Subject: Lyr Add: Unfortunate Tailor^^
From:
Malcolm Douglas
Date: 05 Sep 00 - 12:29 AM
THE UNFORTUNATE TAILOR
Oh list, oh list to my sorrowful lay,
Attention give to my song, I pray,
And when you've heard it all, you'll say
That I'm an unfortunate tailor.
I once was as happy as a bird on a tree,
My Sarah was all in the world to me,
Now I'm cut out by a son of the sea,
And she's left me here to bewail her.
Oh, why did Sarah serve me so?
No more will I stitch, no more will I sew;
My thimble and my needle to the winds I'll throw,
And go and 'list for a sailor.
My Sarah was the daughter of a publican,
A generous, kind, good sort of a man,
Who spoke very plain what he thought of a man,
And he never looked "crow" at the tailor.
My days were honey and my nights were the same,
Till a man called Cobb from the ocean came,
With his long black beard and his muscular frame,
A captain on board of a whaler.
He spent his money both frank and free,
With his tales of the land and songs of the sea,
He stole my Sarah's heart from me,
And blighted the hopes of a tailor.
Once I was with her, when in came Cobb ¹
"Avast!" he cried, "you lubbery swab.
If you don't knock off I'll scuttle your knob!"
And Sarah smiled at the sailor.
And now I'll cross the raging sea,
Since Sarah is untrue to me.
My heart's locked up and she's the key;
What a very unfeeling gaoler.
So now, kind friends, I'll bid you adieu,
No more my woes shall trouble you;
I'll ramble the country through and through,
And go and 'list for a sailor.
Dr. George Gardiner collected Hampshire versions of this song from George Lovett of Winchester in 1906, and from Alfred Oliver of Basingstoke in 1907. Frank Purslow published a collated set of these in Marrowbones (EFDS Publications, 1965) which I give here, with the following modifications:
The order of verses was rather confusing, having presumably been jumbled up by the source singers; I have re-ordered them to make reasonable narrative sense, following the pattern used by John Kirkpatrick for his recording of the song, as I'll go and 'list for a Sailor (Morris On, Island Records HELP5, 1972, now re-issued on CD - Hannibal Records in the UK, Carthage Records in the US)
The first two lines of verse 6 (here) were given by Purslow as
Avast! he cried, you lubbery swab
Without guessing my love, in came that Cobb
I have substituted Kirkpatrick's modification, which makes better sense.
A midi of the tune as given by Purslow goes to Alan's Mudcat Midi Site, where it will appear in due course.
Malcolm^^
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