I see we have information on this series of songs scattered all over a number of threads, so maybe we should put it all together in a DTStudy.
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The Traditional Ballad Index says that "The Captain Calls All Hands" and "Bold Privateer" are the same song, and I think I'd agree. Discussion in other threads also links the Steeleye Span song "Fighting for Strangers" to this series, although the Steeleye Span song could not be called "traditional.
I hope we can use this thread to collect definitive versions of this song, and to correct source attribution and texts in the Digital Tradition.
Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry:Bold Privateer, The [Laws O32]
DESCRIPTION: (Johnny) tells (Polly) that he must go to sea. She begs him to stay safe at home. (He points out that her friends dislike him and her brothers threaten him. He offers to exchange rings with her), and promises to return and marry her if his life is spared
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1832 (Journal from the Bengel)
KEYWORDS: sea farewell
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE) Britain(England(North)) Ireland
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws O32, "The Bold Privateer"
Randolph 233, "The Union Volunteer" (1 text, 1 tune, with a "Union Volunteer" substituted for the "Bold Privateer" but no other substantial changes)
Eddy 79, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text)
SHenry H514, pp. 297-298, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 99-1000, "The Captain Calls All Hands" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 486, BOLDPRIV BLDPRIV2*
Roud #1000
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Pleasant and Delightful" (meter)
cf. "Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy" (lyrics)
Notes: Some versions of this are so mixed with "Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy" that they might almost be one song. But there are sufficient distinct versions that I think they must be considered separate songs.
The Sam Henry text contains an interesting reference, "The French they are treacherous, right very well you know, Did they not kill their own poor king not so very long ago?" Presumably this refers to the execution of Louis XVI in 1793, though there are other possibilities, including Louis's son Louis XVII, who died in 1795, some say by poison. - RBW
File: LO32Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index InstructionsThe Ballad Index Copyright 2004 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.
Our Captain Calls All Hands (Fighting for Strangers)
DESCRIPTION: "Our Captain called all hands and away tomorrow, Leaving those girls behind." She says "What makes you go abroad fighting for strangers?" Stay here "free from all danger." He leaves. In grief "she fell like one a-dying."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1794 (Journal of the Polly)
KEYWORDS: grief love request rejection war parting death family lover separation
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond,South)) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Butterworth/Dawney, p. 34, "Our Captain Calls" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 416-417, "All Hands Away Tomorrow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Reeves-Sharp 71, "Our Captain Cried All Hands" (2 texts)
Wiltshire-WSRO Wt 440, "Disconsolate Lover" (1 text)
VaughanWilliams/Palmer #25, "Fountains Flowing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Purslow-Constant, "Our Captain Cried 'All Hands'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 99-100, "The Captain Calls All Hands" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Gam, pp. 162-163, "A Song Concerning Love (The Captain Calls All Hands)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #602
RECORDINGS:
Mrs Freeman Bennett, "All Hands Away Tomorrow" (on PeacockCDROM) [one verse only]
Pop Maynard, "Our Captain Calls All Hands" (on Voice01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(636), "The Distressed Maid" ("Our captain calls all hands away to morrow"), J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also 2806 c.18(93)[a few illegible lines], Firth c.12(210), Harding B 25(525), "The Distressed Maid"; Firth c.12(208)[illegible lines], "The Distress'd Maid"
NOTES [122 words]: This is not "The Bold Privateer." [I agree, and so does Roud, though Huntington implies that they are the same. - RBW]
Vaughan Williams used the tune to set the words of John Bunyan's hymn starting "He who would valiant be 'gainst all disaster" (see Southern Life(UK) Sussex villages site for Monk's Gate)
Reeves-Sharp: "... Lucy Broadwood gave as its original a broadside entitled 'The Welcome Sailor.'" The only broadsides of that title I have found so far belong with "A Seaman and His Love (The Welcome Sailor)" [Laws N29]. - BS
The title "Fighting for Stranger" is not, to my knowledge, found in tradition, but since that is the title Steeleye Span used, in what is probably the best-known recording, I've listed it here. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.2
File: Pea416
Bold Privateer, The [Laws O32]
DESCRIPTION: (Johnny) tells (Polly) that he must go to sea. She begs him to stay safe at home. (He points out that her friends dislike him and her brothers threaten him. He offers to exchange rings with her), and promises to return and marry her if his life is spared
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1845 (Broadside Bodleian Harding B25(241))
KEYWORDS: sea farewell
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE) Britain(England(North,South)) Ireland Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Laws O32, "The Bold Privateer"
Randolph 233, "The Union Volunteer" (1 text, 1 tune, with a "Union Volunteer" substituted for the "Bold Privateer" but no other substantial changes)
Eddy 79, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text)
SharpAp 138, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownSchinhanIV 322, "The Bold Privateer" (1 excerpt, 1 tune)
Huntington-Vineyard, pp. 34-35, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wiltshire-WSRO Wt 502, "Bold Privateer" (1 text)
Kidson-Tunes, p. 101, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H514, pp. 297-298, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Gam, pp. 123-124, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text, 1 tune)
WolfAmericanSongSheets, #171, p. 13, "The Bold Privateer" (4 references)
DT 486, BOLDPRIV BLDPRIV2*
ST LO32 (Full)
Roud #1000
RECORDINGS:
Tom Brandon, "The Bold Privateer" (on Ontario1)
Robert Cinnamond, "The Wild Privateer" (on IRRCinnamond03)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(241), "The Bold Privateer," J. Pitts (London) , before 1845; also Harding B 18(50), "The Bold Privateer," Thomas M. Scroggy (Philadelphia), n.d.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Pleasant and Delightful" (meter)
cf. "Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy" (lyrics)
NOTES [128 words]: Some versions of this are so mixed with "Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy" that they might almost be one song. But there are sufficient distinct versions that I think they must be considered separate songs.
The Sam Henry text contains an interesting reference, "The French they are treacherous, right very well you know, Did they not kill their own poor king not so very long ago?" Presumably this refers to the execution of Louis XVI in 1793, though there are other possibilities, including Louis's son Louis XVII, who died in 1795, some say by poison.
Huntington placed his version of "Our Captain Calls All Hands (Fighting for Strangers)" here, and early editions of the Index did the same, but while there is some similarity in theme, they are certainly separate songs. - RBW
Last updated in version 5.2
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