 sj |
||
|
||
Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her
DigiTrad:
LEAVE HER JOHNNY
LEAVE HER JOHNNY (3)
LEAVE HER, JOHNNY (2)
Related threads:
Lyr Req: Leave Her Johnny: Most Vulgar, Profane (2)
Lyr Req: Makem and Clancy 'Leave Her Johnny' (7)
|
|
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Keith A of Hertford Date: 11 Sep 11 - 04:19 AM This is my favourite shanty. I heard hugill do it and I always use the extra chorus he gave. I will give Samson's verses later today and his comments about the song. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: stallion Date: 11 Sep 11 - 04:07 AM lol Tim, different song same effect, didn't sing on my own again for three years! |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Joe Offer Date: 11 Sep 11 - 01:34 AM Charley Noble must have that one. I left him a personal message. The song is listed in this thread. There's a tune, but the lyrics appear incomplete. -Joe- |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Gibb Sahib Date: 11 Sep 11 - 12:29 AM 1926 Terry, Richard Runciman. _The Shanty Book, Part II._ London: J. Curwen & Sons. Terry gave this item under halliard shanties: "57. Time for us to leave her" However, I am 1000s of miles away from my copy of this book. It would be great if someone were to post the lyrics and a sketch of Terry's notes on where he heard it. Another I don't have is, 1927 Smith, Cicely Fox. _A Book of Shanties._ London: Methuen & Co. "Leave Her Johnnie" Seeking lyrics! |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Gibb Sahib Date: 11 Sep 11 - 12:22 AM 1924 Frothingham, Robert, ed. _Songs of the Sea and Sailors' Chanteys._ Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her Oh, the times are hard and the wages low, Leave her, Johnny, leave her! I'll pack my bag and go below; It's time for us to leave her. It's growl you may but go you must, It matters not whether you're last or first, I'm getting thin and growing sad, Since first I joined this wooden-clad, [There might be more verses. I am stealing a peek on-line, which doesn't give access to all pages.] It looks like the 2nd verse was adapted by Hugill, and found its way into DT. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Gibb Sahib Date: 11 Sep 11 - 12:13 AM Robert W. Gordon's collected field recordings of chanteymen in California, c1922-23, contain at least 3 renditions of this song. Generally speaking, Gordon's informants were believed to have learned their stuff by the 1880s. I don't have access to these materials. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Gibb Sahib Date: 11 Sep 11 - 12:09 AM 1917 Robinson, Captain John. "Songs of the Chanty-Man: IV." The Bellman 23(577) (4 Aug. 1917): 123-128. Robinson's sea experience spanned 1859-1909. His description of chanties is a quite genuine representation of his experience, though he did read some secondary sources about chanties, which I believe had a slight influence on *some* of his presentations -- but I see no reason to believe that was the case, here. His version lacks a grand chorus. The chanty has been attested both with and without one, in the various sources. Basically, if used: for halyards - would not likely have a grand chorus; for pumps - could go either way; for capstan - would likely have it. "'Tis Time for Us to Leave Her" is a chanty that tells its own story. Often have I heard it as a Quebec drogher rolled into the roadstead, almost waterlogged. 'Tis Time for Us to Leave Her! [w/ score] Two pound ten is a sailor's pay, Leave her, Johnny, leave her, To pump at night, and work all day, 'Tis time for us to leave her! … Two pounds ten is a sailor's pay, To pump at night and work all day. The Bosun shouts, the pumps stand by, But we can never suck her dry." I suspect the last verse was borrowed by Hugill (who read this article) and in that way found its way into the DT version. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Gibb Sahib Date: 10 Sep 11 - 08:10 PM Next, 1914 Sharp, Cecil K. 1914. _English Folk-Chanteys._ London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. Ltd. Sharp mentioned that he thought this song had "hymn-tune characteristics." // 2. Leave Her Johnny. O the times are hard and the wages low; Leave her Johnny leave her; O the times are hard and the wages low, It's time for us to leave her. The bread is hard and the beef is salt, O, a leaking ship and a harping crew, Our mate he is a bully man, He gives us all the best he can. I've got no money, I've got no clothes, O, my old mother she wrote to me I will send you money, I will send you clothes. // Sharp filed this first version as a capstan chanty. It is attributed to John Short. Please note, however, that in this work Sharp says he might flesh out the presentations with verses from other informants, The "bread is hard" line may have come from Mr. Rapsey, above. Sharp's second version, in this work, comes from Richard Perkins. // 3. Leave Her Johnny. The times are hard and the wages low, Leave her Johnny leave her, O the times are hard and the wages low, It's time for us to leave her. // |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Gibb Sahib Date: 10 Sep 11 - 08:02 PM The first of the true "field" versions is this. 1914 Sharp, Cecil J., A.G. Gilchrist, and Lucy R. Broadwood. "Sailors' Chanties." Journal of the Folk-Song Society 5(18):31-44. Sung by Mr. Rapsey (age 58) in 1906. Collected by Cecil Sharp. Leave Her, Johnny. [w/ score] The times is hard and the wages low, Leave her, Johnny, leave her; The bread is hard and the beef is salt, But it's time for us to leave her. O the mill to the pump is our relief I thought I hear our captain say. Ten long months on salt beef all O now I hear our captain say. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Gibb Sahib Date: 10 Sep 11 - 07:57 PM 1914 Bullen, Frank. T. and W.F. Arnold._ Songs of Sea Labour._ London: Orpheus Music Publishing. Bullen was a chantyman of the 1870s. He gave just one verse, with score. 9. Leave Her Johnny. Leave her Johnny and we'll work no-o more Leave her Johnny, leave her! Of pump or drown we've had full store; Its time for us to leave her. This work also include the note, oft repeated, that To sing it before the last day or so on board was almost tantamount to mutiny, and was apt even at the latest date to be fiercely resented by Captain and Officers. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Gibb Sahib Date: 10 Sep 11 - 07:08 PM 1913 Whall, W.B. Ships, Sea Songs and Shanties. Third edition, enlarged. Glasgow: James Brown & Sons. Under the heading of, "Across the Western Ocean." Whall may have been the first author to voice the idea that "Leave Her" developed from "Western Ocean." After giving the verses (and tune) he remembers to "Western Ocean," he gives two verses of what he calls the "more modern form." His wording suggests, to me, that it may not have been familiar to his sailing experience, but that in the time since then he has come to know it in these verses more recently, second hand. O, the times are hard and the wages low, Leave her, bullies, leave her; I guess it's time for us to go, It's time for us to leave her. O, don't you hear our old man say, Leave her, bullies, leave her To-morrow you will get your pay, It's time for us to leave her. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Gibb Sahib Date: 10 Sep 11 - 06:52 PM Masefield's experience (or lack of) with the song suggests it may have gone out of common use by the time of his career, ca. 1891-1895. Here is someone with earlier experience. 1909 Williams, James H. "The Sailors' 'Chanties'." The Independent (8 July 1909):76-83. Williams -- debatably -- is the first author in this chronological series to have had confirmed, direct experience with this song (Davis may have, too, but his work is problematic for me). William's period of experience was roughly 1875-1888. Unfortunately, he only mentions the chantey by title: "Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her." *** 1913 "AYE, AYE, BLOW THE MAN DOWN! Chanties of the Sailorman Aboard the Wind-Jammer." Northern Territory Times & Gazette (27 Feb. 1913). This general article looks derivative of secondary sources. Probably not a unique attestation. But there is no chantey that sounds more sweetly in the sailor's ears than: Leave her, Johnny. It is raised when the craft is getting into the home port and plenty of meaning the crew put into their singing when the chantey man strikes up: I thought I heard the skipper say, Chorus: Leave her, Johnny, leave her. You may go. ashore and get your pay". Chorus: It's time for us to leave her. Jack's work lies afloat, his fun ashore, and, like everyone else he is right glad when the time for his enjoyment comes. And he says so emphatically. It may be that, as he sings,' '"The grub was bad and the wages low " therefore, it is no wonder he is pleased when "It's time for us to leave her." All the lyrics include are verbatim matches to earlier published verses. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Gibb Sahib Date: 10 Sep 11 - 06:40 PM John Masefield said that he'd never heard a pumping shanty, so it is unclear where he got these lyrics from. 1906[Jan.] Masefield, John. "Sea-Songs." _Temple Bar_ (Jan. 1906): 56-80. I have never heard a pumping chanty, though I have passed in all from a week to ten days of my life, from 170 to 240 hours, in pumping water out of a leaky wooden ship. I am told that the usual pumping chanty is the halliard chanty of "Leave her, Johnny, leave her," one of the most excellent of all chanties: I thought I heard the skipper say, Leave her, Johnny, leave her. You may go ashore and touch your pay. It's time for us to leave her. We'll go ashore and touch our chink, Leave her, Johnny, leave her. Before we go we'll have a drink. It's time for us to leave her. *** 1906[Oct.] Masefield, John, ed. _A Sailor's Garland._ London: Macmillan. Based on the above, one might be inclined to think that Masefield contrived the following--that is, unless he interviewed someone that he has not credited. // L'ENVOI— LEAVE HER JOHNNY (For Pumping And Halliards) I Thought I heard the captain say, Leave her, Johnny, leave her; You may go ashore and touch your pay, It's time for us to leave her. You may make her fast, and pack your gear, Leave her, Johnny, leave her; And leave her moored to the West Street Pier, It's time for us to leave her. The winds were foul, the work was hard, Leave her, Johnny, leave her; From Liverpool Docks to Brooklyn Yard, It's time for us to leave her. She would neither steer, nor stay, nor wear, Leave her, Johnny, leave her; She shipped it green and she made us swear, It's time for us to leave her. She would neither wear, nor steer, nor stay, Leave her, Johnny, leave her; Her running rigging carried away, It's time for us to leave her. The winds were foul, the trip was long, Leave her, Johnny, leave her; Before we go we'll sing a song, It's time for us to leave her. We'll sing, Oh, may we never be, Leave her, Johnny, leave her; On a hungry ship the like of she, It's time for us to leave her. // The DT verse, "The ship won't steer, or stay, or wear, An' so us shellbacks learnt to swear." could possibly ultimately derive from this, after a revision by Hugill. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Gibb Sahib Date: 10 Sep 11 - 06:30 PM 1906 Hutchison, Percy Adams. "Sailors' Chanties." _The Journal of American Folklore_ 19(72) (Jan.-March 1906): 16-28. Uses the version from Davis & Tozer. *** 1906 Lubbock, Basil. Jack Derringer: A Tale of Deep Water. London: John Murray. Most of the chanties in this work can be easily traced to Davis & Tozer. Jim hummed the famous chanty: "Leave her, Johnny, leave her, It's time for us to leave her." |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Gibb Sahib Date: 10 Sep 11 - 06:24 PM 1903 Stone, Herbert Lawrence. "The Reckoning: A Story of the Sea." Short Stories vol. 52 (Oct-Dec. 1903). Edited by Alfred Ludlow White. New York: The Current Literature Publishing Co. This work of fiction looks to have borrowed Luce's (last post, above) one verse. Seems off because the men are working at the capstan, but the verse is more appropriate to pumping. This Tam-o'-Shanter was anchored in the stream not far from the Vigilant, and as Captain Bradshaw was put aboard his own ship again, he could see her sixteen men gathered on the top-gallant forecastle, their bodies bent over the capstan bars as the cable was hove in. And the refrain of the chanty that arose therefrom and drifted across the narrow stretch of water to the listeners on the Vigilant, ran: —"Leave her, Johnny, leave her. Oh, there's six feet o' water in her lower hold, So leave her, Johnny, leave her." *** 1903 Whitmarsh, H. Phelps. "The Chantey-man." Harper's Monthly Magazine 106(632) (Jan. 1903): 319- There are no chanteys more suggestive of the old-times wooden ships than those used at the pumps. Of these there are quite a number, some suited to the everyday work of clearing the bilges, and some adapted for more serious times. Where heavy weather has caused the vessel to leak more than usual, and the crew are weary from pumping, nothing could be more appropriate, doleful though it be, than "Leave her, Johnny, leave her": Heave around the pump-bowls bright, Leave her, Johnny, leave her. There'll be no sleep for us to-night, It's time for us to leave her. Heave around or we shall drown, Leave her, Johnny, leave her. Don't you feel her settling down? It's time for us to leave her. The rats have gone, and we the crew, Leave her, Johnny, leave her. It's time, by , that we went too, It's time for us to leave her. I believe Hugill harvested lyrics from this for one of his presented versions. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Gibb Sahib Date: 10 Sep 11 - 06:17 PM 1902 Lubbock, A. Basil. _Round the Horn Before the Mast._ London: John Murray. This source, referenced by Hugill, merely copies the verses from Davis & Tozer without credit. *** 1902 Luce, S. B. Naval Songs. Second edition, revised. New York: Wm. A. Pond & Co. A revised edition of an earlier work, adds the song. Marked as a pumping chanty. [w/ score] Oh, the times are hard and the wages low, Leave her, Johnny, leave her, And there's six foot of water in the hold, Oh, it's time for us to leave her. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Gibb Sahib Date: 10 Sep 11 - 06:08 PM 1900[June] Patterson, J.E. "Sailors' Work Songs." _Good Words_ 41(28) (June 1900): 391-397. This is an article on chanties that takes the approach, perhaps for the first time, of presenting a sort of ideal sequence of how the songs might figure into a voyage -- an idea used much by later presenters. The excerpt on "Leave Her Johnny" is as follows. Here, completing our voyage, we will—for variety's sake—suppose her to have been an unpleasant vessel, and warp her into dock while singing: Leave her, Johnny, leave her, (Chorus) Leave her Johnny! [Pull.] Now we'll sing you a farewell song, Leave her, Johnny, leave her! [Pull.] Leave her, Johnny leave her, Leave her, Johnny! Pack your bags and go on shore, For it's time for you to leave her! Leave her, Johnny, leave, her Leave her, Johnny For the grub was bad, and the wages low. So it's time for you to leave her! Leave her, Johnny, leave her, Leave her, Johnny! For the mate's a terror, and the "old man"'s worse. So it's time for you to leave her! So, that's 4 references to the song in the 19th century. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Gibb Sahib Date: 10 Sep 11 - 06:00 PM The song didn't appear in the "early" references to chanties -- again, perhaps it wasn't yet in existence, or else known in the "Across the Western Ocean" form. Later on in the writing, it appears like crazy. It may be because the song got really popular to sing...OR the writers about chanties really loved the idea of it -- including the elegance of ending their collections/articles with it... and liked the mileage it gave as something that could be discussed with blurbs about how it was the "last" chantey sung on a voyage, etc. Anyways, the next reference I'm turning up is in a source introduced by Lighter, a New Zealander newspaper: 1896[Aug.] Unknown. "The 'Chanties' of Sailors." _The Matura Ensign_ (13 Aug. 1896). And when the homeward voyage is over...the crew have to wash her down and pump her out....The particular chorus runs thus: I've earned all my money, and I worn out my clothes, Leave her, Johnnie! leave her! Oh! shake her up and away we goes. Leave her, Johnnie! leave her! We'll shake her up from down below, Leave her, Johnnie! leave her! We've stuck to her through sun and snow, Leave her, Johnnie! leave her! This of all the chanties is sung with the most unanimity and cheeriness... |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Gibb Sahib Date: 10 Sep 11 - 05:50 PM Davis & Tozer then published the song in what might be considered the first collection (dedicated) of shanties. 1887[Aug] Davis, J. and Ferris Tozer. _Sailor Songs or 'Chanties'._ London: Boosey & Co. 5. Leave Her, Johnnie [w/ score] I thought I heard the skipper say Leave her, Johnnie, leave her! "Tomorrow you will get your pay," It's time for us to leave her. The work was hard, the voyage was long, The seas were high, the gales were strong, The food was bad, the wages low, But now ashore again we'll go, The sails are furled, our work is done, And now ashore we'll have our fun, Just for interest's sake (not trying to prove anything), compare the first verse to verse in DT, "O I thought I heard the old man say, Tomorrow ye will get your pay!" It was probably a common or "regulation" verse. The DT version is characteristic of Hugill in using "old man" instead of "skipper" and using "ye" instead of "you". |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Gibb Sahib Date: 10 Sep 11 - 05:42 PM FWIW, first reference I have to the song is, 1884[Jan] Unknown. "Minstrelsy on the Sea." _The New York Times_, 27 (Jan. 1884). pg. 10. The song is reported to date from an earlier time, but this is just the early published reference I am seeing. Also, this is not taking into consideration the idea that "Across the Western Ocean" -- a very similar song but with a different chorus phrase, perhaps the song's "progenitor"-- is attested earlier. Here is the excerpt from this 1884 source: There is however, one shanty the words of which were very appropriate. This is rarely sung except by the crew of some sinking vessel who are about to abandon her. Those who have heard it under these circumstances say that it Is very touching. It begins as follows: She's a gallant ship with a gallant crew, Chorus.-Leave her, jollies, leave her. She's a gallant ship. so's her Captain, too, Chorus.-Oh! It's time for us to leave her. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: RTim Date: 10 Sep 11 - 05:39 PM This was one of the first (folk) songs I ever sang in public - at the 1971 Christchurch Folk Festival in Hampshire. Nobody joined in - so I stopped singing it! I felt like s**t! Tim Radford |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: Gibb Sahib Date: 10 Sep 11 - 05:34 PM Joe, I don't have the text at hand to make a side by side comparison, but the DT text for this song has the unmistakeable marks of Stan Hugill, so it is probably either from _Shanties from the Seven Seas_, with or without a few changes from an individual who ultimately got it from there. Hugill's version in SfSS would have been a composite, compiled and arranged out of verses he'd seen in print and, likely but not necessarily, some he'd learned in the oral tradition, and some he made up (or fine-tuned) for publication. To get to Hugill's version, one has to go back over many many prior printed descriptions of this, which vary considerably, and deduce/speculate the sources. For practical performing purposes, probably just better to develop one's own version, since there is no "definitive" version whatsoever. I realize you used scare-quotes on "definitive", meaning you know the idea is problematic already. So here's one person's opinion that, I think, it is truly too problematic in this case to be a useful concept. One approach, however, could be to survey the documented versions and maybe pick out the most commonly attested verses. Or, maybe, toss out the verses by "disreputable" sources? Perhaps if I and others have some time, we can trace out the sources, but that might be rather academic rather than practical. OTOH, knowing what Jon Boden or Louise Killen have sung, IMO, doesn't tell us much so far as their version probably ultimately go back to a book or recording, that we could look at directly. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Leave Her Johnny Leave Her From: GUEST Date: 10 Sep 11 - 05:14 PM Poster is 999 Leave Her, Johnny [Roud 354 ; trad.] In his book Shanties from the Seven Seas, Stan Hugill printed verses of Leave Her, Johnny as a halyard and as a pump shanty. He wrote: And now we come to the 'Johnny' song that usually ended the voyage— Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her! Collectors give pumps and halyards alike as the job it was used for. Terry and Whall call it a hauling song; Miss Colcord and Doerflinger give it for pumps. I think they are all right. It was probably sung at halyards with two solos and refrains, and when a full chorus was added then it was used at the pumps and even capstan. I learnt it partly from my mother's father, and he always sang the full chorus, and partly from an old Irish sailor, who also used the final chorus. It probably came to life about the time of the Irish potato famine, in the forties, and was originally sung in the Western Ocean Packets in this fashion: … The later version Leave Her, Johnnies or as some sang it Leave Her, Bullies was sometimes sung during the voyage—at the pumps—but its better-known function was that of airing grievances just prior to the completion of the voyage either when warping the vessel in through the locks or at the final spell of the pumps (in wooden ships) after the vessel had docked. Many unprintable stanzas were sung, directed at the afterguard, the grub, and the owners. Bullen writes that: "to sing it before the last day or so was almost tantamount to mutiny." Bob Roberts sang Leave Her, Johnny in 1978 on his Topic LP Songs from the Sailing Barges. A.L. Lloyd laconically commented in the sleeve notes: … As for the work-shanties Haul Away, Joe, Whiskey Johnny and Leave Her, Johnny, Bob converts them into lyrical social songs for the sake of their choruses. Louis Killen recorded Leave Her, Johnny in 1997 for his CD A Seaman's Garland: Sailors, Ships & Chanteys Vol. 2, where he commented: Of course, worksongs or chanteys were also a definitive part of the sailor's repertoire. The Black Ball Line (halyards), Goodbye, Fare Thee Well (capstan), and Leave Her, Johnny (pumps) need no description —their words of pride, longing, and hard work speak volumes. Louis Killen also sang in the chorus of Dan Milner's version of Leave Her,Johnny on his 1998 CD Irish Ballads & Songs of the Sea. Geoff Kaufman et al sang Leave Her, Johnny in 2001 at the 22nd Annual Sea Music Festival at Mystic Seaport. And Lou Reed sang Leave Her, Johnny in 2006 on the anthology Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys. Jon Boden learnt Leave Her, Johnny from Daniel Jacks at a Forest School camp when he was about 16 year old. He sang it as the Augst 23, 2010 entry of his A Folk Song a Day project. The words of his version can be found in the online FSC songbook. Lyrics Bob Roberts sings Leave Her, Johnny Oh, times are bad and wages are low, Leave her, Johnny, leave her! I dare say it's time for us to go, It's time for us to leave her! For there's Liverpool Pat in his tarpaulin hat And Yankee John the packet rat. Oh, mahogany beef and weevil bread, We wish old Leatherface was dead. Oh, I pray that I shall never see A hungry ship the likes of she. Oh, don't you hear our old man say, Tomorrow you will get your pay. Oh, she would neither win nor wear, She's parted all her running gear. Louis Killen sings Leave Her, Johnny Oh the times was hard and the wages low, Leave her, Johnny, leave her! But now once more ashore we'll go, An' it's time for us to leave her! Chorus (after each verse): Leave her, Johnny, leave her! Oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her! For the voyage is done and the winds don't blow, And it's time for us to leave her! Oh I thought I heard the old man say, Tomorrow ye will get your pay! Oh the work was hard and the voyage was long, The sea was high and the gales were strong. Oh the wind was foul and the sea ran high, She shipped it green and none went by. Oh the wind was foul, all work, no pay, To Liverpool docks from Frisco Bay. We was made to pump all night and day, And we half-dead had bugger-all to say. We'd be better off in a nice clean gaol, Will all night in and plenty of ale. She's poverty-stricken and parish-rigged, And the bloomin' crowd is fever-stricked. Jon Boden sings Leave Her, Johnny I thought I heard the old man say, Leave her, Johnny, leave her, It's a long hard pull to the next pay day And it's time for us to leave her. Chorus: Leave her, Johnny, leave her, Oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her; It's a long hard pull to the next pay day And it's time for us to leave her. And the captain was bad but the mate was worse, Leave her, Johnny, leave her, He could blow you down with a sigh and a curse And it's time for us to leave her. Chorus: Leave her, Johnny, leave her, Oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her; He could blow you down with a sigh and a curse And it's time for us to leave her. And the rats are all gone and we the crew, Well, it's time, by Christ, that we went too. And a dollar a day is a Jack Shite's pay When it's pump all night and it's work all day It was pump or drown, the old man said, Or else, by Christ, we'll all be dead. The above is from http://www.informatik.uni- hamburg.de/~zierke/louis.killen/songs/leaveherjohnny.html |
|
Subject: RE: LYR: Leave her Johnny leave her. From: Joe Offer Date: 10 Sep 11 - 05:06 PM This is the traditional closing song at the chantey sing at Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco. I'd like to add it to my repertoire, despite the fact that I can't sing it in San Francisco. I'm looking for a "definitive" version of the song, if such there be. This version in the DT looks pretty good - anybody know the source of the DT Version? Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song: Leave Her, Johnny, Leave HerDESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "Leave her, Johnny, leave her... And it's time for us to leave her." Tells of the troubles on the voyage and of what Johnny can hope for as the ship arrives in port. Some versions have a chorusAUTHOR: unknown EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Robinson) KEYWORDS: shanty sailor separation return FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,SW) Ireland Australia Canada(Mar) REFERENCES (16 citations): Doerflinger, pp. 89-90, "Time for Us to Leave Her (Leave Her, Johnny)" (1 text, 1 tune) Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 48-49, "Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her" (1 text, 1 tune) Bone, pp. 135-136, "Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her" (1 text, 1 tune) Colcord, pp. 119-121, "Leave Her, Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune) Harlow, pp. 99-100, "Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her" (1 text, 1 tune) Hugill, pp. 293-298, "Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her" (5 texts, 2 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 218-221] Sharp-EFC, II-III, pp.3-4, "Leave Her Johnny" (2 texts, 2 tunes) Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 86-87, "Time to Leave Her" (1 text, 1 tune) Fahey-Eureka, pp. 46-47, "Leave Her, Jollies, Leave Her" (1 text, 1 tune) Sandburg, p. 412, "Leave Her, Bullies, Leave Her" (2 texts, 1 tune; the "A" text, which is this song, is very short; the "B" text is "Across the Western Ocean") Scott-BoA, pp. 135-137, "Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her" (1 text, 1 tune) Greenway-AFP, p. 233, ("Leave Her, Johnny") (1 text) SHenry H96, p. 96, "It's Time for Us to Leave Her" (1 text, 1 tune -- a fragment, short enough that it could be this or "Across the Western Ocean") Silber-FSWB, p. 97, "Leave Her, Johnny" (1 text) DT, LEAVEHER* LEAVHER2* ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). A fragment called "Tis Time for Us to Leave Her" is in Part 4, 8/4/1917. Roud #354 RECORDINGS: Leander Macumber, "Leave Her Johnny, Leave Her" (on NovaScotia1) CROSS-REFERENCES: cf. "Across the Western Ocean" (floating lyrics; tune) NOTES: According to Walton/Grimm/Murdock, this shanty was saved for the last duty of a voyage: Pumping out a ship after she reached port and was unloaded. Since the sailors wanted to get ashore, this was considered a particularly unpleasant task -- hence this song, about getting away from the work. - RBW Last updated in version 2.4 File: Doe089 Go to the Ballad Search form The Ballad Index Copyright 2011 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. |
|
Subject: RE: LYR: Leave her Johnny leave her. From: Barry Finn Date: 28 Jul 97 - 10:42 PM Usually the last shanty to be sung, either when a ship was warping in through the locks or pumping out before leaving. Hugill belives ' Across The Rockies', followed by 'Across The Western Ocean' is the older of the versions. It's been sung at the pumps, brake-pumps, capstan & halyards depending on who collected it from whom. Shay mentions 2 packets, a brig 'Amelia Strong' & an English bark 'Amelia Packet' as a possibly to the orgin of the Amelia in the song. Colcord states that after sucking the bilges dry & leaving they would meet again as crew once more, at the shipping office, to be paid off, half already owing money & not far from shipping out again. Barry |
|
Subject: RE: LYR: Leave her Johnny leave her. From: rich r Date: 28 Jul 97 - 06:35 PM Bert, The database has 3 songs in that theme, two versions of Leave her Johnny and another set of lyrics Across the Western Ocean that fits the same tune. I'm sure there are other versions, because I learned one that was Leave Her, Laddie rather than Johnny. rich r |
|
Subject: LYR: Leave her Johnny leave her. From: Bert Hansell Date: 28 Jul 97 - 01:14 PM The first time that I heard this one was in Lionel Bart's musical "Maggie May" in the Sixties. Did anyone else see that?
Anyway, here's the way that I sing it... |
| Share Thread: |