The ballad is rare in New England. A composite version was given by Barry and a version was printed in Heart songs, 1909.

Christine Chaplin (1842-1892) was born in Maine and was active in Boston from 1878. The ballad is presented in her second book, Inside Our Gate. The author used her married name, Christine Chaplin Brush. It was published by Roberts Brothers, Boston, and written about 1884.
Here's an excerpt:

The ballad of "The Sailor Boy" made a deep impression on Douglas. He suggested learning it to repeat in Sunday-school, the only appropriateness consisting evidently in its "telling about a dead sailor." Here it is just as Mary used to sing it: —

THE SAILOR BOY.

"Early, early in the Spring,
My love Willy went to serve the king;
The raging seas and the wind blew high,
Which parted me and my sailor b'y.

"Father, father, make me a boat,
That on the ocean I may float I
And every ship that will pass by,
I will inquire for my sailor b'y."

This lady had not gone far,
Until she met with a man-of-war,
Saying, "Captain, captain, tell me true,
If my love Willy 's on board of you."

"What color of clothes does your Willy wear?
And what's the color of your sailor's hair?"
"His hair was light and his jacket blue;
It's easily known that his heart was true."

"I fear, great lady, your Willy is gone;
I fear, great lady, your sailor is drowned.
From yon green island as we passed by
We lost nine more and your sailor b'y."

She wrung her hands and tore her hair,
Like one distracted in despair,
Saying, "How can I live when my Willy's gone?
How can I live with my sailor drowned?"

She threw her boat against the rocks,
Saying, "Captain, captain, dress in black,
And, all you sailors, come do the same,
From the cabin back to the mainmast high.
Come mourn with me for my sailor b'y;
Come mourn with me for my sailor b'y;
Come mourn with me for my sailor b'y."

The ballad is similar to the Irish broadsides and versions (see Goggins c.1770). It suggests a funeral as an ending.

Richie