The Traditional Ballad Index has only one songbook entry (Brown) for this song, and three recordings.
-Joe Offer-

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Sailor's Alphabet, The

DESCRIPTION: Capstan/pumping shanty; sailors remember the alphabet and tell of their, "merry" lives: "A is the anchor that hangs o'er the bow/And B is the bowsprit that bends like a bow.... So merry, so merry, so merry are we/No mortals on earth like a sailor at sea"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (recording, Leighton Robinson)
KEYWORDS: sea ship work nonballad wordplay worksong sailor worker
FOUND IN: Britain(England) US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 229, "Alphabet of the Ship" (1 text)
Roud #159
RECORDINGS:
Clifford Jenkins et al, "The Sailor's Alphabet" (on LastDays)
Capt. Leighton Robinson, "The Sailor's Alphabet" (on AFS, 1951; on LC26)
Leighton Robinson w. Alex Barr, Arthur Brodeur & Leighton McKenzie, "Sailor's Alphabet" (on AFS 4230 B, 1939; in AMMEM/Cowell)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Logger's Alphabet" (subject, form) and references there
Notes: We've cross-referenced this enough that it deserves its own entry, although it's identical in form to "The Logger's Alphabet." - PJS
File: RcTSAlp

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The Ballad Index Copyright 2003 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.