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05 Jul 08 - 03:22 PM (#2381874) Subject: Lyr Add: Greenwich Moorings (sailor) From: Q (Frank Staplin) Lyr. Add: GREENWICH MOORINGS or- Tom Hawser's Voyage Through Life (Vint.) 1 With timbers green, from childhood's dock Buoy'd up with youthful notions, My roving fancy dared to mock The raging storms of oceans; Thus braving fear, my mind became Well sheath'd with emulation, Tight rigg'd, on board the good ship Fame, I took an early station; Nor dreamt, when first I went to sea, That, after hard endurings, It so would hap, that Tom should be Laid up in Greenwich moorings. 2 From boy to man, from clime to clime, In quest of glory roaming, I weather'd oft and many a time Rough gales, and billows foaming; Where lightnings dread and thunders jar, Where fever'd seas are rolling; Where mermaids smile in liquid car, Mid tempest's coarsest howling. Still Hawser's heart was rigg'd with glee, In spite of all endurings; Nor harboured e'er a thought, that he Should lie in Greenwich moorings. 3 Whate'er I earn'd by sweat of brow, Was squander'd soon in folly; Not one reflection did bestow, Except on lovely Molly. But though love's compass still my heart To Molly's charms directed, I ne'er from duty did depart, Nor Britain's fame neglected; When bit grew scant I went to sea, And left her fond assurings; Nor thought my batter'd hulk should be Laid up in Greenwich moorings. 4 I made my charming girl a vow, That, barring all miscarriage, I'd take her, when return'd, in tow, And plough the seas of marriage: But sad reverse! Poor Tom no more To faithless Poll enticing; My starboard limb was shiver'd sore, Beyond the power of splicing; I found the fair one's clouded brow Obscur'd her late allurings- 'Be gone!' she cried, 'you're fittest now To lie in Greenwich moorings.' 5 Then to our gracious king I'll drink, And success to his navy; Oh, may fell faction quickly sink, Deep grappled by old Davy! And here's to every gallant tar, Brave soldier, and just trader; In peace if Britain's kind, in war He'll check each bold invader; With two limbs less than God gave me, I smile at past endurings, And booze my can of grog with glee, Laid up in Greenwich moorings. Attrib. to 'Vint.' in "Universal Songster." No author found. There are a number of 18th-19th c. songs and poems about loss of limbs and being laid up on shore; forerunners to "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye," and "The Band Played 'Waltzing Matilda.'" A home for naval veterans was at Greenwich. The old church at Stepney (Stebbon-heath) was the site for many marriages between sailors and their women. In slang such a marriage, carried out for little money and without expensive pomp, became known as a 'Greenwich Mooring.' A story about marriages at Stepney Church (1839) at Stepney marriages Sources: The Universal Songster; or Museum of Mirth:..., 3 volumes, London, Jones & Co., vol. 1, pp. 143-144; also published by George Routledge and Sons, London. Various printings, first half 19th c. Oliver Oldschool, 1806, Port Folio, n. s., vol. 2, pp. 74-75, John Watts, Philadelphia (on line). Julia H. L. De Vaynes, ed., 1882, The Kentish Garland, vol. 2, pp. 739-741, Stephen Austin & Sons (on line). Harding B (25 (779), bet. 1802-1819, J. Pitt, Seven Dials. Bodleian Broadside Collection. A Garland of Excellent New Songs, this one attrib. to Mr. Vint., Newcastle, c. 1760 acc. to National Library of Scotland. I couldn't find it at their website. I couldn't find music or that it had been sung, although it is called a 'song' in several printings. One American site listed this song as a 'favorite of Dibdin's (which of the three poets not specified) and essentially attributes it to 'Dibdin,' but "Greenwich Moorings, or ...") is not included in the "Songs" as published by Thomas Dibdin in 1842. |
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05 Jul 08 - 04:21 PM (#2381908) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Greenwich Moorings (sailor) From: Charley Noble Q- An interesting song, indeed, and it's not in my copy of DIBDIN'S SEA SONGS either on his own name, his son's name, or one of their favorites. Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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06 Jul 08 - 04:08 PM (#2382548) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Greenwich Moorings (sailor) From: Q (Frank Staplin) Greenwich Moorings (Marriage at Stepney Church) "All those gay ladies of the eastern hemisphere (i. e., those fashionable watering places, hight Wapping, Shadwell, Ratcliff, East Smithfield, Poplar and Blackwall) are the wives of many husbands, and, strange to say, a prosecution for bigamy is never heard of amongst them; yet they all wed at Stepney Church. The inducement for Blackwall Bet, Poplar Sall, Shadwell Poll, or Ratcliff Soph, to take unto herself more than one partner for life is answered in three words- "the monthly note," or the "will and power," both of which a sailor can leave to his lawful wife. The monthly note insures to her a part of his pay, while he is at sea; the latter gives her possession of all his worldly effects, pay due, etc., in the event of death. A nautical poet, not Dibdin, thus feelingly describes the sensations of a freshly wedded practical, not theoretical, "Poll of Plymouth," on her beloved one weighing anchor:- "There he goes, b----r his eyes; He's been going this quarter of an hour. Oh, that the bullets may scuttle his nob, For I'vr got 'his will and his power.'" We have seen sailor lads, rigged in snow-white ducks, straw hats, bandanas, etc., led, by middle-aged, painted doxies, to the Stepney altar, and there sacrificed, like lambs, innocent of all sin. Again, sailors, in appearance middle-aged, yet in actions perfectly childish, are made groggy, and fairly towed into Stepney's holy fane, and imperceptibly lashed to stout women in yellow ribbons and huge-patterned cotton gowns. Old seamen, only fit for Greenwich, are great temptations to those antiquated damsels who have got old in the naval service, because, though scantily, they are provided for to the end of life's chapter. These ladies look out for Greenwich moorings with as much certainty as do the ancient Jack-tars themselves, and the first "man-o'-war's-man" they can get hold of, they "pull alongside" him, and, if possible, convoy him into Stepney Church, to make a certainty of the prize-money. So common is a plurality of spouses with the mollishers of the east, that you may frequently hear them say, "Well, so help me bob, I must get my Ben a ship, for I expect my Tom home next week;" or, "Jack must be off, for the next tide will bring my Bill ashore." ..... "Marriages at Stepney Church," extract, 1839, source unknown. Marriages Stepney Church, (St. Dunstan's) is ancient. The main structure is 15th c., the chancel is 13th c., and the font is Norman in decoration. A church has been at that location since c. 1000. |