DTStudy:Capt Calls All Hands/Bold Privateer

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DTStudy:Capt Calls All Hands/Bold Privateer

04 Dec 04 - 01:58 PM (#1347325)
Subject: DTStudy:Captain Calls All Hands/Bold Privateer
From: Joe Offer

I see we have information on this series of songs scattered all over a number of threads, so maybe we should put it all together in a DTStudy.

This is an edited DTStudy thread, and all messages posted here are subject to editing and deletion.
This thread is intended to serve as a forum for corrections and annotations for the Digital Tradition song named in the title of this thread.

Search for other DTStudy threads

The Traditional Ballad Index says that "The Captain Calls All Hands" and "Bold Privateer" are the same song, and I think I'd agree. Discussion in other threads also links the Steeleye Span song "Fighting for Strangers" to this series, although the Steeleye Span song could not be called "traditional.
I hope we can use this thread to collect definitive versions of this song, and to correct source attribution and texts in the Digital Tradition.

Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry:

Bold Privateer, The [Laws O32]

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Instructions

Our Captain Calls All Hands (Fighting for Strangers)

DESCRIPTION: "Our Captain called all hands and away tomorrow, Leaving those girls behind." She says "What makes you go abroad fighting for strangers?" Stay here "free from all danger." He leaves. In grief "she fell like one a-dying."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1794 (Journal of the Polly)
KEYWORDS: grief love request rejection war parting death family lover separation
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond,South)) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Butterworth/Dawney, p. 34, "Our Captain Calls" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 416-417, "All Hands Away Tomorrow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Reeves-Sharp 71, "Our Captain Cried All Hands" (2 texts)
Wiltshire-WSRO Wt 440, "Disconsolate Lover" (1 text)
VaughanWilliams/Palmer #25, "Fountains Flowing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Purslow-Constant, "Our Captain Cried 'All Hands'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 99-100, "The Captain Calls All Hands" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Gam, pp. 162-163, "A Song Concerning Love (The Captain Calls All Hands)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #602
RECORDINGS:
Mrs Freeman Bennett, "All Hands Away Tomorrow" (on PeacockCDROM) [one verse only]
Pop Maynard, "Our Captain Calls All Hands" (on Voice01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(636), "The Distressed Maid" ("Our captain calls all hands away to morrow"), J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also 2806 c.18(93)[a few illegible lines], Firth c.12(210), Harding B 25(525), "The Distressed Maid"; Firth c.12(208)[illegible lines], "The Distress'd Maid"
NOTES [122 words]: This is not "The Bold Privateer." [I agree, and so does Roud, though Huntington implies that they are the same. - RBW]
Vaughan Williams used the tune to set the words of John Bunyan's hymn starting "He who would valiant be 'gainst all disaster" (see Southern Life(UK) Sussex villages site for Monk's Gate)
Reeves-Sharp: "... Lucy Broadwood gave as its original a broadside entitled 'The Welcome Sailor.'" The only broadsides of that title I have found so far belong with "A Seaman and His Love (The Welcome Sailor)" [Laws N29]. - BS
The title "Fighting for Stranger" is not, to my knowledge, found in tradition, but since that is the title Steeleye Span used, in what is probably the best-known recording, I've listed it here. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.2
File: Pea416

Bold Privateer, The [Laws O32]

DESCRIPTION: (Johnny) tells (Polly) that he must go to sea. She begs him to stay safe at home. (He points out that her friends dislike him and her brothers threaten him. He offers to exchange rings with her), and promises to return and marry her if his life is spared
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1845 (Broadside Bodleian Harding B25(241))
KEYWORDS: sea farewell
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE) Britain(England(North,South)) Ireland Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Laws O32, "The Bold Privateer"
Randolph 233, "The Union Volunteer" (1 text, 1 tune, with a "Union Volunteer" substituted for the "Bold Privateer" but no other substantial changes)
Eddy 79, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text)
SharpAp 138, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownSchinhanIV 322, "The Bold Privateer" (1 excerpt, 1 tune)
Huntington-Vineyard, pp. 34-35, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wiltshire-WSRO Wt 502, "Bold Privateer" (1 text)
Kidson-Tunes, p. 101, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H514, pp. 297-298, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Gam, pp. 123-124, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text, 1 tune)
WolfAmericanSongSheets, #171, p. 13, "The Bold Privateer" (4 references)
DT 486, BOLDPRIV BLDPRIV2*
ST LO32 (Full)
Roud #1000
RECORDINGS:
Tom Brandon, "The Bold Privateer" (on Ontario1)
Robert Cinnamond, "The Wild Privateer" (on IRRCinnamond03)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(241), "The Bold Privateer," J. Pitts (London) , before 1845; also Harding B 18(50), "The Bold Privateer," Thomas M. Scroggy (Philadelphia), n.d.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Pleasant and Delightful" (meter)
cf. "Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy" (lyrics)
NOTES [128 words]: Some versions of this are so mixed with "Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy" that they might almost be one song. But there are sufficient distinct versions that I think they must be considered separate songs.
The Sam Henry text contains an interesting reference, "The French they are treacherous, right very well you know, Did they not kill their own poor king not so very long ago?" Presumably this refers to the execution of Louis XVI in 1793, though there are other possibilities, including Louis's son Louis XVII, who died in 1795, some say by poison.
Huntington placed his version of "Our Captain Calls All Hands (Fighting for Strangers)" here, and early editions of the Index did the same, but while there is some similarity in theme, they are certainly separate songs. - RBW
Last updated in version 5.2
File: LO32

Go to the Ballad Search form
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Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography

04 Dec 04 - 02:02 PM (#1347330)
Subject: RE: DTStudy:Capt Calls All Hands/Bold Privateer
From: Joe Offer

OUR CAPTAIN CALLS

Our captain calls all hands
To sail tomorrow.
Leaves many a fair pretty girl
In grief and sorrow.
What makes you go abroad
Fighting for strangers,
When you could stop at home
Free from all dangers?

When I had gold in store
You did invite me
Now that I'm low and poor
You seems to slight me
Dry off your brandy tears
And leave off weeping
For happy shall we be
At our next meeting

You courted me a while
Just to deceive me
Now my heart you have gained
You mean to leave me
Saying there's no belief in man
Not my own brother
So girls if you can love
Love one another.

from Seeds of Love, Sedley
Recorded by Carthy/Swarbrick on Byker Hill
@love @parting @war
filename[ CAPTCALL
TUNE FILE: BLAKSMIT
CLICK TO PLAY
RG

OUR CAPTAIN CRIED ALL HANDS

Our captain cried all hands, we sail tomorrow
And leave these girls behind to grieve and sorrow
Why do you go abroad, fighting for strangers
When you could be safe at home, free from all danger

You courted me a while just to deceive me
Now my heart you have gained, you mean to leave me
There's no belief in men, not my own brother
So girls if you can love, love one another

When I had gold in store you did invite me
Now that I'm low and poor you seem to slight me
I'll dry my wasted tears and leave off weeping
For happy we shall be at our next meeting

Farewell to all my friends, father and mother
I am your only child, you'll ne'er get another
There's no belief in men, not my own brother
So girls if you can love, love one another

@farewell @army
filename[ CAPNCALL
TUNE FILE: CAPNCALL
CLICK TO PLAY
AJS

Attribution missing for this version.

04 Dec 04 - 02:03 PM (#1347331)
Subject: RE: DTStudy:Capt Calls All Hands/Bold Privateer
From: Joe Offer

BOLD PRIVATEER

1. "Oh Mary, darling Mary, since you and I must part,
I'm going to cross the ocean and leave with you my heart;
Since you are the mistress of ten thousand pounds a year
I must venture my life on board of the bold privateer."

2. "Oh, Willie, darling Willie, stay at home if you can,
Many a man has lost his life since this cruel war began.
Stay at home, dear Willie, with the girl who loves you dear
Do not venture your life on board of the bold privateer."

3. "Your father and your mother both owe me a great spite,
Likewise your brother has threatened my life.
I'm in hopes that soon from their anger I'll get clear
If I once set my foot on board of the bold privateer."

4. "Oh, Mary, darling Mary, ten thousand times adieu
Our good ship lies at anchor will all her jolly crew,
We'll run up our colours till our purpose we make clear
We will soon let them know that we are the bold privateer.

5. And now this war is over and God has spared our lives,
Some men are returning to their sweethearts and their wives,
But I am returning to the arms of my dear
For I ventured my life on board of the bold privateer."

DT #486
Laws O32
@parting @sailor @reunion
filename[ BOLDPRIV
JB

Attribution missing for this version.

THE BOLD PRIVATEER (2)

O, my dearest Molly,
It's you and I must part
I'm going across the sea, my love
I leave with you my heart

O who will go with me?
O who will go with me?
O who will go with me, my love
I'm going across the sea.

The ship now is waiting
So fare you well, my dear
I'm going on board the vessel
A bold privateer.

O my dearest Johnny
Great dangers have been wrought
And many a sweet life
On the sea has been lost.

You'd better stay at home
With the girl that loves you dear,
Than venture your sweet life
A bold privateer.

O my dearest Molly
Your friends do me dislike,
Besides you have two brothers
That would freely take my life.

Come change your ring with me, my dear,
Come change your ring with me,
And that shall be your token
When I'm across the sea.

And when this war is ended
Should heaven spare my life,
I return home
To my intended wife.

So soon I'll get married
To charming Molly dear,
And then forever bid adieu
To the bold privateer.

From English Folksongs from the Southern Appalachians, Sharp
Collected from Mrs. Mary F. Gross, VA 1918
DT #486
Laws O32
@parting @sailor
filename[ BLDPRIV2
TUNE FILE: BLDPRIV2
CLICK TO PLAY
RG

04 Dec 04 - 02:04 PM (#1347333)
Subject: RE: DTStudy:Capt Calls All Hands/Bold Privateer
From: Joe Offer

FIGHTING FOR STRANGERS

cho: What makes you go away, fighting for strangers,
When you could be save at home, free from all dangers?

A recruiting sergeant came my way,
To an inn nearby at the break of day.
He said: "Young Johnny you're a fine young man,
Do you want to march along behind a military band,
With a scarlet coat, a big cocked hat
And a muscet on your shoulder?"
A shilling he took and he kissed the book,
Oh Johnny, what will happen to ya?

The recruiting sergeant marched away,
From the inn nearby at the break of day.
Johnny went too, with half a ring,
He was off to be a soldier, he'd be fighting for the king,
In a far off war, in a far off land,
To face a foreign soldier.
But how will he fare when there's lead in the air,
Oh poor Johnny, what will happen to ya?

The sun shone high on a barren land,
As a thin red line took the military stand.
Sling shot, chain shot, grape shot too,
Swords and bayonets thrusting through,
Poor Johnny fell but the day was won
And the King is grateful to ya.
With your soldier deeds done, we're sending you home,
Oh poor Johnny, what have they done to ya?

Oh, they said he was a hero and not to grieve
Over two wooden legs and an empty sleeve.
They carried him home and they sat him down
With a military pension and a medal from the crown.
You haven't an arm, you haven't a leg,
The enemy nearly slew ya.
You'll have to be put with a bowl to beg,
Oh poor Johnny what have they done to ya?

cho: (2x)

recorded by Steeleye Span on "Rocket Cottage" (1976).
Note: This is one of the most intense 19th century anti-war
songs.
It seems to be a combination of pieces of several other songs, the
first two verses are reminiscent of the Irish recruiting songs like
"Twa Recruiting Sergeants" or "Arthur McBride" with a short hint
at the Broken Token theme ("with half a ring")
while the second half of the last verse is snatched as a whole
from "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya".

To the tune of "He Who Would Valiant Be".

@war @soldier @recruit @handicap @token
filename[ FGHTSTRN
MJ

04 Dec 04 - 02:43 PM (#1347362)
Subject: RE: DTStudy:Capt Calls All Hands/Bold Privateer
From: Joe Offer

Here's Garry Gillard's transcription of the Martin Carthy recording:

Our Captain Cried All Hands

Our captain cried, All hands and away tomorrow
Leaving these girls behind in grief and sorrow.
What makes you go abroad, fighting for strangers
When you could stop at home, free from all dangers?

You courted me a while just to deceive me
Now my heart you have gained, and you means to leave me
Saying, There's no belief in men, not my own brother
So girls if you can love, love one another

When I had gold in store oh you did invite me
And now I'm low and poor you seems to slight me
Dry off your brandy tears and leave off weeping
For happy we shall be at our next meeting

Oh I'll roll you in my arms me dearest jewel
So stay at home with me and don't be cruel
She fell down on the ground like one was dying
This house was full of grief, sighing and crying

Farewell me dearest friends, father and mother
I am your only child, and I have no brother
It's in vain to weep for me for I am going
To where the lasting joy's with fountains flowing

Source: http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~zierke/

04 Dec 04 - 02:46 PM (#1347367)
Subject: RE: DTStudy:Capt Calls All Hands/Bold Privateer
From: Joe Offer

Here's a broadside version posted by Pavane in another thread.

Thread #31423 Message #851058
Posted By: pavane
20-Dec-02 - 08:07 AM
Thread Name: Help: Fighting for Strangers
Subject: Lyr Add: THE DISTRESSED MAID

For comparison, here is one of the texts from the Bodley collection
It was selected only because it is more legible than some of the others. There are places where this one is awkward to scan, and others may be better.

It seems clear that the first verse is by the man and the second and third by the girl.

THE DISTRESSED MAID
Ref Firth c.12(120)

Our captain calls all hands away tomorrow
To leave my dearest girl in grief and sorrow
Dry up those tears and leave off weeping
How happy shall we be at our next meeting

How can you go abroad fighting for a stranger
You had better stay at home free from all danger
I will roll you in my arms, my dearest jewel
So stay at home with me and do not be cruel

When I had gold and silver, you did invite me
But now I am low and poor, you seem to slight me
There is no believeing man, no, not your own brother
So maids, if you must love, love one another

Down on the ground she fell, like one a dying
Wringing her hands abroad, sighing and crying
He courted me a while, just to deceive me
Now my poor heart he's got he's going to leave me

Farewel(l) my dearest dear father and mother
Don't grieve for your dear child you have no other
Don't grieve for me, pray, for I am going
To everlasting joys, where fountains are flowing

Thread #55942 Message #872733
Posted By: GUEST,pavane
23-Jan-03 - 07:33 AM
Thread Name: Req: Lyrics & unknown title: Capt Cried All Hands
Subject: RE: Req: Lyrics & unknown title: Capt Cried All Hands

There are 4 versions in the Bodley collection under the name 'The Distressed Maid', all of which have all 5 verses and are similar to the version above.

That seems to be a common problem, that the name by which as song is know nowadays bears no resemblence to its former name, so searching for broadside is a matter of luck.
Just as an example of what I said above, one of the copies of The Distressed Maid also contains a song called 'Cold winter is past'

You may recognise it if I quote some of the words:
Straightway I will repair to the Borough (!) of Kildare

And there I'll get a sight of my dear

04 Dec 04 - 03:11 PM (#1347388)
Subject: RE: DTStudy:Capt Calls All Hands/Bold Privateer
From: Ooh-Aah2

Thanks for this interesting thread, Joe. I'm pretty sure you would know Eliza Carthey's version of 'The Bold Privateer', with quite different lyrics to those you've posted here?

Good idea. Here are Eliza Carthy's lyrics, again from http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~zierke/.
-Joe Offer-

Bold Privateer

[Trad. arr. Eliza Carthy]

Sung and played by Eliza Carthy on her record Anglicana. She is accompanied by Tim van Eyken on guitar.

Eliza Carthy said in the album's sleeve notes:

My Dad said he has been meaning to give me this song for about five years. I eventually held him in a savage stranglehold until he gave it up. It comes from a collection by John Broadwood, relative of Lucy. All the songs in the collection come from Surrey and Sussex, and Broadwood swears that they were obtained from genuine country people and peasants.

Lyrics

Our boat, she's on a drift
And our ship, she's on the waves
Farewell my dearest jewel
For no longer can I stay

|: Our ship, she lies awaiting
So fare you well, my dear
For I must go on board
Of this bold privateer :|

There's no-one there can tell you
What great hazards you will run
So many have been slain
Since the wars first begun

|: Such bloody engagements
And dangers that draw near
With loss of their sweet lives
In this bold privateer :|

Grieve not, my dearest jewel
When I'm out of your sweet sight
For I must go on board
And so boldly I will fight

|: We'll beat down the pride
Of the lofty monaseer*
And soon we'll let them know
She's a bold privateer :|

Then since you are a-going
May heaven kinder be
May kind heaven protect you
By land or by sea

|: May kind heaven protect you
Wherever you may steer
And send you safe home back
From this bold privateer :|

The prizes we have taken
Are from France and from Spain
And my true love at home
Will have part of them the same

|: And when the wars are over
I'll turn unto my dear
And then I'll bid adieu
To this bold privateer :|

Oh, when the wars are over
I'll turn unto my dear
And then I'll bid adieu
To this bold privateer

Notes

*“Monaseer” is late eighteenth / early ninteenth-century slang for a Frenchman, from “monsieur”. The Dutch were similarly known as “Monheers” (or “butterboxes”!) The English have a habit of genially mangling the pronunciation of their enemies' names - the Indian Prince Sirauj-ad Daula was known to the troops as “Sir Roger Dowler” for example.
[Kim Birley]

Acknowledgements

Transcribed by Reinhard Zierke with help from Kira White and Kim Birley. Thank you!

04 Dec 04 - 04:52 PM (#1347482)
Subject: RE: DTStudy:Capt Calls All Hands/Bold Privateer
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

The version in Sam Henry is mentioned in the Traditional Ballad Index:

Lyr. Add: THE BOLD PRIVATEER

Fare you well, lovely Ellen, it is now we must part,
Must I leave you behind me, the true love of my heart?
I must leave you behind me, and all I hold dear,
Once more to go a-roving on the Bold Privateer.

The French they are treacherous, right very well you know,
Did they not kill their own poor king not so very long ago?
You had better stay at home with the girl that loves you dear
Then to roam the wild ocean in the Bold Privateer.

Our boat lies on the strand and our ship lies in the bay,
Farewell, my dearest jewel, for I can no longer stay,
Our ship she lies a-waiting, so fare you well, my dear,
I must now go on board of the Bold Privateer.

There is now one can tell me what hazards you may run,
So many have been slain since this cruel war's begun,
You had better not go and leave your Ellen here,
For I dread to see you leaving in the Bold Privateer.

Fear naught, lovely Ellen, I fain would with thee stay,
But gold I must gather for our wedding day,
We will soon beat down the pride of the lofty mounseer,
And will soon let then know she's the Bold Privateer.

Then since you are a-going, good luck attend to thee,
May kind heaven protect you wherever you may steer,
And send you safe back in the Bold Privateer.

Now the prizes we have taken are from France and from Spain,
And my true love at home, she shall share the gain,
And when the wars are over I'll return unto my dear,
And go no more a-roving on the Bold Privateer.

With music, pp. 297-298, "Sam Henry's Songs of the People," 1990, Univ. Georgia Press.

04 Dec 04 - 05:05 PM (#1347490)
Subject: RE: DTStudy:Capt Calls All Hands/Bold Privateer
From: Malcolm Douglas

I'm deeply suspicious of the proposed connection between Our Captain Cried (Roud 602) and The Bold Privateer (Roud 1000). Well, actually I don't believe they're related at all. The Traditional Ballad Index has taken Gale Huntington's word on it and (it isn't the only case) I think he was wrong. We don't know what his reasoning was, unfortunately, so it's hard to disprove the suggestion other than by pointing out that the two songs have virtually nothing in common structurally, and that nobody else seems ever to have suggested any relationship. There were many hundreds of songs on similar topics, so the basic plot is no guide.

More convincing is Peter Kennedy's suggestion that Our Captain Cried is really A Blacksmith Courted Me seen from the male protagonist's perspective. There is at least some supporting evidence (there doesn't appear to be any for Huntington's assertion) in that the two songs share the same metre, and occasionally verses and even tunes. Kennedy prints a set of Blacksmith from Phoebe Smith (Folksongs of Britain and Ireland, 346 and 370) which includes two verses from Our Captain Cried. It's equally arguable, however (and that's my feeling so far), that the structural correspondences between the songs are what led to the tune and text transfers between them, not any common ancestry.

The metre, relatively unusual nowadays, was not uncommon in broadside songs of the 17th century, for one thing; as were elements appearing in Our Captain Cried, come to that. Perhaps the most likely ancestor of the 19th century broadside (printers frequently re-issued or re-wrote older songs) is a pair of songs, The Seamen and Souldiers Last Farewel to their Dearest Jewels (Pepys Collection) and its sequel, The maiden's lamentation. Or, An answer to the seamen and souldiers last farewell to their dearest jewels.

Final two verses from the first:

Hark how the Drums do beat
with Trumpets sounding,
Souldiers in furious heat,
Foes would be wounding:
From thy sweet company,
although it grieves me,
I must devided be
and forc'd to leave thee.

My Captain ca[l]ls* away,
in hast they hurry,
To march without delay,
I may not tarry:
Patiently thou must bear,
love leave thy weeping,
Farewel my dearest dear,
till our next meeting.

* not entirely clear in the black-letter. Could possibly be "sails".

Second verse of the sequel:

Why wilt thou cross the Seas,
to fight with strangers,
When thou mayst live at ease,
free from all dangers:
I'le fold thee in mine arms,
nothing shall grieve thee;
I'le keep thee from all harms,
dear do not leave me.

There are other correspondences in the song. Both the above were from the same printers (see link above to Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads). Another verse seems to derive from The Kind Virgin's Complaint against a Young Man's Unkindness:

Ladies, take my Advice,
You have rare Features,
Always be coy and nice
To such false creatures;
No Man will constant prove,
No not my Brother,
Then if you need must love,
Love one another.

All three songs prescribe the same tune, Cupid's Courtesy. I think that it's ancestral to one of the tunes found in tradition with Our Captain, but the metre may be a factor in that feeling, of course. It has led to confusion elsewhere, as I've suggested.

Meanwhile, I really do believe that The Bold Privateer is irrelevant to the discussion. Steeleye Span's dog's-breakfast collation, which also includes bits they wrote themselves, is best ignored in that it tells us nothing about the history of the song under discussion and is likely to mislead the unwary. It's also a pity that none of the examples of Our Captain given so far quote sources (any text from Sedley is likely to be a collation from several different places; not even always from related songs). I may have identified some in earlier discussions, but will look at them further.

05 Dec 04 - 12:48 AM (#1347769)
Subject: RE: DTStudy:Capt Calls All Hands/Bold Privateer
From: Joe Offer

Here's the version from Gale Huntington's Songs the Whalemen Sang (1964). It's certainly "Captain Calls," but is it "bold Privateer"?
-Joe Offer-

THE CAPTAIN CALLS ALL HANDS

The captain calls all hands and away tomorrow
Leaving our girls behind in grief and sorrow
Dry up your brimming tears and cease of weeping
How happy we shall be at our next meeting

Why will you go abroad fighting with strangers
When you can stay at home free from all dangers
For I will need you in my arms my dearest Will
So stay at home with me and your promise fulfill

Fare ye well parents father and mother
I am your daughter you have no other
And when you think on me how I am a-grieving
You see the lad that I love has proved my ruin

Down on the ground she fell like one a-dying
Lying and crying and saying there is no believing
There is no believing none not one's own brother
Excepting two can agree and love each other

Bengal, 1832

Huntington's notes:
This song is also called ' Bold Privateer" and "Our Captain Cried." Frank Kidson in Traditional Tunes says that the song must go back to the time of the Napoleonic wars at least. Personally I have a feeling that it is older than that.
See Sharp (1), vol. 2, p. 175; and also JFSS, vol. 1, p. 131, vol.
2, p. 202, and vol. 3, pp. 98-99; also, JAF, vol. 35, pp. 357-358.

05 Dec 04 - 01:52 AM (#1347782)
Subject: RE: DTStudy:Capt Calls All Hands/Bold Privateer
From: Malcolm Douglas

It's Captain Calls, not Bold Privateer. The references specified in detail are all to examples of Captain Calls / Cried; Kidson, however, printed a set of Bold Privateer, and it is to that which the "Napoleonic wars" comment relates, though Kidson didn't actually say that: he wrote, "The story ... dates from at least our last French or American war." (Traditional Tunes, 1891). It isn't surprising that Huntington thought Captain Calls older than that, because it is older, at least in part (see above) besides being, I'm convinced, a completely unrelated song.

There's at least one other surprising mis-identification in Huntington that the Traditional Ballad Index has accepted uncritically. In the latter case, the reason for the mistake is fairly easy to see if you check his references, but I'm puzzled by this one. There's always a possibility that other people will be aware of things I don't know which would prove me wrong, but until and unless some evidence turns up I'm sticking to my guns.

09 Nov 11 - 08:03 AM (#3253449)
Subject: RE: DTStudy:Capt Calls All Hands/Bold Privateer
From: EBarnacle

Reading the above collection, I suspect that many of the variations are what Capt Rick Nestler calls "zipper songs." You take a basic story line and zip a somewhat relevant verse into place to create the song you want. This creates your personal variant on the song...or even a completely new "trad" song.

09 Nov 11 - 03:09 PM (#3253788)
Subject: RE: DTStudy:Capt Calls All Hands/Bold Privateer
From: Artful Codger

Some previous discussion on "Our Captain" may be found in the thread on "Fighting for Strangers" (a version of which Joe posted above):
http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=31423
Perhaps some Mudelf will add this link to the "Related threads" section above.

pavane quoted two other verses from "The Maidens Lamentation" which resembled those in "Our Captain", aside from the one quoted above. One began "Alas my dearest joy, why wilt thou leave me" and the other "Why wilt thou cross the seas to fight with strangers". A fuller title for the cited tune was also given: "I am so deep in love or Cupid's Courtesie".

Somewhere, Malcolm Douglas provided an ABC of the familiar "Monk's Gate" tune as originally collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams from Mrs. Verrall, singing a shortened "Our Captain" version; RVW later modified the tune to fit it to Bunyan's poem "To Be a Pilgrim", aka. "He Who Would Valiant Be". I'm pretty sure I ran across scans of RVW's notebook entries for Mrs. Verrall's version at the EFDSS Take Six site.

What I haven't tripped across yet are two other tunes this song has been collected with, namely, the one Cecil Sharp collected from Mrs. Overd (Langport, Somerset, 1904) and the one collected from Mrs. Elizabeth Smitherd (Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, 1908). I also haven't seen a tune or score pointer for "Cupid's Courtesie", although this was apparently a well-known tune. Can someone provide ABCs, send Joe Offer a MIDI, or PM me to arrange sending me scans to ABCify? And who collected the Smitherd tune?