The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #33324 Message #2065690
Posted By: Charley Noble
01-Jun-07 - 09:42 AM
Thread Name: Origins: Rolling Down to Old Maui
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rollin' Down To Old Maui
Harlow notes that the version of this song printed in CHANTEYING ABOARD AMERICAN SHIPS, p. 243, was given to him by Captain R. W. Nye of the bark Guy C. Goss, who had seen service in the early days of whaling. I don't seem to find theis version of the song above so I'll post it here, pp. 228-230:
ROLLING DOWN TO OLD MAUI (pronounced "Mo-hee")
'Tis now we're bound from the Arctic grounds
A-bounding o'er the main;
And soon the hills of the tropic isles our eyes shall greet again;
Seven long moons have waxed and waned since last from port sailed we,
But now we're bound from the Arctic ground,
Rolling down to old Maui.
Chorus:
Rolling down to old Maui,
Rolling down to old Maui,
With our baggy sails spread before the Arctic gales,
Rolling down to old Maui.
These northern gales they do blow strong,
O'er East Cape well away,
That swept through the mist by the moonbeams kissed
O'er the broad St. Lawrence Bay;
The hoary piles of shoals and isles
That deck the Arctic Sea,
'Tis many and many we've left astern,
Rolling down to old Maui. (CHO)
We'll heave our lead where old Diamond Head
Looms up on old Oahu,
With our sails and rigging all covered with ice
And white our decks below;
With a freshening gale on our port beam,
And breakers on our lee,
As the bristling wind comes whistling past
Sent tidings to old Maui. (CHO)
'Tis a fearful life of strife and care,
We whalemen undergo,
But what care we when the storm is o'er
How hard the blast did blow?
We're homeward bound, 'tis a joyful sound,
With a full ship, tight and free;
We'll not care for that, as we laugh and chat
With the girls of old Maui. (CHO)
I'm quite impressed with the variety of pre-1900 verses we've come up with in this thread. Clearly there were many hands involved in shaping this song from a yet to be discovered original song or poem.
Cheerily,
Charley Noble