Dear Robyn,

The song is on a CD. that Donal Lunny and myelf made some years ago in 1987, it is called 'Daybreak and a Candle-End'it is still available from Mary Lou Philbin ossianusa@aol.com Ijust quote the brief note that I wrote to the song at that time.

This is another of the great ballad types, that of 'the female sailor,' the girl who decides not to be left at home and so disguises herself as'a young sailor bold' to accompany her lover across the sea. One never questions the fact that the cutting off of her hair makes her unrecognisable to the captain. There are many ballads of this type where the lover makes herself known by producing a broken token, usually half of a ring. In this case she is discovered by repeating the phrase or promise that he made earlier in the ballad. 'His own words he knew that she spoke far from the crew.'

The version of this song I first heard from the singing of the late Mary ann Carolan from Drogheda, County Louth.

Slan...........Frank