> A.L. Lloyd > Songs > Ye Mar'ners All / A Jug of This
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> Waterson:Carthy > Songs > Ye Mariners All

Ye Mariners All / A Jug of This

[ Roud 1191 ; Ballad Index VWL103 ; trad.]

This song was collected by H.E.W. Hammond in 1907 from Mrs. Marina Russell, Upwey, Dorset, and published in The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. A.L. Lloyd recorded it under the title A Jug of This for his album English Drinking Songs, and in 1960 as Ye Mar'ners All for the album A Selection from the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. Like all tracks from this LP it was reissued in 2003 on the CD England & Her Traditional Songs. Lloyd wrote in the album's sleeve notes:

Drunken-daft words married to a soberly handsome tune. The words were printed towards 1840 in a penny song-book published by Ryle of Seven Dials, London. The melody to which they became attached seems to belong more properly to the complaint of a betrayed girl, call A Brisk Young Sailor Courted Me or Died for Love. H.E.D. Hammond heard it sung by Mrs Russell (see One Night As I Lay in my Bed). At first he thought she sang “Ye mourners all” but later presumed she meant “mariners”.

Martin Carthy sang Ye Mariners All in 1965 on his first, eponymous record, Martin Carthy, and nearly 30 years later with a few different words on Waterson:Carthy. He commented in the latter album's sleeve notes:

Ye Mariners All was written down by the Hammond brothers in the early 1900s from the wonderful Dorset singer Marina Russell, who knew lots of bits of songs—all of them with fine, fine tunes. The brothers first thought that she had sung “mourners”, and a song from inside the pub to a funeral cortege telling them to lighten up does have a certain something, but later decided that they had in fact heard her say “mariners”.

Jon Boden sang Ye Mariners All as the March 27, 2011 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day. He noted in his blog:

Another song that I first heard on the magnificent first album by Waterson:Carthy, sung by Martin. Graham Metcalfe used to sing it at the Half Moon too I think. Good drinking song, despite not having much of a chorus.

Lyrics

A.L. Lloyd sings Ye Mar'ners All	Martin Carthy sings Ye Mariners All
You mar'ners all, as you pass by, Call in and drink if you are dry. Come spend, my lads, your money brisk, And pop your nose in a jug of this.	Ye mariners all, as ye pass by, Come in and drink when you are dry. Come spend, my lads, your money brisk, And pop your nose in a jug of this.
Oh mar'ners all, if you've half a crown, You're welcome all for to sit down. Come spend, my lads, your money brisk, And pop your nose in a jug of this.	Ye tipplers all, as ye pass by, Come in and drink when you are dry. Come spend, my lads, your money brisk, And pop your nose in a jug of this.
Oh tipplers all, as you pass by, Come in and drink if you are dry. Call in and drink, think not amiss, And pop your nose in a jug of this.	Ye tipplers all, if ye've half a crown, You're welcome all for to sit down. Come in, sit down, think not amiss, To pop your nose in a jug of this.
Oh now I'm old and can scarcely crawl, I've an old grey beard and a head that's bald. Crown my desire and fulfil my bliss, A pretty young girl and a jug of this.	Oh now I'm old and can scarcely crawl, I've a long grey beard and a head that's bald. Crown my desire, fulfil my bliss, A pretty girl and a jug of this.
Oh when I'm in my grave and dead, And all my sorrows are past and fled, Transform me then into a fish, And let me swim in a jug of this.	Oh when I'm in my grave and dead, And all my sorrows are past and fled, Transform me then into a fish, And let me swim in a jug of this.
	Ye mariners all, as ye pass by, Come in and drink when you are dry. Come in, sit down, think naught amiss, To pop your nose in a jug of this.

Acknowledgements

Transcribed from the singing of Martin Carthy by Garry Gillard.