Far off 'till distant realms he gangs, Our wealthy laird I met yestreen; But though my Jockey's far away, Nae mair, fause Jamie, sing nae mair, Yer sangs, and a' yer verse is vain, Blaw saft, ye gales, round Jockey's head; Though full o'erlang will be his stay, XCIX I'd think on thee, my Love IN storms when clouds obscure the sky, I think, my Sally, on thy charms; The wind and rain, I'd think on thee, my Love. When rocks appear on every side, The troubled main, &c. But should the gracious pow'rs be kind, I tempt again, But tender joys improve; I then with thee Should happy be, And think on nought but love. C '0, Falmouth is a fine town' O, FALMOUTH is a fine town with ships in the bay, For it's home, dearie, home-it's home I want to be, In Baltimore a-walking a lady I did meet With her babe on her arm, as she came down the street ; And I thought how I sailed, and the cradle standing ready For the pretty little babe that has never seen its daddy. O, if it be a lass, she shall wear a golden ring; O, there's a wind a-blowing, a-blowing from the west, For it's home, dearie, home-it's home I want to be, NOTES Ash. J. Ashton's Real Sailor-Songs. (London. 1891.) Reference = to numbers. Hall. J. O. Halliwell's Early Naval Ballads. (Percy Society. 1841.) Ref. to pages. R. B. Roxburghe Ballads. (Ballad Society.) Ref. to volumes B. B. and pages. Bagford Ballads. (Ballad Society.) Ref. to volumes and Rawl. Rawlinson's Ballads in Bodleian. Ref. to volume and number. W. Wood's Ballads in Bodleian. Ref. to Shelf-mark. D. S. Douce's Collection of English Songs in Bodleian. (5 vols.) Chap. Chappell's Popular Music of the Olden Time. (London. 1855-7.) Ref. to pages. Child-Prof. F. J. Child's English and Scottish Popular Ballads. (5 vols.) Ref. to numbers. L.-W. H. Logan's Pedlar's Pack of Ballads and Songs. (Edinburgh. 1869.) Ref. to pages. N.B.-The following list of sources is not intended to be complete. In most cases only the source from which the present version has been taken is given. The notes signed C. A. G. B. are kindly contributed by Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge. 1. From a MS. in the library at Trinity College, Cambridge. It is printed in Early English Text Society, 25, 1867; Ash. (preface), and Hall., p. 1. Cf. Sir Henry Ellis's Original Letters, 2nd series, vol. i. p. 110, for a letter requesting a licence on behalf of the Earl of Oxford to carry pilgrims to Compostella in the Jesus of Orwelle'. The exportation of pilgrims to the shrine of St. James (whose body was discovered in 797) was a regular trade; in 1434 a licence to carry no less than 2,433 pilgrims was granted by Henry VI. Cf. Borrow's Bible in Spain, ch. 27. 'War-take' in st. 10. I has baffled all editors. It might mean war-tackle, some apparatus outside the vessel: but this is not probable, and any alternative explanation is purely conjectural. Febyll cell' in st. 16. 4 is a slightly-built cabin such as was sometimes hastily constructed by the ship's carpenter down to the very last days of wooden ships. 'If the spelling of parts of this song were changed to present forms, and allowance made for altered or provincial pronunciation in a few words, it would appear surprisingly modern. The song is most likely the composition of a sailor on board what was certainly a merchant vessel ("then cometh our owner like a lord"), and one of its subjects-for it portrays seamen's life as well-is that which always was, and perhaps still is, a matter of unfailing interest and amusement to sailors-viz. the miseries of landsmen afloat in rough weather. The only thing that can give rise to doubt as to the calling of the author is its regular and rather artificial versification-four-lined stanzas of which the first three lines all rhyme and the fourth rhymes with the corresponding line in the next stanza. This may possibly be the result of editing. Some of the phrases are especially interesting and are still extant.' [C. A. G. B.] 'St. 4. I. "Howe! hissa!" would now be "Ho! hissa!" still used on board sailing merchant vessels instead of the inconveniently longer "Ho! hoist away! Hisser is French for hoist; and a form of it is found in most Romance languages. St. 4. 2. "What ho! mate," was in common use till very lately and, perhaps, still is. "thou stondyst to ny, Thy felow may nat hale the by," in modern spelling would be "thou standest too nigh (near), Thy neighbour cannot haul beside thee," thou art too close to him to give him room to haul. |