Snuffy brought this up on the recent James Madison Carpenter thread.

In 1929, Carpenter recorded a number of shanties in Greenock, Scotland, from an old Scottish sailor named James Salters, who had first shipped in 1872. He must have been above 70 when he sang for Carpenter

As best I can make out, this is what Salters is singing on the Folktrax CD-R of some of the shanties collected by Carpenter. The sound quality is quite poor beacuse of the age and technology of the recording.


                        A LONG TIME AGO

          A long time and a longer time
            Bullies, way, hay, hay, yah!
          A long time and a loner time
            Oh, a long time ago!

          When I was courting Molly Malone
            To me way, hay, hay, yah!
          When I was courting Molly Malone
            Oh, a long time ago!

       [Similarly, with "To me" in chorus:]

          And for a debt I had to leave home....

          She sent me money, she sent me clothes....

          I spent the money, I pawned the clothes....
          I stole the money, I pawned the clothes....

          She wrote and told me to come home....

          I wrote and told her I was gone....

          That I was bound to New Orleans....

                                        BELAY!

A year earlier, Salters sang a version that began, "Oh, I'm a long time on this northern shore." This text is not yet available, however. A list of Salters' songs is at the James Madison Carpenter website.