The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #18362   Message #1017304
Posted By: Malcolm Douglas
11-Sep-03 - 10:46 PM
Thread Name: Penguin: Jack The Jolly Tar
Subject: RE: Penguin: Jack The Jolly Tar
Lloyd put together the "Penguin" text from what he described as "versions in common oral currency among seamen". It is impossible in the circumstances even to attempt to identify those sources. Louie Hooper's verse was as follows:

I'm blowed, said Jack, if I don't venture,
I'll pull the string hanging out of her winder.
Jack came there without a shirt
And on his head a lump of dirt.
Hey diddley dingo,
Hey diddley ding.

Lloyd's set of Do Me Ama appears in the DT as  DUMIAMA DINGIAMA DUMIAMA DAY. Come Ashore, Jolly Tar is not related so far as I know.

I'm not familiar with The Squire And The Farm Servant, but an early form of the song occurs as The merchant's courtship to the brazier's daughter, and our song here appeared quite widely on broadsides as (The) Jolly Jack Tar. A similar story, though without the string, appears as The sailor and nobleman. Examples of these can be seen at the Bodleian Library site.