Part 9
‘No, Ned, you doesn’t now often hear the staves as we used to sing in the war--you never now hears _Will ye go to Cawsin Bay, Billy Bo, Billy Bo!_--nor the _Saucy Arethusa_--nor the _Bold Brittany_--_Black colours under her mizen did fly_--_From Ushant to Scilly is thirty-five leagues_, an’ many more of the sim’lar sort.’
‘No, no, Sam--you’re right enough--your _March-o’-Mind_ men must now come your simmy-dimmy quiv’ring quivers--tip ye soft sentimental touches--sigh away like ladies in love, an’ never sing nothin’ but your silly sicknin’ stuff, as often used to frighten the geese an’ make ’em cackle in the coop, for all the world like the comin’ of a heavy hurricane. Moreover, your _March-o’-Mind_ men never will sing a single stave as admits of the main thing--for what’s a song as won’t allow all hands to jine in reg’lar coal-box? (chorus). No, no, your _March-o’-Mind_ men haven’t, you may depend on it, the mind of men--they think far more like people as rigs it in petticoats, nor they as tog in trowsers. Now what looks more young-ladyish nor to see a fellor with a fist like a shoulder of mutton, flinging his flipper about an’ suitin’ his antics to his song, as he snivels out “Strike--strike the light guitar!”... Then, again, we’d another chap--a chap, too, as big and bulky as a bullock--easin’ it off an’ mincin’ it out like a lank boarding’-school miss--“I’d be a butterfly, born in a bower”’ (_Naval Sketch-book_, 2nd series, i. 236).
Dana noticed the same phenomenon amongst merchant sailors about 1834. ‘I shall never forget,’ he writes, ‘hearing an old salt who had broken his voice by hard drinking on shore, and bellowing from the mast-head in a hundred north-westers, singing with all manner of ungovernable trills and quavers, in the high notes breaking into rough falsetto, and in the low ones growling along like the dying-away of the boatswain’s “All hands ahoy!” down the hatchway, “Oh no, we never mention him!”[_sic_]:
‘Perhaps, like me, he struggles with Each feeling of regret: But if he’s loved as I have loved, He never can forget.’
The last line he roared out at the top of his voice, breaking each word into half a dozen syllables, This was very popular, and Jack was called on every night to give them his sentimental song’ (_Two Years before the Mast_, chap. xxix.).
In conclusion it is only necessary to give some short account of the sources from which the present collection has been compiled.
The best account of the collections of old ballads which exist in various public libraries is given by Chappell in the introduction to volume i. of the _Roxburghe Ballads_, published by the Ballad Society. The British Museum contains the collections known as the Roxburghe and Bagford Ballads, besides others of minor importance. The four volumes of the Roxburghe collection contain 1,466 ballads, the Bagford collection and the smaller ones referred to about 1,500 more. Since 1871, when Mr. Chappell made this estimate, others have been added. The Bodleian Library contains the collections formed by Wood, Ashmole, Rawlinson, and Douce, numbering 1,500 or 1,600. At Cambridge there is the Pepys collection, which consists of 1,800 ballads, and is of special value for naval history, because Pepys, by virtue of his office, was peculiarly interested in that subject. The Society is under great obligations to the Master and Fellows of Magdalene College, Cambridge, for permitting the publication of ten of the Pepysian ballads in this volume, and for allowing the editor the opportunity of thoroughly searching the collection for the purpose. The library of the University of Cambridge possesses a large collection of ballads printed during the eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth, which has proved extremely useful as supplementing and continuing the older collections. It was formed by Sir Frederick Madden, and has been hitherto neglected by nearly all students of ballads, but deserves to be searched carefully by anyone interested in the later history of the English ballad.
The University of Glasgow possesses a collection of 408 black-letter ballads presented to it by Mr. Euing. The Euing collection consists mainly of ballads printed during the reign of Charles II., and has supplied several on the Dutch wars and other incidents of the period.
Of collections in private hands, that of the Earl of Crawford has proved particularly useful. The Society is indebted to him for three ballads reprinted in this volume, and the editor has found the catalogue of Lord Crawford’s ballads invaluable throughout his work (_Bibliotheca Lindesiana: Catalogue of a Collection of English Ballads of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries_. Privately printed, 1890).
As to printed collections of ballads, the editions of the _Roxburghe_ and _Bagford Ballads_, published by the Ballad Society, have been freely drawn upon. The labours of Mr. Chappell and Mr. Ebsworth have alone made it possible to select and put together ballads relating to any particular side of English history, and their researches into the questions of the origin and text of the ballads have furnished all students of any special kind of ballads with a solid basis for further investigations. To Mr. Ebsworth the editor is further indebted for personal assistance and encouragement.
Two other collections have also been of special service--_The English and Scottish Popular Ballads_, edited by Professor F. J. Child, 5 vols., Boston, 1895, and _Bishop Percy’s Folio Manuscript_, edited by Professor J. W. Hales and Dr. F. J. Furnivall, 3 vols., London, 1868.
There are also several special collections of Naval Ballads, to which references are frequently made in this introduction and in the notes. Of these the most important are:
(1) _Early Naval Ballads of England_, collected and edited by J. O. Halliwell for the Percy Society in 1851.
(2) _Sea Songs and Ballads by Dibdin and others._ London, Bell and Daldy, 1863. This contains an appendix consisting of ballads written before Dibdin’s day.
(3) _Real Sailor Songs_, collected and edited by John Ashton, 1891, which is valuable from the number of modern street ballads it contains.
(4) _Sea Songs and Ballads_, selected by Christopher Stone, with an introduction by Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge, Oxford, 1906.
(5) _A Sailor’s Garland_, selected and edited by John Masefield, London 1906.
One word as to the text of the ballads and songs contained in this volume. It was at first intended to preserve the exact spelling of the originals. In the older pieces it was possible to do this because there was usually an authoritative text accessible, which it was easy to follow throughout. But the later ballads, issued on broadsheets and slips, and frequently reprinted again by country printers, swarmed with misprints due to mere carelessness which it would have been unnecessary and undesirable to reproduce. Moreover, it was often needful to compare several versions in order to obtain a tolerable text. For these reasons a certain number of obvious errors of the press have been corrected. Some variants, with comments on the text of the ballads, and an indication of the source from which the text is derived, will be found in the notes at the end of the volume. It should be noted that in order to save space two lines have often been printed as one.
CONTENTS
PAGE
The Battle of Sluys 1
Les Espagnols Sur Mer 3
The Pilgrims Sea Voyage 4
Sir Andrew Barton 6
John Dory 16
The Mariner’s Song 17
A Joyful New Ballad, declaring the Happie Obtaining of the Great Galleazzo 18
An Excellent Song on the Winning of Cales by the English 21
The Sailor’s Onely Delight 23
The Seaman’s Song of Captain Ward 25
The Song of Dansekar the Dutchman 27
The Famous Sea-Fight between Captain Ward and the Rainbow 30
The Lamentable Cries of at least 1,500 Christians (now Prisoners in Argiers under the Turkes) 31
The Honour of Bristol 34
Neptune to England 36
On His Majesties Fleet 36
Upon the Great Ship 37
Saylors for my Money 40
The Jovial Marriner; or, the Sea-man’s Renown 42
Neptune’s Raging Fury; or, the Gallant Seaman’s Sufferings 45
The Famous Fight at Malago 47
An Elegie on the Death of the Right Honourable Robert Blake, Esq. 48
The Valiant Seaman’s Congratulation to his Sacred Majesty King Charles II. 53
England’s Valour, and Holland’s Terrour 54
Song Written at Sea (‘To all you Ladies now at Land’) 56
The Royal Victory 58
The English Seaman’s Resolution; or, the Loyall Subjects Undaunted Valour 61
England’s Tryumph, and Hollands Downfall; or, the Second Royal Victory 63
Englands Royall Conquest 66
Holland Turn’d to Tinder; or, England’s Third Great Royal Victory 69
A New Ballad of a Famous German Prince and a Renowned English Duke 72
The Second Part of the Late and Terrible Fight on St. James’s Day, 1666 76
The Dutch Damnified; or, the Butter-Boxes Bob’d 79
A Song on the Duke’s Late Glorious Success over the Dutch 82
News from the Coast of Spain 83
Captain Mansfield’s Fight with the Turkes at Sea 86
The Algiers Slave’s Releasement; or, the Unchangeable Boat-swain 88
The Benjamin’s Lamentation for their Sad Loss at Sea by Storms and Tempests 89
The Treachery of the Spaniards of Porto Rico to the Dartmouth Frigot and her Company 92
The Golden Voyage; or, the Prosperous Arrival of the James and Mary 95
The Boatswain’s Call; or, the Couragious Marriner’s Invitation 97
The Undaunted Seaman 99
The Sea-Man’s Adieu to his Dear 101
The Maidens’ Frolick; or, a Brief Relation how Six Lusty Lasses has Prest full Fourteen Taylors 104
The Couragious Commander; or, a Brief Relation of that Most Noble Adventure of Sir Cloudesly Shovell, in the Bay of Dublin 106
The Seamen’s Victory; or, Admiral Killegrew’s Glorious Conquest over the French Fleet 108
Torringtonia; or, a New Copy of Verses on the Late Sea Engagement 110
England’s Triumph at Sea (1691) 112
England’s Great Loss by a Storm of Wind 113
Naval Warfare of 1692 114
The Royal Triumph; or, the Unspeakable Joy of the Three Kingdoms 117
Admiral Russell’s Scowering the French Fleet 119
A Merry New Ballad on the Great Victory over the French Fleet 120
The Valiant Seamen’s Courage 125
England’s Glory in the Behaviour of Brave Killeygrove 126
An Excellent Song, Call’d The Frighted French; or, Russel Scouring the Seas 128
The Cæsar’s Victory 129
A Copy of Verses, composed by Captain Henry Every 131
Villany Rewarded; or, The Pirate’s Last Farewel to the World 133
Captain Kid’s Farewel to the Seas; or, The Famous Pirate’s Lament 134
A Satyr on the Sea-Officers 137
The Sea-Martyrs; or, The Seamen’s Sad Lamentation for their Faithful Service, Bad Pay, and Cruel Usage 140
Advice to Young Maidens in Chusing of Husbands 143
The Seamen’s Wives’ Vindication 145
Billy the Midshipman’s Welcome Home 146
Admiral Benbow 148
The Death of Admiral Benbow 149
The Sailors Account of the Action at Vigo 151
On the Sea Fight between Sir G. R. and Toulouse, 1704 153
A Song on the same 154
The Sailor’s Tragedy; or, The Last Farewel of Captain Smith 154
The Valliant Admiral; or, The Wonderful Success of Sir John Leake 156
The Sea-Fight; or, The French Prize Taken 158
The Loss of the Edgar 160
The Sailor’s Complaint 162
Fair Sally Lov’d a Bonny Sailor 163
‘How Pleasant a Sailor’s Life Passes’ 164
The Boatswain’s Whistle 165
The Downfall of Piracy 166
Admiral Cavendish’s Distress on Board the Canterbury 168
The Pacifick Fleet 170
The English Sailor’s Resolution to Fight the Spaniards 172
England’s Glory in the Declaration of War 174
The Taking of the Princissa 175
English Courage Display’d; or, Brave News from Admiral Vernon 177
Hosier’s Ghost 179
Vernon’s Glory; or, The Spaniards’ Defeat 181
The Saphirah (sic) in Triumph; or, British Valor Display’d 184
Admiral Matthews’ Engagement against the Combined Fleets of France and Spain 186
A New Song in Praise of Brave Captain Hornsby 187
Captain Cobb’s Bravery 189
The Princess Royal’s Escape from the Goodwin Sands 190
The Loss of the Victory Man-of-War 192
Disconsolate Judy’s Lamentation for the Absence of her True Love ... on Board the Victory ... now Missing 193
England’s Glory; or, The French King Stripped 194
The Lucky Sailor; or The Sailor’s invitation to go with Admiral Anson 195
Tit for Tat: A Sea Kick for a Land Cuff 197
A New Song on Admiral Knowls taking Port Louis 199
A New Song sung by Hannah Snell, alias James Gray 200
The Lightermans Prentice Prest and Sent to Sea 201
Britain’s Resolution to Fight the French 203
The Terrible Privateer 204
Captain Death 205
A New Song (on Blakeney and Byng) 206
The Letter of a Certain Admiral 207
A Rueful Story: Admiral B----g’s Glory; or, Who Run Away First 209
Admiral Byng and Brave West 210
A New Song Written on the Isle of Aix 211
Bold Sawyer 212
Captain Bartons Distress on Board the Lichfield 214
Gilchrist and Hotham’s Bravery 216
Hawke’s Engagement 217
Neptune’s Resignation 218
Hearts of Oak 220
Thurot’s Dream 220
A New Song on the Gallant Behaviour of Captain O’Brian and Captain Taylor 222
A New Song on the Taking of Havannah 223
Lord Anson and Hawke 225
A New Song on the Blandford Privateer 226
The Sailors’ Dialogue 227
Distressed Men of War 228
The Sailor’s Complaint 230
The Sailor’s Garland; or, The Ticket Buyer’s Lamentation 231
The Saylor’s Complaint; or, The True Character of the Purser of a Ship 233
The Sailor’s Resolution to Fight the Spaniards 234
Jack Tar 235
The Jolly Sailor’s True Description of a Man-of-War 236
New Sea Song (‘Our boatswain calls out for his bold British heroes’) 239
The Humours of the Royal Billy 240
The Dolphin’s Return 243
The Brags of Washington 244
On the Late Engagement in Charles Town River 245
Sullivan’s Island 246
The Cruisers 247
On Board of the Arethusa 248
An Excellent New Song Composed by Eighteen Greenlandmen 249
Admiral Keppel Triumphant; or, Monsieurs in the Suds 252
Keppel and de Chartres. A New Song (‘Come, all ye valiant seamen that plough the raging main’) 253
A New Song in Praise of Admiral Keppel’s Fleet 255
Admiral Keppel Triumphant 255
Keppel for Ever! 257
A New Song on Admiral Barrington 258
Paul Jones 259
Captain Farmer 260
The Bold Blades of Old England 261
The Royal Sailor 262
Hood’s Conquest over the Count de Grasse 263
The Loss of the Centaur 265
A New Sea Song called The Robin Hood 266
A New Song on the Battle Fought between the La Nymphe and the Cleopatra 267
The Downfall of the French Fleet 268
A New Song on the Sea Engagement Fought the First of June Last 270
A New Sea Song written by a Lieutenant of the Bellerophon 271
The Blanche Frigate 274
The Amazon Frigate 276
A New Song (The Seventeen Bright Stars) 277
The Genius of Britain 279
British Tars Rewarded 280
A New Song on Parker the Delegate 281
The Death of Parker 282
A New Song in Praise of Admiral Duncan 283
The Engagement between the Mars and La Hercule 285
Verses written on board H.M.S. Astræa 286
The Battle of the Nile 287
The Arrow Sloop of War 289
Copenhagen 290
Action off Copenhagen 295
A New Song on Lord Nelson’s Victory at Copenhagen 296
A New Song Composed by the Wounded Tars at the Siege of Boulogne 297
France Cover’d with Glory 298
La Loire Frigate, or Yeo! Yeo! 300
Nelson’s Glorious Victory at Trafalgar 301
The Death of Lord Nelson 302
Admiral Strachan’s Victory 304
The Engagement between the Amethyst and Thetis 305
The Attempt of Destroying the French Fleet in Basque Roads 306
A Copy of Verses on Jefferys the Seaman 307
Ye Parliament of England 308
The Constitution and Guerrière 309
Shannon and Chesapeake 311
Battle of the Shannon and Chesapeake 312
The Endymion’s Triumph 313
The British Tars 316
The Fancy Frigate 316
The Saucy Scylla 319
The Vanguard 320
The Port Admiral 322
Oh! Cruel 324
The Answer to Oh! Cruel 325
The Female Lieutenant 326
Billy Taylor 327
Cawsand Bay 328
General Campbell 330
The Bold Adventures of Captain Ross 331
The Capture of St. Jean d’Acre 333
The Borneo Heroes 334
The Slave Chase 335
The Russians Won’t Come Out 336
Don’t Forget Your Old Shipmate 337
Notes 339
Index of First Lines 365
Index of Proper Names 370
Index of Ships 382
Index of Tunes 386
SONGS AND BALLADS
_THE BATTLE OF SLUYS._
Lithes and the batail I sal bigyn of Inglisch men and Normandes in the Swin.