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Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar

21 Nov 06 - 07:02 PM (#1890299)
Subject: Lyr Req: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: GUEST,JIM McAULEY

Dose anyone have the lyrics of a
song ??? len graham sings .the only bit
i can rember is-

With the fiddler sweetly play-ing
and theirs whiskey in the jar,
but i'll ?????????????? to,
my jolly roving tar.

At near the end of the song,
Thanks jim mcauley fiddle4

still cant get login to work....


21 Nov 06 - 07:08 PM (#1890303)
Subject: Lyr Add: JOLLY ROVING TAR
From: Peace

SOA Lyrics

"Jolly Roving Tar"
(Our Version)
Verse:

Ships May Come, and ships may go,
As long as the seas do roll.
Each sailor lad, just like his dad,
He loves the Flowing bowl.
A trip ashore, he does adore,
With a girl that's plump and Round.

Chorus:
But when your money's all gone
It's the same old song:
'Get up Jack; John, sit down'

Come along, come along
Me jolly brave boys,
There's lots more grog in the jar.
We'll plow the briny ocean
With a jolly rovin' tar

Come along, come along
(Repeat)

from

glyfix.com/soa/lyrics/jollyrov.html (Sons of Anacreon)
From the Levy Sheet Music Collection. For some reason, the sheet music uses the spelling "cruize."

Get Up, Jack, John Sit Down
As sung in Edward Harrigan's Local Drama, Old Lavender
Words by Edward Harrigan. Music by Dave Braham
Wm. A. Pond & Co., New York, 1885


GET UP JACK, JOHN SIT DOWN
(Edward Harrigan & David Braham)

Oh, ships will come and ships will go as long as waves do roll;
Each sailor lad, likewise his dad, will love the flowing bowl.
Afloat, ashore, they do adore a lass that's plump and roun';
When the money's gone 'tis the same old song,
Get up, Jack, John, sit down. –

Chorus:
Heigh, laddie, Ho, laddie. Swing the capstan 'roun';
When the money's gone, 'tis the same old song,
Get up, Jack, John, sit down.

An old sheath-knife and sou'wester are staunch old friends at night;
A glass o'grog, in rain or fog, will steer a sailor right.
From old Brazil to Bunker Hill we scatter dollars roun';
When the money's gone 'tis the same old song,
Get up, Jack, John, sit down. –
CHORUS

Go take a cruize on men o'war to China or Japan;
In Asia there the maidens fair, all love a sailor man;
While Tom and Joe palaver oh, and buy the girls a gown;
When the money's gone 'tis the same old song,
Get up, Jack, John, sit down. –
CHORUS

When Jack's ashore, oh, then he steers to some old boarding house,
He's welcomed in with rum and gin, and fed on pork and souse;
He'll spend and lend, and ne'er offend, and lay drunk on the groun';
When the money's gone 'tis the same old song,
Get up, Jack, John, sit down. –
CHORUS

When Jack is old and weather beat, too weak to roust about,
In some rum-shop they let him stop, at eight bells he's turned out;
He cries, he cries up to the skies, I'll soon be homeward bound;
For my money's gone 'tis the same old song,
Get up, Jack, John, sit down.
CHORUS


21 Nov 06 - 07:09 PM (#1890305)
Subject: DT Correction: JOLLY ROVING TAR
From: Dave (the ancient mariner)

JOLLY ROVING TAR

It was in the city of London Town, was there by the highway
I espied a lovely damsel fair and she alone did stay;
She did appear like a Venus, or some bright lovely star,
As she strayed the beach lamenting for her jolly roving tar.

Oh, it's many's the pleasant evening my love and I did pass,
With many the jovial sailor lads, many the fair young lads,
With a fiddler sweetly playing, likewise a wild guitar,
I went hand in hand together with my jolly roving tar.

Pretty Susan she jumped in the boat and merrily rowed for shore,
"Then I'll go see my father's ships and see that they're well stored.
Provisions we had plenty, I've lots of grog in store,
I will cross the briny ocean for my jolly roving tar."

Pretty Susan she jumped in the boat and then she rowed ashore,
Saying, "Farewell ye maids of London town, I'll fear no wound or scar,
Farewell ye maids of London, I'll fear no wound nor scar,
But I'll cross the briny ocean for my jolly roving tar."

From Songs of Nova Scotia, Creighton and Senior
Sung by Mr. Ben Henneberry, Devil's Island, NS

DT #744
Laws O27
@sailor @parting
filename[ JOLROVTR
TUNE FILE: JOLROVTR
CLICK TO PLAY
RG
oct96

    OCR errors corrected for submission as a correction to the DT. Text verified in a related source, Creighton/Senior's Traditional Songs from Nova Scotia.
    -Joe Offer-


21 Nov 06 - 07:11 PM (#1890306)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Peace

It's in the DT also--a version.


21 Nov 06 - 07:14 PM (#1890307)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: GUEST

Thanks but i think this is an english folk version
the one i am look for sounds more like an irish
traditional song..
I'll send in an abc of the tune just wait a little while..

Thanks

jim.


21 Nov 06 - 07:19 PM (#1890309)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: GUEST,jimancent

Dave (the ancient mariner)
is very close indeed maybe it..
abc still being made..
jim


21 Nov 06 - 07:21 PM (#1890311)
Subject: Lyr Add: JOLLY ROVING TAR
From: GUEST,thurg

From (I think) Songs & Ballads of Nova Scotia by Helen Creighton, as sung by Angelo Dornan (I'm sure of that), of Newcastle(?), New Brunswick:


Jolly Roving Tar


It was in the city of London Town,
'Twas there by the highway,
Where I espied a damsel fair,
As she alone did stray;
She appeared to me like Venus,
Or some other lonely star;
As she walked the beach lamenting,
For her jolly roving tar.

Oh, many's the pleasant evening,
My love and I did pass.
With many's the jovial sailor lad,
And many's the fair young lass;
With a fiddler sweetly playing,
Likewise a wild guitar,
I walked hand in hand together
With my jolly roving tar.

Pretty Susan, she jumped in the ship,
And gaily rowed for shore;
Saying, I'll go see my father's ships,
And see that there well stored.
Provisions, we had plenty,
There's lots of grog in store,
I will cross the briny ocean,
For my jolly roving tar.

Pretty Susan, she jumped in the boat,
And gaily rowed for shore;
Saying, Farewell, ye maids of London,
I'll fear no wound or scar;
Farewell, ye maids of London,
I'll fear no wound or scar;
For my heart lies in the bosom,
Of my jolly roving tar.


21 Nov 06 - 07:24 PM (#1890318)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Peace

It's in the DT with a sound file.


21 Nov 06 - 07:26 PM (#1890320)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: GUEST,thurg

Huh! Dave the ancient mariner beat me to the punch! And it looks like he's got the book there, so it looks like I was wrong about Angelo Dornan ... or is there a recording of him singing that song somewhere?


21 Nov 06 - 07:29 PM (#1890323)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Beer

Love the version by the Newfoundland group "The Fables".
Beer


21 Nov 06 - 07:33 PM (#1890325)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: GUEST,thurg

We've got two different songs on the go here, Beer - which one did the Fables record?


21 Nov 06 - 07:42 PM (#1890328)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Malcolm Douglas

Dave quoted the DT text; a link was all that was needed:  JOLLY ROVING TAR.

(Re 'Peace's' earlier post, see also DT file  GET UP JACK! JOHN, SIT DOWN; though this appears to be a completely different song, albeit sharing a common title.)

For several 19th century broadside editions, see  Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads:

Jolly Roving Tar

Number 913 in the Roud Folk Song Index, where examples are listed from England, Canada and Ireland.


21 Nov 06 - 07:46 PM (#1890334)
Subject: Tune Add: JOLLY ROVING TAR
From: GUEST

THANKS ALL;
THE ABC..

X:1
T:
M:4/4
R:air
L:1/4
K:G
||D-GB2|A^F^F2|G2A2|zB2c|d2 BA|G^F2-z|D3z|
|D-GB2|A^F^F2|G2A2|zBcd|cA GA|^F G3-|
|Bc dd|e2 dc |Bcd2|zdcB|AGG.^F| -D3z-|
|D-GB2|A^F^F2|G2A2|zBcd|cA GA|^F G3-||

JIM

To play or display ABC tunes, try concertina.net


21 Nov 06 - 07:49 PM (#1890336)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Joe Offer

Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song:

Jolly Roving Tar [Laws O27]

DESCRIPTION: Susan fondly recalls her sailor love. She sets out to ensure that her father's ships are well equipped for his sake. Finally she bids farewell to the local ladies and sets out to follow her "jolly roving tar."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 16(119c))
KEYWORDS: sailor parting rambling reunion
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Laws O27, "Jolly Roving Tar"
SHenry H670, p. 293, "The Jolly Roving Tar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, p. 178, "Jolly Roving Tar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 12, "Jolly Roving Tar" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 744, JOLROVTR

Roud #913
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 16(119c), "The Jolly Roving Tar," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Firth c.13(77), 2806 c.16(242), Harding B 11(859), Harding B 11(860), Harding B 26(302), Harding B 11(3444), Firth c.13(78), "The Jolly Roving Tar"
Notes: Broadside Bodleian Harding B 26(302), "The Jolly Roving Tar ("As I roved out one evening in the pleasant month of May"), Haly (Cork), 19C, while undated, dates itself by its last add-on verse: "So now these lines are at an end the truth I will unfold Young Susan she got married to her young sailor bold With him she faced the Russians and feared no wound or scar, But now she lives contented with her jolly roving tar." - BS
[To clarify, the above verse probably implies a Crimean War date. But it could well be a late add-on -- note that there were few battles between British and Russian navies. - RBW]
File: LO27

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

The Ballad Index Copyright 2006 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.


21 Nov 06 - 07:54 PM (#1890337)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: GUEST

this is the one only a len or a friend
of mine (joe stwart) now in co mayo
sung-

With a fiddler sweetly playing,
and theirs whiskey in the jar.....

##With a fiddler sweetly playing,
Likewise a wild guitar,
I walked hand in hand together
With my jolly roving tar.
thanks a mil.....again

jim mcauley.


21 Nov 06 - 08:21 PM (#1890362)
Subject: Lyr Add: JOLLY ROVING TAR
From: Beer

Neither one Thurg. However the closest version is the one posted by Peace.

Here is the Fables Version.

Ships may come and ships may go as long as the seas do roll
Each sailor lad, just like his dad, he loves the flowin' bowl
A trip ashore he does adore with the girl that's plump and round
And when your money's gone it's the same old song… Get up Jack John sit down

CHORUS:
Come along, come along, me jolly brave boys… there's lots of grog in the jar
We'll plough the briny ocean with the jolly rovin' tar

When Jack gets in it's then he'll stair to some old boarding house
They'll welcome him with rum and gin and feed him on port stout
He'll spend and he will not offend until he's drunk on the ground
And when your money's gone, it's the same old song… Get up Jack John sit down

He'll stair onboard some ship bound down for Newfoundland
All the ladies there in Placentia Bay, they love that sailor man
He'll go ashore, all on a tear, and he'll buy some girl a gown
And when your money's gone, it's the same old song… Get up Jack John sit down

When Jack gets old and weatherbeat, too old to roam about
They'll let him stop in some rum shop 'til eight bells call him out
He'll raise his eyes up to the sky sayin' "boys, we're homeward bound"
And when your money's gone it's the same old song… Get up Jack John sit down


21 Nov 06 - 08:50 PM (#1890388)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: GUEST,thurg

Thanks, Beer. Wonder if they put in the Nfld references (3rd verse) themselves, or if someone picked up that version in Nfld ... ?


21 Nov 06 - 09:20 PM (#1890409)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Beer

Good point thurg. Unfortunately all the c/d insert says is "Traditional"besides the title.


22 Nov 06 - 03:52 AM (#1890524)
Subject: Lyr Add: JOLLY ROVING TAR (from Mick Hoy)
From: GUEST

Not as full as some of the others, here is Mick Hoy's of Blaney, Fermanagh.

Jim Carroll

JOLLY ROVING TAR    Mick Hoy
        
Down through Londonderry as I carelessly did stray
Where I espied a damsel, aye, and a lady gay.
She appeared to me like Venus bright or some superior star
As she walked the beach lamenting for her jolly roving tar.

If you would see my Willie when dressed up in sailor's clothes,
With his cheeks as red as rosies and his eyes as black as sloes,
With his hair linked o'er his shoulders and golden like saphar(?)
And the heart lies in the bosom of my jolly roving tar.

'Ah, come build for me a little wee boat that I may cross the shore,'
And when she saw the fleet going by. 'Adieu, I'll wait no more.
Fare you well, the maids of Liverpool, from you I'm going afar.'
And away went handsome Susan with her jolly roving tar.

'Aw, Willie, lovely Willie, why do you go away?
For when I arrive at twenty-one I'll be a lady gay
And you'll command my Dada's fleet going to the China war
And we'll both march together, me and my jolly tar.'


22 Nov 06 - 06:07 AM (#1890582)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: GUEST,Brian Peters

>>(Re 'Peace's' earlier post, see also DT file GET UP JACK! JOHN, SIT DOWN; though this appears to be a completely different song, albeit sharing a common title.)<<

The song "My Jolly Roving Tar" collected by D. Hammond from Mrs. Seale in Dorset in 1906 (and published in Purslow's "Wanton Seed") is lyrically much the same as the Canadian Maritime, Irish and broadside versions listed above. However, the tune is all but identical to Lena Bourne Fish's "Get Up Jack", so if the latter is indeed Harrigan and Braham's composition (see related thread) then it sounds to me as though they used an existing traditional piece as a template. Or has someone thought of that already?


22 Nov 06 - 07:32 AM (#1890615)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: GUEST,JIM McAULEY

Thanks for -JOLLY ROVING TAR,earlier,,
But is there any chance you could find me this song

I heard it sung at fleidhs long ago,

Here is the tune I think..
ABC-FORMAT..
X:1
T:UNKNOWEN
M:4/4
R:air
L:1/4
K:Dm
||d2-cA A-D2-.D|A-G2A cc2z|EC D2 DCE2|GAGE D3z|
|d2-cA A-D2-.D|A-G2A cc2z|EC D2 DCE2|GAGE D3z|
| GG2-A c2 zG|Ad2c dd2z|G.G-zA c2GA|dcd3-zde|
|=f3e/d/ c2zA|GA-c c2zEC|D2-DC E2zG|AGE2 D4-||
-----------------------
The only words I know are fragments=
IN A VERSE SOMEWHERE.
FIRST PART-
OH-O GO A-WAY AND ASK YOU-R MOTH-ER
- - - - - - - - - - -
SECOND PART
I WILL NO-T GO AND ASK MY-Y MOTH-ER

FOR SHE - - - - - - -

THANKS

JIM McAULEY..


22 Nov 06 - 09:39 AM (#1890688)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Malcolm Douglas

Thanks for that note on the tune correspondence, Brian. It isn't at all unlikely that the late C19 song was based on the older one, given that link; there are plenty of examples of similar re-making, of course. Something I shall have to follow up; meanwhile, if we can consider them related after all, that broadens the scope of the discussion.


22 Nov 06 - 10:22 AM (#1890712)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: EBarnacle

The version commonly sung on this [the Western side] of the ocean was collected by Frank Warner and can be found in his ballad book. He was one of the songcatchers who went roaming through the American hinterlands collecting traditional ballads. His son, Jeff Warner, performs many of the songs found in the book.

The Harrigan version may predate his collection. I don't know which came first.


22 Nov 06 - 10:24 AM (#1890713)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Peace

This is turning into a thread about a song that has more fathers than a good idea. Any chance we could do a DT Study on it?


23 Nov 06 - 11:29 PM (#1892214)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE JOLLY ROVING TAR (from Bodleian)
From: Jim Dixon

From Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, Harding B 16(119c) [Firth c.13(77) and Firth c.13(78) are very similar.] Spelling and punctuation modernized by me.

THE JOLLY ROVING TAR
J. Catnach, Printer, 2 & 3, Monmouth Court
[London, between 1813 and 1838]

It was in London City, and near to the highway.
I overheard a pretty maid as I along did stray.
She did appear like Venus, or some sweet lovely star,
As she walked the beach lamenting for her jolly roving tar.

"O William, gallant William, how could you sail away?
I have arrived at twenty-one. I am a lady gay.
I'll man one of my father's ships and brave the Chinese war,
And to cross the briny ocean for my gallant roving tar.

"Young William looked so manly dressed in his sailor's clothes.
His cheeks are like two roses, his eyes as black as sloes.
His hair hung down in ringlets, but now he's gone afar,
And my heart lays in the bosom of my jolly roving tar.

"It's many pleasant evenings my lad and I did pass,
With many a jolly sailor gay, and many a bonny lass.
The harp was sweetly playing, likewise the wild guitar.
I went hand in hand together with my jolly roving tar.

"Come all my jolly sailors and push the boat from shore,
That I may view my father's ship, to find she is secure.
Provision you'll have plenty, and lots of grog in store.
Give chase, my jolly sailors, for my jolly roving tar."

She quickly jumped into the boat and boldly left the land,
And as the sailors rowed, she waved her lily hand.
"Farewell, you girls of London. I fear no wound or scar."
And away went pretty Susan for her jolly roving tar.


24 Nov 06 - 02:09 AM (#1892241)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: GUEST,Martin Ryan

I'm away at the moment - but should have Len's song at home somewhere. I'll get back.

Regards


09 Mar 15 - 04:59 AM (#3692524)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Joe Offer

Peace posted lyrics close to the ones I know, attributed to Edward Harrigan; Music: David Braham. Can that be so? Levy Sheet Music Collection gives documentation of a Harrigan/Braham origin, published in 1885. Are there earlier versions, or is this a Harrigan-Braham original?

-Joe-


09 Mar 15 - 06:56 AM (#3692554)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Lighter

There's no reason to think it was anything other than a Harrigan-Braham original, written for the stage.

Nor was it frequently collected.

Jim's "Jolly Roving Tar" is different song entirely.


09 Mar 15 - 10:42 AM (#3692610)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Steve Gardham

Hi Jon,
'Jim's "Jolly Roving Tar" is different song entirely.' but it looks like the one the OP asked for.
It was widely printed, the earliest I have is probably Pitts.

If Harrigan/Braham wrote that one they nicked their chorus from Upton's Homeward and Outward Bound c1800.


09 Mar 15 - 06:54 PM (#3692725)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Brian Peters

"There's no reason to think it was anything other than a Harrigan-Braham original, written for the stage."

... except that it borrows three phrases from the Catnach broadside and a tune collected orally in England in the 1900s. Coincidence?


09 Mar 15 - 06:56 PM (#3692726)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Brian Peters

Steve, what song in Upton's HB are you referring to, and how does the chorus go?


10 Mar 15 - 03:05 AM (#3692759)
Subject: ADD Version: Get Up Jack - John Sit Down
From: Joe Offer

refresh


10 Mar 15 - 06:57 AM (#3692807)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Lighter

Hi, Brian. I don't see a great deal of similarity between the Harrigan-Braham melody and that of the Dorset singer, except in the final phrases.

It seems likely that Harrigan or Braham was familiar with a line or two of the earlier song and was inspired to write a new song around it. Any general similarities between the two melodies results from the influence of the final phrases on the new composition. The mention of China in both songs may or may not be coincidental.

But even if H or B knew the entire broadside, the their own song remains an essentially different production with a distinct subject and an entirely new refrain. No one could confuse the two pieces, and no amount of unconscious or hit-or-miss "folk processing" could evolve the one from the other. They aren't "versions" of each other any more than "Rock around the Clock" is a "version" of "Roll Me over in the clover."

I don't see the broadside as a "template," which is a mold or a pattern on which variations can be imposed. While the H-B song is not 100% independent, its connection with the broadside song is visibly minimal.


10 Mar 15 - 12:39 PM (#3692875)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Brian Peters

Apologies, Lighter, I was talking rubbish for a moment there (the hour was late and I'd quite forgotten that I'd posted to a different thread on this subject nine years ago).

The similarities I had in mind are not between the Dorset melody and the Harrigan-Braham tune (which, as you say, is quite different), but between the Dorset one and Lena Bourne Fish's song. Not only does the latter have a similar tune, but it alters the H&B chorus with lines about 'the briny ocean', and 'lots of grog', which look to me like lifts from the English broadside text. But I've said all this before.

Has anyone got any closer to discovering how come Mrs Fish came to be singing a song that seems to be an amalgam of H&B and the English song - a version that also found its way into the Maritimes?


10 Mar 15 - 03:45 PM (#3692901)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Steve Gardham

To the Katherine Dock we'll bid adieu........

.....get up, Jack, let John sit down, Hurrah we're outward bou-ou-ound, hurrah we're outward bound.

It's not the chorus, it's just one of the phrases.


10 Mar 15 - 04:48 PM (#3692911)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Vic Smith

There is a reference above (from EBarnacle in 2006!) to the fact that Frank & Anne Warner collected this song. Here is that version that they collected from Lena Bourne Fish of Jeffrey, New Hampshire in 1940.

Ships may come and ships may go,
As long as the sea doth roll.
Each sailor lad just like his dad
He loves the flowing bowl
A trip ashore he does adore
With a girl that's plump and round
When your money's gone, it's the same old song
"Get up, Jack, let John sit down.

Chorus ~
Come along, come along you jolly brave boys
There's lots of grog in the jar
We'll plow the briny ocean
Like the jolly roving tar


When Jack gets in it's then he steers
For some old boarding house.
He's welcomed in with rum and gin,
They feed him on pork souse.
He'll lend and spend and not offend
Till he lies drunk on the ground.
When your money's gone it's the same old song,
Get up, Jack, John sit down.

Chorus

He then will sail aboard some ship
For India or Japan,
In Asia there the ladies fair
All love the sailorman.
He'll go ashore and on a tear
And buy some girl a gown.
When your money's gone it's the same old song,
Get up, Jack, John sit down.

Chorus

When Jack gets old and weather-beat,
Too old to roam about,
In some rum shop they'll let him stop
Till eight bells calls him out.
He'll raise his eyes up to the skies,
Saying, "Boys, we're homeward bound!"
When your money's gone it's the same old song,
Get up, Jack, John sit down.

Chorus


Here is what the Warner book says about Mrs Fish's version:-

Mrs. Fish told us that she learned this song from an old man who used to sail on a whaling ship. It carries the roll and flavour of the sea, and the chorus is designed for rowdy singing.
There is a good version of the song (without a tune) in Lomax's American Ballads and Folk Songs. Lomax says, "This song was sung and written down by John Thomas, a Welsh sailor on the Philadelphia in 1896."
So far as we have been able to discover, it has not been found elsewhere in America. Nor, for that matter, have we heard of its appearing in tradition in the British Isles, although it is no doubt of English origin.


Right, There's a version in Lomax. Is there? Let's scan that for you as well:-
GET   UP,   JACK!   JOHN,   SIT   DOWN!
Oh, the ships will come and the ships will go,
As long as the waves do roll:
The sailor lad, likewise his dad,
He loves the flowing bowl:
A lass ashore we do adore,
One that is plump and round, round, round.
When the money is gone, it's the same old song,
Get up, Jack!   John, sit down!

Chorus:
Singing, Hey! laddie, ho! laddie,
Swing the capstan 'round, 'round, 'round
When the money is gone it's the same old song,
Get up, Jack! John, sit down!


[I] go and take a trip in a man-o'-war
To China or Japan,
In Asia, there are ladies fair
Who love the sailorman.
When Jack and Joe palavers, O,
And buy the girls a gown, gown, gown.
When the money is gone it's the same old song,
Get up, Jack!   John, sit down!


When Jack is ashore he beats his way
Towards some boarding-house:
He's welcome in with his rum and gin,
And he's fed with pork and s[c]ouse:
For he'll spend and spend and never offend,
But he'll lay drunk on the ground, ground, ground,
When my money is gone it's the same old song:
Get up, Jack!   John, sit down!


When Jack is old and weatherbeat,
Too old to roustabout,
In some rum-shop they'll let him stop,
At eight bells he's turned out.
Then he cries, he cries up to the skies:
"I'll soon be homeward bound, bound, bound."
When my money is gone it's the same old song:
Get up, Jack!   John, sit down!


10 Mar 15 - 06:21 PM (#3692926)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Steve Gardham

This song is closer to Upton's song 'Homeward and Outward Bound' than any 'Jolly Roving Tar' songs.


11 Mar 15 - 09:50 AM (#3693057)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Brian Peters

Thanks, Vic, for letting us compare those two texts. The Lomax one is very close to Harrigan-Braham. The Lena Bourne Fish one, however, has a chorus which is undoubtedly (IMO) constructed from chunks of the English broadside - I've just realised that Harrigan-Braham doesn't contain the phrase 'jolly roving tar' at all, so that makes it three phrases from the BS that turn up in the Fish chorus. And, as stated before, her tune is very similar too. I'm willing to bet that the revival version from Newfoundland quoted above is a direct lift from Fish, which has become the standard revival version over the past good many years.

So the question remains: where did Mrs Fish's old whalerman get his amalgamated version?


13 Nov 20 - 04:32 PM (#4079525)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: GUEST,chris simmons

As remarked upon in a previous post :Get Up ,Jack ,John, Sit Down" Written by Edward Harrigan and David Braham for the Variety Theatre sketch "Old Lavender. There were two versions of "Old Lavender" - Get Up, Jack" was written for the second version. I have a private recording of the song made by Edward Harrigan's son William. About as close to the original version as one can hope to get.


14 Nov 20 - 09:59 AM (#4079599)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Steve Gardham

I'd quite like to see more of Len Graham's version as asked for by the OP just to confirm it is a version of the broadside Jim posted.


14 Nov 20 - 10:05 AM (#4079600)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Steve Gardham

By the way the OP's song is Roud 913, Laws O27, and its Master Title is indeed 'The Jolly Roving Tar', and oral versions exist in the UK and Canada, but Len's version would make a welcome addition as I have no other versions from Ireland. Jim's early version is set in London but some of the early broadsides are set in Liverpool.


17 Nov 20 - 06:57 AM (#4079931)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: sciencegeek

the folk process in action... if the Fish version came from a old whalerman, then it is likely to have been learned during a gam - or at least, a version heard and perhaps altered by a sailor who modified it to suit himself and his shipmates...

in spite of the best efforts of music publishers, once a song falls into the hands of singers it can become fair game to change


17 Nov 20 - 10:58 AM (#4079955)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Origins: My Jolly Roving Tar
From: Steve Gardham

A bit arse-about-face, sg. Much of the alteration was done by printers and their writers, and indeed the music publishers at times.