts-SingTogether, pp. 78-79, "The Mermaid" (1 text, 1 tune) Zander/Klusmann-CampSongsNThings, p. 29, "The Mermaid" (1 text, 1 tune) Zander/Klusmann-CampSongsPopularEdition, p. 31, "The Mermaid" (1 text) Olson-BroadsideBalladIndex, ZN2143, "On a Friday morning we set sail" DT 289, MERMDFRI* MERMAID3* WAVESSEA* MERMAID5* ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #413, "One Friday Morn" (1 text) Henry Randall Waite, _Carmina Collegensia: A Complete Collection of the Songs of the American Colleges_ first edition 1868, expanded edition, Oliver Ditson, 1876, part III, p. 47, "The Mermaid" (1 text, 1 tune) ST C289 (Full) Roud #124 RECORDINGS: Omar Blondahl, "Black Friday" (on NFOBlondahl06) Emma Dusenberry, "The Mermaid" (AFS, 1936; on LC58) {Bronson's #40} William Howell, "The Mermaid" (on FSBBAL2) Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "The Mermaid Song" (on BLLunsford01) {cf. Bronson's #32} New Lost City Ramblers, "Raging Sea" (on NLCR02) Ernest Stoneman & His Blue Ridge Corn Shuckers, "The Raging Sea, How It Roars" (Victor Vi 21648, 1928) {Bronson's #20} BROADSIDES: Bodleian, 2806 c.17(273), "The Mermaid" ("One Friday morning we set sail"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 11(3641), Harding B 11(3642), 2806 c.17(272), Harding B 11(2228), Harding B 11(2519), Firth c.12(413), 2806 c.17(271), 2806 c.17(275), Harding B 11(2404), Harding B 11(2603), Harding B 11(2403), "The Mermaid"; 2806 c.13(248), Firth c.12(414), Harding B 11(3146), "The Mermaid" or "The Gallant Ship" LOCSinging, sb20297a, "The Mermaid," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878 CROSS-REFERENCES: cf. "Three Times Round" (verse form and some lines) ALTERNATE TITLES: The Sinking Ship Oh, the Lamp Burns Dimly Down Below The Stormy Winds Do Blow The Gallant Ship NOTES [1256 words]: Legend has it that a ship that sees a mermaid will be destroyed. (Some versions say that all aboard are to be drowned as well, but they could hardly drown at the time; else how would anyone know what destroyed the ship?) Ord-BothySongsAndBallads also notes that it was considered unlucky for ships to sail on a Friday -- and most versions do seem to involve sailing on that day. One of the verses of this, "three times around went our gallant ship," seems to have circulated independently as a nursery rhyme; see, e.g., Baring-Gould-AnnotatedMotherGoose #862, p. 322. It is often stated that mermaids were sailors' mistaken impression of manatees or dugongs (so, e.g., Benet, p. 715; Jones-Larousse, p. 300; Pickering, p. 193). But Cordingly, pp. 165-166, makes the noteworthy points that, first, manatees and dugongs aren't very attractive. Second, and even more decisive, dugongs live in the Indian Ocean and in the coastal areas of Indonesia and Australia -- areas European sailors would not have seen. Similarly, manatees are found in Florida, the West Indies, Brazil, and the Congo. Neither mammal is found anywhere near European waters. In a side note, Dawkins, p. 216, notes that the Afrotheres, which includes the order of Sirenia (dugongs and manatees) are the most remote of all placental mammals from modern humans, having split off from the human lineage more than 100 million years ago. Thus the dugongs and manatees are, logically, the mammals least likely to attract human male interest. Dawkins himself comments on p. 222 that the sailors "who first spotted the likeness must have been at sea for a very long time." He adds two rather interesting points. First, "Sirenians are, with whales, the only mammals that never come on land at any time." In other words, you will not see a manatee or dugong "sitting on a rock," as in this song. Second, "Their vegetarian died requires an immensely long gut and a low energy budget. The high-speed aquabatics of a carnivorous dolphin contrast dramatically with the lazy drifting of a vegetarian dugong: guided missile to dirigible balloon." Thus the Sirenians neither look nor act anything like mermaids. If there is any physical reason for the Sirenians being identified with mermaids, it may be because of the way they nurse their young. Binney, p. 206, makes the interesting point that "While sucking their single young the [female Sirenians] cradle the babies to their breasts with one flipper in the manner of human mothers." Simpson/Roud, p. 234, make the interesting observation that mermaids seem to have been originally tailless -- an elaboration of the siren legend. (Hence the name Sirenia for the order containing the dugongs and manatees.) Which makes sense -- how could a warm-blooded mammal like a mermaid (and it is obvious that they are mammalian!) have a cold-blooded, scaled fish tail? A dolphin's tail, maybe, but a fish's tail? To be sure, one of the earliest documented sightings, by two of Henry Hudson's crew in his Northeast Passage exploration of 1608, described a creature with a porpoise's tail -- although with the coloration of a mackerel. The skin of the creature's upper body was very white, the hair very dark. Hudson noted the sighting, but did not see the alleged creature himself (Mancall, p. 58). Cordingly, p. 168, claims an upsurge in alleged mermaid sightings "during the age of exploration," and cites mentions from seemingly hard-headed observers as Hudson's crew. Possibly the dugongs and manatees helped along the transition from siren to creature half-human half-fish -- but even this would be hard to prove. Maybe the sailors were seeing Sirenians -- or maybe their long absence from home made them particularly lusty, and the scurvy they probably experienced made them particularly imaginative. Cordingly also notes, p. 169, some instances of people allegedly keeping mermaids. It would be nice if someone had kept a skeleton.... In any case, we see our first half-human half-fish creature in mythology before Europeans reached the seas where the sirenians are found: The demon Melusine/Melusina, who, when first seen, was a beautiful woman Sunday through Friday, but who hid on Saturdays because her half-fish form was revealed (Cordingly, pp. 166-167; Jones-Larousse, p. 298,) Also, CHEL1, p. 354, notes a fourteenth century book which declares that "flatterers are like to nickers (sea-fairies), which have the bodies of women and the tails of fish" and sing sailors to sleep. - RBW Creighton-MaritimeFolkSongs moves the locale to New York City: "board bill on Fifth Avenue," "sweetheart in Madison's Square," and the wreck [took place] as "we neared Jersey flats, Sandy Hook was on our lea." - BS Mackenzie-BalladsAndSeaSongsFromNovaScotia's "The Royal George" ("O the Royal George turned round three times") would seem to have adapted "The Mermaid" to the sinking of the Royal George, "flagship of Admiral Kempenfelt, ... on 29 August 1782 with the loss of eight hundred lives, including Admiral Kempenfelt himself." (source: "The Loss of the Royal George" at The Cowper and Newton Museum web page at the Milton Keynes Heritage Association site). You can see William Cowper's poem on the subject at Charles W. Eliot, editor, English Poetry Vol II From Collins to Fitzgerald (New York, 1910), #314, pp. 533-534, "Loss of the Royal George." - BS I note parenthetically that Keegan, p. 51, spells the name "Kemenfelt." This may be a printing error, however, as the name is used only once, with reference to the revised signal system he invented. Dupuy/Johnson/Bongard gives his dates as 1718-1782, and says of him, "An intelligent and learned officer, Kempenfelt was noted as a scientist, scholar, and author, known both for his concern for his men's health and welfare, and for his scholarly approach to naval issues; his success at Ushant showed initiative, daring, and a clear grasp of strategy and tactics." Uden/Cooper, p. 244, describe how his new signal system worked and quote a description of him as "a tall thin man who stooped a great deal." They call Cowper's poem "On the Loss of the Royal George." We, however, indexed it as "The Sinking of the Royal George," because that is the title used in Lane/Gosbee-SongsOfShipsAndSailors. The Royal George itself, according to Paine, p. 439, was ordered in 1749 but not finished until 1759; she was a first rate battleship, said to be the "first warship to exceed 2,000 tons burden." She fought under Hawke at Quiberon Bay (for which see "Bold Hawke"). Put in the reserve in 1763 with the conclusion of the Seven Years' War, she was put back in commission in 1778 as the French and Americans made war on Britain. She was taking on supplies at Spithead "when on August 29 Royal George was being heeled at a slight angle to make some minor repairs below the waterline. At the same times, casks of rum were being loaded aboard and the lower deck gunports were not properly secured. At about 0920 the ship suddenly rolled over on her beam ends, filled with water, and sank, taking with her 800 people, including as many as 300 women and 60 children who were visiting the ship." In a strange semi-folkloric note, J. R. R. Tolkien is said to have translated a traditional song called "The Mermaid" into Old English (ScullHammond, p. 769). The one line quoted ("It was in the broad Atlantic") appears to be from "Married to a Mermaid" instead of Child 289, but I can't imagine where Tolkien would have found that, and we know that Tolkien knew the Child collection well. - RBW Bibliography
File: C289 Go to the Ballad Search form Go to the Ballad Index Instructions The Ballad Index Copyright 2024 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song (Mermaid) From: Anglo Date: 24 Jun 02 - 07:42 PM Well I'm not going to type out all six long verses in support of my contention that the Oxford Book "Ship in Distress" (#69) in the Oxford Book is in fact a "Ship in Distress" and not a "Mermaid" but if you do think it is, then perhaps you could give us a couple of lines from your version that make the point. Joe appears to share my opinion, so we seem to be ganging up on you :-) But for starters there's no mermaid, nobody up speaks, and the ship doesn't sink. I wasn't really trying to be too argumentative about "more traditional" - it just struck me as akin to "more unique" in the sense that it can't really be quantified that way. I would accept that it might be more traditional-sounding. To some ears anyway. And the Oxford "Ship in Distress" is indeed a very nice version of that song. I hope to hear you sing it someday. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song (Mermaid) From: Irish sergeant Date: 24 Jun 02 - 08:03 PM It's a great song and one that is popular withthe group I re-enact with. I expect you have the verses i have as I got it off the digitrad. I don't slow down the last verse Maybe its just a matter of personal taste? Kindest regards, Neil |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song (Mermaid) From: Joe Offer Date: 24 Jun 02 - 08:45 PM Well, I wasn't expressing an opinion either way. I don't quite see the connection between Mermaid and the Ship in Distress that's in the Digital Tradition and in the Oxford Book of Sea songs - but then, I often don't catch onto connections that are very clear to others. What's the other "Ship in Distress" song? -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song (Mermaid) From: Anglo Date: 24 Jun 02 - 09:00 PM Well, there it is indeed, the Oxford Book version, tune and text, on the DT. (For some reason I can't access DT tunes, so I use the mirror site - and I note that the C# in the 3/2 measure, on the "bat-" of "battle," is wrong, it should be natural). Not the one I know, which is the somewhat shorter version from the Penguin Book, the one that Louis Killen sings. Bob Copper has a nice version, too. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song (Mermaid) From: Haruo Date: 25 Jun 02 - 01:44 AM I opened the DT's MIDI file in Noteworthy Composer and don't see a 3/2 measure. But there's a couple of 3/4 measures (most of the song is in 5/4), and the C's in those measures are all naturaled (though the key is D major). So the C# must be a peculiarity of the mirror site. Liland |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song (Mermaid) From: greg stephens Date: 25 Jun 02 - 06:34 AM Excuse my ignorance, but what's the "mirror site"? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song (Mermaid) From: MMario Date: 25 Jun 02 - 08:34 AM greg - there is a "mirror" (a net/web term for an additional site (sometimes totaly independent) that "mirrors" the content of another site - in this case the DT. The site is http://sniff.numachi.com/~rickheit/dtrad/. The site owner has set up scripts so that if there is a tune in the DT the tune displays as sheet music - and can be displayed in a number of other formats as well as played as midi. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song (Mermaid) From: greg stephens Date: 25 Jun 02 - 08:39 AM Mmario, thanks for that info. I'm fascinated, particularly if it has music displayed in conventional notation. Unfortunately when I clicked on it it says "FORBIDDEN you do not havepermission to access" or words to that effect. Any advice? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song (Mermaid) From: PeteBoom Date: 25 Jun 02 - 08:41 AM Ahem... to lower the level of discussion... WE do a verse with a ship's surgeon... "a fine proctologist was he. He said I've been in many tight spots before, but this is the worst I've ever seen..." bunch a sick puppies we are... Pete |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song (Mermaid) From: MMario Date: 25 Jun 02 - 09:01 AM that's because I messed up the link. url=http://sniff.numachi.com/~rickheit/dtrad/ |
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Subject: Looking for sea song (Mermaid) - HAND MOTIONS From: Trapper Date: 25 Jun 02 - 11:51 AM My daughter and I made up hand motions to The Mermaid when she was in Kindergarten. I go back to her old elementary school every year, and The Mermaid (with hand motions) is always a favorite. ...AND THE OCEAN WAVES DO ROLL... Interlock fingers of both hands in front of you and undulate both arms in "wave" fashion ...AND THE STORMY SEAS DO BLOW... Put both hands in front of you, palms up and arms locked as if motioning someone to stop. Move arms forward and back by locking and unlocking elbows. After you say "BLOW", blow gently (DON'T SPIT!) twice. ...AND WE... Gesture to yourself with your right thumb. ...POOR SAILORS... Salute with three fingers to your forehead, as if you were a Boy Scout. ...ARE SKIPPING... Make a little walking man with the first two fingers of your right hand. ...AT THE TOP... Make the "thumbs up" signal with your right hand, and raise your arm from waist to shoulder level. ...AND THE LANDLUBBERS... Cross your arms across your chest and touch the opposite shoulders with your hands, in the "love" sign from American Sign Language. ...LIE DOWN... Put your palms together and put them to the right side of your head, as if you're taking a nap. ...BELOW, BELOW, BELOW... Make the "thumbs down" sign at about chest level, and wave your arm downward with each "Below"... Repeat the last three signs when you re-sing those last three lines at the end. - Al |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE SEAMEN'S DISTRESS From: radriano Date: 25 Jun 02 - 12:01 PM My apologies, Anglo. My source was indeed the "Oxford Book of Sea Songs" but the title of the song in question is "The Seamen's Distress." Another senior moment for radriano (sigh). Here's the text: THE SEAMEN'S DISTRESS The Oxford Book of Sea Songs, Roy Palmer, ed. As we lay musing in our beds So well and so warm at ease I thought upon those lodging beds Poor seamen have at sea Last Easter Day in the morning fair We was not far from land Where we spied a mermaid on a rock With comb and glass in hand The first came up the mate of our ship With lead and line in hand To sound and see how deep we was From any rock or sand The next came up the boatswain of our ship With courage stout and bold Stand fast, stand fast, my brave, lively lads Stand fast, my brave hearts of gold Our gallant ship has gone to wreck Which was so lately trimmed The raging seas have sprung a lead And the salt water does run in Our gold and silver, and all our clothes And all that ever we had We forced was to heave them overboard Thinking our lives to save In all the number that was on board Was five hundred and sixty-four And all that ever came alive on shore There was but poor ninety-five
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Subject: Tune Add: THE SEAMEN'S DISTRESS From: radriano Date: 25 Jun 02 - 12:57 PM Here is the ABC notation for "The Seamen's Distress": X:1 T:THE SEAMEN'S DISTRESS M:4/4 L:1/8 S:Oxford Book of Sea Songs R:Sea Song K:G D2|E3F G2F2|(3(E2D2)E2 B,2zB,|E2E2 FG{A}d2|B4","z2(GA)| (B>A) (GA) B2(EG)| A2(FD) B,2","(GA)|(B>c)(BA) (GE)(FD)|E6|| The commas in the above notation denote phrase breaks, I believe. I can easily produce a MIDI file from the ABC notation - if anyone wants that send me a PM with your e-mail address. Richard |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song (Mermaid) From: MMario Date: 25 Jun 02 - 01:15 PM NWC file and midi (produced from above)sent to JoeO |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song (Mermaid) From: radriano Date: 25 Jun 02 - 02:45 PM Thank you, MMario! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song (Mermaid) From: MMario Date: 25 Jun 02 - 02:53 PM no problem! always happy to send a tune onwards. (besides, I like this one!) |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song (Mermaid) From: GUEST,Just Amy Date: 25 Jun 02 - 07:13 PM Up spoke the cook of our gallant ship and a greasy old butcher was he. I care much more for my pots and my pans than I do for the bottom of the sea. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song (Mermaid) From: Anglo Date: 25 Jun 02 - 07:21 PM Thanks for straightening that out, Radriano. The tune is the same one as in the Penguin Book, where the singer's six verses (as noted in the Folk Song Journal) are expanded into 10, probably by A.L. Lloyd who was known for that sort of thing). And, for the record, the Oxford tune has an error, reiterated in the ABC above, the third full measure should be: |E2 EF G2{A}d2| This Penguin version has become fairly well-known, recorded not too long ago by Finest Kind, for example, in a 3-part harmony arrangement. I wonder that Roy Palmer chose this tune for a different text. For one thing it's well established, for another to my ear it doesn't really fit the metre. It demands a lot of slurred notes, which to my mind tend to be avoided in traditional music. I do find in general that you have to read the small print very carefully to try and work out how he will take a tune from one place, and an often unrelated text from somewhere else, and put them together as if that's how the song has always been. But that's a small cavil. He's done a hell of a lot in the cause of traditional music and I have every respect for the man. I'll leave the pulpit now. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: looking for sea song (Mermaid) From: bet Date: 26 Jun 02 - 07:14 PM Great song! We use it in school and at camp! young and old always get involved with waves rolling. bet |
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