Origins: Cawsand Bay

Subject: Origins: Cawsand Bay
From: Joe Offer
Date: 09 May 22 - 04:12 PM

In the DT, but needs research.

https://www.bartleby.com/243/168.html

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CAWSAND BAY (DT Lyrics)

In Cawsand Bay lyin', the Blue Peter Flyin'
The hands all turn'd up, oh, the anchor to weigh;
There came off a lady, as fresh as a May-Day
Who, looking up modestly, these words did say:

"Oh aloft there, an' ahand there, I want a young man there
So hoist me aboard or send him to me
For his name's Harry Grady, an' I am a lady
Just come off to save him from goin' to sea.

The captain, his honor, when he looked upon her
Swung down the ship's side to help her aboard,
Saying then, with emotion, "What son-o'-the-ocean
Can thus be a-wanted by Elinor Ford?"

To this she made answer, "That there is me man, sir
I'll make him as rich an' as grand as a lord,"
"Look 'ere," says the captain, "it can't very well 'appen
We've got sailing orders. My man, git aboard!"

"Avast!" says the lady, "Don't mind him Hal Grady
He once was your cap'n but now you're at large,
You shan't sail aboard 'er, in spite that chap's order
an out of her bosom she lugged his discharge."

Then the captain, says he, now, "I'm damned but he's free, now
Hal sings out, "Let Weatherface have all me clothes!"
For the shore then he steered her, the lads they all cheered her
But the captain was jealous and looked down his nose.

Then sh got a shore tailor to rig her young sailor
In tight nankeen britches and a long blue-tailed coat,
He looked like a squire for all to admire
With a dimity handkerchief tied round his throat.

An' now she says, "Harry, the next thing we'll marry."
An' she looked like a dove in his fair manly face;
"That's good, " said Hal Grady, "A parson stand ready
And after a long splice, we'll splice the main brace."

An' they have a house, greater than e'er a first-rater
Wid lackeys in uniform servin' the drinks;
Wid a garden to go in, mid flowers a-flowin'
The lily, the tulip, the lilac and pink.

Then he got eddication, quite fit for his station
Cos ye know we ain't never to old for to larn,
An' his shipmates soon found 'im, mid the young 'uns around him
All chips off the old block from stem to the starn.

From Songs of the Sea, Hugill
note: Hugill dates this as early 18th century, based on Hal's wardrobe and
the use of the obsolete term "first-rater" Cawsand Bay was a popular
rendezvous for the British Navy. Tune is a sea-going Molly Malone. RG
@sailor @marriage
filename[ CAWSAND
TUNE FILE: CAWSAND
CLICK TO PLAY
RG
apr96

Popup Midi Player

Subject: RE: Origins: Cawsand Bay
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 09 May 22 - 04:34 PM

Yes, it's in my edition of Whall, but pretty obviously an art song and unlikely to be any earlier than the late 19th century. Baring Gould and Fleetwood Sheppard gave it in 1894 in 'A Garland of Country Song' at p.49. Baring Gould states 'We give this sailor song with some hesitation. In the first place because the melody is without originality and in the second place because we do not believe that it is a folk song proceeding from the sailors themselves. Whatever was its origin, and poor as the air may be, it has, however, been accepted by the sailors, and few -- certainly no Devonshire sailors will be found who do not know and enjoy it.'

They first had the tune from a bandmaster of the Royal Marines and then a Lieutenant gave him the words. I have not seen it on any broadsides. Terry included it in his 'Salt Sea Ballads' 1931. He states: 'L. A. Smith (of Newcastle) prints the words as they were sung in Northumberland. Other versions of them appear in Firth and elsewhere. I learnt the tune from Mr. James Runciman; it was printed in Sharp's A Book of British Song, in 1902.'

I must add that Terry's text is pretty much the same as that in Garland.

Subject: RE: Origins: Cawsand Bay
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 09 May 22 - 04:34 PM

If it's any help, It gets a mention in the book "Plymouth and Devonport in Times of War and Peace" by Henry Francis Whitfield(Published 1900)
This does seem to be a shorter version of the song.

Full text transcription Here (scroll to p221)

Press-gangs at Work in Plymouth :    1803. 221

gin shops and vessels by the quays were invaded, every prime seaman was claimed and
lusty landlubbers as well. Each impressor carried " stretchers " — pieces of wood that
were ordinarily fixed at the bottoms of boats — " things just as well in their proper place as
flourishing about a man's head, especially if he hadn't his hat on." Grim were the
scruples of the officers : " Take care you don't use any violence, my lads, but, if the
fellows won't stop their nonsense, knock them down." As the inns were rushed, the lights
were as suddenly " doused." Fierce struggles followed, the use of stretchers was met by
hurling pewter pots, and the raising of bumps found its retaliation in the cracking of
skulls. As the mauled and maimed were thrown through the windows into the streets,
shrieking women and children clung to the legs of the officer in charge. His reply to
their appeals admitted of little controversy: "Who the devil's to man the ships?"
Imprecations and resistance were rewarded with savage punishments. The bodies of the
refractory were bared as soon as they were hauled to the deck, and, after the men had been
tied to the gratings, they were lashed until the doctrine of submission had been sufficiently
enforced. Then, excoriated and bleeding, they were flung below, to keep company with
half-suffocated wretches writhing as the result of similar flagellations. Plymouth was thus
condemned to a state of siege, and the agitation was intense as the impressment continued.
As it was clear this was no spasmodic effort, attempts were made to penetrate to the
country districts ; but these tactics were frustrated by soldiers who patrolled through
Plympton, Modbury and Yealmpton on the one side, and away to Saltash, St. Germans
and Liskeard on the other. Thence the detachments overspread the western counties ;
and hundreds of useful recruits limped footsore through the streets and passed within the
gates of the yard with many a wistful look. Coasting seamen, with no anxiety for honour-
able mention, stowed themselves in haunts of ill repute, when their Delilahs betrayed them
for the sake of the rewards. After desperate struggles, they were bundled out, bruised
and bloodstained, and hurried to the vessels that required their services. There was no
security for any business, and working men enlisted in the volunteer regiments as the only
means of protection. The order of release seldom came in any form, much less in the
romantic guise of the old ballad :

In Cawsand Bay lying, with the blue Peter flying,
And all hands on deck for the anchor to weigh,
There came a young lady, as fresh as a daisy,
And, modestly hailing, this damsel did say :

" Ship ahoy ! bear a hand there ! I want a young man there,
So heave us a rope man or send him to me ;
His name's Henry Grady, and I am a lady
Just come to prevent him from going to sea ! "

Now the Captain, His Honour, when he looked upon her,

He ran down the ship's side to help her aboard,

Said he with emotion, " What son of the ocean

Can thus be looked after by Helena Ford ? "

Then the lady made answer, " That there is my man, sir,

And I'll make him as free and as fine as a lord."

" Now that," says the cap'en, " can't very well happen

I've got sailing orders, you, sir, stay on board."

Then up spoke the lady, " Don't mind him, Hal Grady,
He once was your cap'en but now you're at large,
You shan't stop on board her for all that chap's order,"
And out of her bosom she hauled his discharge !

Subject: RE: Origins: Cawsand Bay
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 09 May 22 - 04:37 PM

I haven't got a copy of Firth, but his Naval Ballads might have more info.

Subject: RE: Origins: Cawsand Bay
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 09 May 22 - 04:46 PM

Cawsand Bay.Firth

Hopefully this will take you to Firth's account of the song.

Subject: RE: Origins: Cawsand Bay
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 09 May 22 - 04:50 PM

An earlier discussion on Mudcat pushes the date back to 1887 or earlier with a partial quote Here Although then the 'Lady's name was Elinor Ford

Subject: RE: Origins: Cawsand Bay
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 09 May 22 - 04:55 PM

Also in a book published 1840 Here Where it gives the tune as 'Banks of the Dee'

Subject: RE: Origins: Cawsand Bay
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 10 May 22 - 03:38 PM

Nice one, Nigel.

Subject: RE: Origins: Cawsand Bay
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Sep 23 - 04:41 AM

According to Wikipedia

> A once-popular ballad entitled "Harry Grady and Miss Elinor Ford, the Rich Heiress" appeared as early as 1840 in Hamilton Moore's Nautical Sketches (William Edward Painter, 1840).

Subject: RE: Origins: Cawsand Bay
From: Anglo
Date: 19 Sep 23 - 12:14 PM

Dave Burland sang a (lovely, IMHO) version of the song on his eponymous 1972 album, noting that he found the song "idly leafing through a tome at Cecil Sharp House." I suspect that it was Whall - as Steve G noted above, it's there, in the 4th edition though not in my copy of the 3rd. The tune in Whall is the "Molly Malone" variant given at the top here. Dave used a different tune - it's not The Banks of the Dee, either. Did he write it?

Subject: RE: Origins: Cawsand Bay
From: Lighter
Date: 19 Sep 23 - 01:38 PM

A writer in "Chambers's Journal" (March 30, 1878) mentions it as a favorite in the Royal Navy that he heard when "ashore in the straits of Malacca."

He also heard "The Loss of the Ramilies."

By the 1880s "Cawsand Bay" must have been considered a very typical English sea song. On April 1, 1884, the Tiverton Gazette reported the performance, by "the full band of Her Majesty's Flag-Ship 'Royal Adelaide,' a composition by E. Binding called 'Our Life on the Ocean,"
which consisted of a number of nautical selections:

A Life on the Ocean Wave
The Lass the Loves a Sailor
In Cawsand Bay Lying
The anchor's Weighed
Poor Jack
Come, Come My Jolly Lads
Bay of Biscay
Hearts of Oak
Tom Bowling
Death of Nelson
The saucy "Arethusa"
Sailor's Hornpipe
Farewell and Adieu, Ye Fair Spanish Ladies
Home, Sweet Home
Rule, Britannia

Binding's piece had some popularity. It was even performed by the U.S. Third Infantry Regiment Band at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, in 1897 (says the Saint Paul Globe, Jan. 24, 1897).

Subject: RE: Origins: Cawsand Bay
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Sep 23 - 04:41 AM

According to Wikipedia

> A once-popular ballad entitled "Harry Grady and Miss Elinor Ford, the Rich Heiress" appeared as early as 1840 in Hamilton Moore's Nautical Sketches (William Edward Painter, 1840).

Subject: RE: Origins: Cawsand Bay
From: Anglo
Date: 19 Sep 23 - 12:14 PM

Dave Burland sang a (lovely, IMHO) version of the song on his eponymous 1972 album, noting that he found the song "idly leafing through a tome at Cecil Sharp House." I suspect that it was Whall - as Steve G noted above, it's there, in the 4th edition though not in my copy of the 3rd. The tune in Whall is the "Molly Malone" variant given at the top here. Dave used a different tune - it's not The Banks of the Dee, either. Did he write it?

Subject: RE: Origins: Cawsand Bay
From: Lighter
Date: 19 Sep 23 - 01:38 PM

A writer in "Chambers's Journal" (March 30, 1878) mentions it as a favorite in the Royal Navy that he heard when "ashore in the straits of Malacca."

He also heard "The Loss of the Ramilies."

By the 1880s "Cawsand Bay" must have been considered a very typical English sea song. On April 1, 1884, the Tiverton Gazette reported the performance, by "the full band of Her Majesty's Flag-Ship 'Royal Adelaide,' a composition by E. Binding called 'Our Life on the Ocean,"
which consisted of a number of nautical selections:

A Life on the Ocean Wave
The Lass the Loves a Sailor
In Cawsand Bay Lying
The anchor's Weighed
Poor Jack
Come, Come My Jolly Lads
Bay of Biscay
Hearts of Oak
Tom Bowling
Death of Nelson
The saucy "Arethusa"
Sailor's Hornpipe
Farewell and Adieu, Ye Fair Spanish Ladies
Home, Sweet Home
Rule, Britannia

Binding's piece had some popularity. It was even performed by the U.S. Third Infantry Regiment Band at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, in 1897 (says the Saint Paul Globe, Jan. 24, 1897).