The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #74230   Message #1293209
Posted By: Reiver 2
09-Oct-04 - 01:36 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: The Man from Tralee (Martyn Travis)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE MAN FROM TRALEE (Martyn Travis)
On the "Farewell to the Rhondda" thread, I mentioned a new CD by a new group in Phoenix, AZ, called "Oceans Apart". The CD is called "The Maiden Voyage of Oceans Apart." (Lots of sea songs, as you might guess.)The group is Steve Colby and John Good, both excellent musicians, multi-instrumentalists, great voices and harmony. There is a website at www.oceansapartmusic.com, but it seems to be down right now.

Along with "Farewell to the Rhondda" and "The Mary Ellen Carter," both of which are in the DT, my other favorite song from this CD is one called "The Man From Tralee" which I don't find in the DT. The song is credited to Martyn Travis, and I don't find him in the DT either. Here are the words as best as I can make out from listening to the CD.

THE MAN FROM TRALEE
(Martyn Travis)

Come gather 'round shipmates and list' to my song.
I hope you'll bear with me, I won't keep you long.
I'll tell of a man that I used to know
And his only desire was to sail the seas o'er.
But the sea shows no mercy, oh, cruel is the sea
And its well I remember the man from Tralee.

This man that I knew, he had sailed on them all,
From the big deep-sea trawlers to the (grammers) so small.
In all of his years he had sailed all around
From the east to the west, and the north to the south.
From St. George's Channel up to the North Sea,
And it's well I remember the man from Tralee. One night in December, Sea Ranger she sailed
And taking a big (haul) she met with her fate.
A big (haul) was loaded, she could take no more
And the decks they were laden as never before.
And then without warning she took a great sea,
And it's well I remember the man from Tralee. So God watch the souls who were lost to the waves.
And to all of those seamen who tomorrow must save,
For the sea shows no mercy, oh, cruel is the sea,
And it's well I remember the man from Tralee.
The words in (parentheses) are ones I'm not sure about. Is there a type of ship called a grammer or something like that? I could not find anything with that spelling in several dictionaries I checked.

Any information anyone can supply about this song or about Martyn Travis would be appreciated.

Reiver 2