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Mermaid
The Mermaid / The Sailor’s Song / Our Gallant Ship
[
Roud 124
/ Song Subject MAS178
; Master title: The Mermaid
; Child 289
; G/D 1:27
; Ballad Index C289
; VWML CJS2/9/1944
; Bodleian
Roud 124
; Wiltshire
710
; RagingSea at Old Songs
; Folkinfo 697
; DT MERMDFRI
, MERMAID5
; Mudcat 19422
; trad.]
Nick Dow: Southern Songster Ralph Dunstan: The Cornish Songbook Maud Karpeles: Cecil Sharp’s Collection of English Folk Songs Alexander Keith: Last Leaves of Traditional Ballads and Ballad Airs John Morrish: The Folk Handbook John Jacob Niles: The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles William Henry Long: A Dictionary of the Isle of Wight Dialect John Ord: Bothy Songs and Ballads Steve Roud, Julia Bishop: The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs Ralph Vaughan Williams and A.L. Lloyd: The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs
Ernest V. Stoneman and the Blue Ridge Corn Shuckers sang Raging Sea, How It Roars in a Victor Record Company recording in Atlanta, Georgia, on 22 February 1928. It was included in 1978 on the Blue Ridge Institute album in their Virginia Traditions series, Ballads From British Tradition.
The Carter Family of Virginia recorded The Wave of the Sea in New York City on 14 October 1941. This recording was included in 2015 on the 3 CD anthology of British songs in the USA, My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean.
William Howell of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, sang Our Gallant Ship to Séamus Ennis in August 1953. This BBC recording 22883 was included on the anthology Sailormen and Servingmaids (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 6; Caedmon 1961; Topic 1970). The album‘s booklet noted:
This second ballad of ill-omen and superstition has enjoyed a wider popularity than Bonnie Annie. Undoubtedly it was serious in tone when it had purely folk currency, but it became popular in stall ballad print and music hall circulation as a comic and jolly piece. In this form it spread throughout the English-speaking world, and American collectors have found it everywhere in the United States. Despite the burlesque turn in this charming song of mermaid ill-omen, a serious note still sounds in many versions—the theme of with dangers of the sea and the hard lot of men who sail it—as in this version from Hampshire, recently published in The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs:
Call a boat, call a boat, my fair Plymouth boys.
Don’t you hear how the trumpets sound?
For the want of a long boat in the ocean we were lost
And the most of our merry men drowned.
Paul Clayton sang The Mermaid in 1956 on his Tradition album Whaling and Sailing Songs From the Days of Moby Dick. He noted:
This is one of the oldest of the sea-songs still popular today. Melville knew it and quoted the last stanza in his novel White-Jacket. Of the linking of mermaids and evil events, Francis J. Child wrote: “If nothing worse, mermaids at least bode rough weather, and sailors do not like to see them … They have a reputation for treachery.”
Peggy Seeger sang The Mermaid on her 1958 Riverside album Folksongs and Ballads. She noted:
A folk version of ballad #209 in Francis James Child’s great textual compilation, English and Scottish Popular Ballads. Most people know a version of this song which has been popular in a standardised text sung by college students for many decades. I am uncertain of the exact source of the version I sing, though it is closely related to several variants found in Sharpe’s Appalachian collection, and would certainly appear to be a southern mountain version.
Jeannie Robertson sang Three Times ’Round Went Oor Gallant Ship as part of a medley of Aberdeen street games and songs in 1961 on her Prestige album Scottish Ballads and Folk Songs.
Daisy Chapman sang The Mermaid to Peter Hall during a visit to her house in George Street, Aberdeen, in 1966 [PH:1966.A38.7]. This recording was included in 2015 on her download album The Donside Lass. Peter Shepheard noted:
he earliest appearance of this ballad appears to be in The Lasses Garland of c.1765 printed in Newcastle. The song was included in Chappell’s Popular Music the Olden Time (1855) with the ranting chorus:
While the raging seas do roar,
And the stomy winds do blow,
While we jolly sailor-boys were up into the top,
And the land lubbers lying down below, below, below.Daisy’s version is similar to several of the eight texts in Greig Duncan, Scots words in the text, repeated last line and no chorus. Other Greig Duncan versions name London, Portsmouth, Aberdeen, Dundee and Montrose.
Cis Ellis Three Times Round Went Our Gallant Ship at the Crown Inn in Snape, Suffolk, in the 1960s. This recording made by Neil Lanham was included in ca 2000 on the Helions Bumpstead CD Songs From the Singing Tradition of Snape Crown.
Bob Hart sang The Mermaid at home in Snape, Suffolk, on 8 July 1969 to Rod and Danny Stradling. This recording was included in 1998 on his Musical Traditions anthology A Broadside. Rod Stradling noted in the accompanying booklet:
Professor Child called this The Mermaid because, in most versions, the sailors sight a mermaid, a sign of bad-luck, before their ship is wrecked. It was published in a Newcastle Garland, dated 1765, as The Seamen’s Distress, although later broadside printers often called it The Sailor’s Caution. In America the song was often treated comically in 19th century college glee books and it may be that sometimes the American folk versions are serious reinterpretations of these one-time comic versions!
Ewan MacColl sang The Mermaid in 1971 on The Critics Group‘s Argo album Ye Mariners All. He noted:
The earliest known printed copy of this ballad is a broadside in The Glasgow Lasses Garland (circa 1760), called The Seaman’s Distress. In its more common forms, it has served as a shanty, a student chorus and a children’s game song.
Almeda Riddle from Heber Springs, Arkansas, sang The Merrimac at Sea in 1972 on her Rounder album Ballads and Hymns From the Ozarks.
Dave Williams sang The Mermaid in a c.1972 recording that was included in 2003 on his posthumous Forest Tracks anthology You’re On Nipper!. Paul Marsh noted:
Dave sings this familiar song where he is joined by several friends on the chorus.
The Clancy Brothers with Louis Killen sang The Mermaid in 1973 on their Vanguard album Greatest Hits.
Johnny Doughty sang The Mermaid to Mike Yates at home in Brighton, Sussex, in summer 1976. This recording was released a year later on Doughty’s Topic album of traditional songs from the Sussex coast, Round Rye Bay for More and in 2015 on the Musical Traditions anthlogy of songs and recitations from the Mike Yates collections, I Wish There Was No Prisons. Mike Yates noted on the original album:
There is an old belief among sailors that the sighting of a mermaid is an omen of impending doom. However, our present song has not been traced prior to the mid-18th century when it was printed as The Seamen’s Distress in The Glasgow Lasses Garland, a Newcastle chapbook of c. 1765. In North America the song appeared on at least three commercial 78 rpm records during the 1920s and 30s. The Carter Family sang it for Bluebird as Waves on the Sea whilst Ernest Stoneman recorded it as The Sailor’s Song and, with his Blue Ridge Corn Shuckers, as The Raging Sea, How it Roars (Victor), a version now reissued by Rounder Record.
Jolly Jack sang this as The Sailor’s Song in 1983 on their Fellside album Rolling Down to Old Maui.
Finest Kind sang The Mermaid on their 1999 album Heart’s Delight. They noted:
This haunting ballad is Child #289. The version we sing was collected in England in 1906, but the ballad was a popular broadside for at least 150 years before that. We like its sombreness, in particular the repetitive, knell-like introduction of each crew member who “steps up” to lament his approaching doom.
Mary Humphreys and Anahata sang The Mermaid in 2003 on their WildGoose album Sharp Practice. They noted:
Cecil Sharp collected the song from Sister Emma of Clewer, Berkshire, on 27 February 1909 [VWML CJS2/9/1944] . We love the way that the typical ending of the ballad (where the ship turns around three times and sinks to the bottom of the sea) is completely changed and everyone goes home happy ever after. Especially after the little homily by the ‘good little boy’ about the ‘One who rules the waves’.
Sister Emma was an Anglican nun of the Community of St John in Clewer, near Windsor. She felt so strongly about the neglected children in her community that she—against considerable opposition—set up a home for abandoned boys in Clewer, called St Augustine’s Home (they were nicknamed the ‘disgusting boys’ after that) and ensured they had a decent upbringing and were set to a respectable trade when they were old enough.
She had a great rapport with the children in her care, according to the accounts of the time. Perhaps she used to sing to them in the evening. Among the songs that Cecil Sharp collected from Sister Emma are many nonsense and nursery rhymes and stories. Others are bloody, gory ballads such as Long Lankin that children love to be frightened by.
Isla St Clair sang The Mermaid in her BBC Radio 2 series Tatties & Herrin’, transmitted in 1995. It was included in 1997 on one of the two Greentrax CDs compiled from this programme, Tatties & Herrin’: The Sea.
Martin Carthy sang Mermaid in 2006 on his and Dave Swarbrick’s album Straws in the Wind. He commented in the sleeve notes:
When I was a child, Mermaid was a song which we all sang a lot. That we didn’t know all the words didn’t matter. When in the summer of 1961 I met The Charles River Valley Boys all from Harvard University and they sang an Old Timey version of the song with the memorable line in the chorus “…The landlord lies sleeping down below…”, joy was unconfined. However the version sitting in the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs learned by E.T. Sweeting from a James Herridge in Twyford in 1906 is an altogether different kettle of fish from these jolly romps and makes for a much darker journey. Given that, as A.L. Lloyd says, the sight of a mermaid was the worst of omens, you would think that it would be an invitation to all sorts of songs but it’s not so: this one song in its various forms and (possibly) the children’s song The Big Ship Sails on the Alley-O seems to be it.
Martin Carthy recorded Mermaid for a second time in 2006 with Waterson:Carthy and with somewhat different verses for the double CD Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys, and Eliza Carthy sang it in 2010 on the Imagined Village CD Empire and Love,
Pete Coe sang Mermaid in 2004 on his CD In Paper Houses. He noted:
This grandiose minor tune came from a Dorset church organist and I selected verses which concentrated on the role of the mermaid. Stan Hugill told me that, in the days of sail, if a sailor saw a mermaid it could be a sign of good luck, or bad luck… I hope that makes things clear, then.
Paul and Liz Davenport sang The Mermaid in 2008 on their Hallamshire Traditions CD Songbooks.
Brian Peters sang The Sailor’s Song in 2008 on his CD of Child ballads, Songs of Trial and Triumph. He noted:
What I sing here is mostly what Dan Tate of Fancy Gap, Carroll County, Virginia, sang to Mike Yates on 14 August 1979. Mr Tate was a banjo player and singer, born in 1896, who Mike Yates met on the first of his Appalachian collecting trips. You can find out more about the music he recorded [on the Musical Traditions anthology Far in the Mountains].
I have to admit that the ballad has “evolved” unconsciously in my hands since I learned it from the Dan Tate recording, in that the characters should be introduced in turn as “the next on deck…” etc., whereas in singing “the next to come in” I seem to have got muddled up with an English mummers’ calling-on song. Be warned not to learn it my way! More deliberately, I amended the second verse (which in the Tate version has the lady making an identical speech to the captain’s) in line with the wonderfully-spirited version recorded by Ernest Stoneman from Galax (just up the road from Fancy Gap) with his family band. My arrangement is a more conventional old-time / bluegrass effort than the Stoneman recording.
Marilyn Tucker and Paul Wilson sang The Mermaid on their 2009 Wren Trust album of songs of sea and shore, On the Tide. They noted:
Devised for the Sticklepath Bonfire Show in 1988, this song starts to investigate the myth surrounding the mermaid, and perhaps it’s no surprise to find that it’s a case of “the victim gets the blame”
Vic Shepherd and John Bowden with Linda Lee Welch sang The Merrimac at Sea in 2015 on their Hallamshire Traditions CD Still Waters. They noted:
This song comes from the superb Arkansas singer Almeda ‘Granny’ Riddle. Recorded by John Quincy Wolf in 1952 and by Alan Lomax and Shirley Collins in 1959, she became an important figure in the North American folk revival and performed at many festivals for more than 20 years, frequently sharing a stage with younger musicians such as Mike Seeger, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. In an interview in 1970 Granny Riddle claimed to know ‘somewhere between five and seven hundred’ ballads.
Despite its title the song has nothing to do with the frigate Merrimack which, rebuilt as the famous Civil War ironclad CSS Virginia fought with the USS Monitor at the first engagement between ironclad warships at the Battle of Hampton Roads in 1862, but is instead a jolly version of The Mermaid (Child 289) which those of us of more advanced years can remember learning in school from Singing Together.
Australian singer Daniel Kelly sang The Mermaid on his 2021 album of Child ballads, Love, Magic, Murder and Song.
Banter sang Below Below in 2024 on their Mrs Casey album Heroes. They noted:
As tradition dictates, this is our token mermaid song for this album! There has been so many versions sung of this sea shanty over the centuries. The maritime superstitions about mermaids and the ill fortune that seeing one would bring to a ship were continually written about throughout history. In this story she proves her muck yet again.
Granny’s Attic sang The Mermaid on their 2025 album Cold Blows the Wind. George Sansome noted:
This otherworldly tale of peril on the seas also comes from Southern Songster. The tune was sung by William Bartlett in Wimborne Union Workhouse, Dorset, to Robert and Henry Hammond in August 1905, along with 39 other songs. The words come from Joseph Elliott, collected the following month by the Hammond brothers around 20 miles away in Todber, Dorset. [VWML HAM/2/8/24] . In the 1850s, in his early twenties, Elliott worked as a fisherman in Newfoundland for around 4 years, eventually returning to Dorset, where he then worked for the rest of his life as an agricultural labourer. He came home with a wealth of songs learned in Newfoundland, singing 20 others alongside The Mermaid to the Hammonds in 1905.
Lyrics
William Howell sings Our Gallant Ship
And up spake the captain of our gallant ship,
A goodly-speaking captain mas he;
“I have a wife in Fishguard Town,
This night she’ll be weeping for me,
This night she‘ll he weeping for me.”
And up spake the mate of our gallant ship,
A goodly-speaking mate was he;
He had a wife in Milford Town,
“This night she’ll be weeping for me,
This night she’ll be weeping for me.”
And up spake (who shall we have now?) the bosun of our gallant ship,
A goodly-speaking mate was he;
He had a wife in Pembroke Town,
“This night she’ll be weeping for me,
This night she’ll be weeping for me.”
And so it continues, through all the members of the crew, until eventually they reach the cook, and the cook was not a goodly-speaking man, according to the end of the story, because what the cook had to say was this:
And up spake the cook of our gallant ship,
A badly-speaking cook was he;
He didn’t care a damn for the kettle or the pan,
If she sank to the bottom of the sea,
If she sank to the bottom of the sea.
Chorus:
And the stormy wynd (do) blow,
In the winter we’ll have snow,
And our gallant ship lying down to the breeze,
And the landlubbers lying down below,
And the landlubbers lying down below.
Daisy Chapman sings The Mermaid
On Friday morn when we set sail,
And our ship left far from land;
Where we did see a fair mermaid
With a comb and a glass in her hand, her hand, her hand,
With a comb and a glass in her hand.
Up spoke the captain o oor gallant ship,
Who at once did the terror see;
“For I mairried a wife in fair London toon,
And at nicht she a widow will be, will be, will be,
And at nicht she a widow will be.”
And then up spoke the little cabin boy,
A fair haired boy was he,
“I’ve a faither and a mither in fair Portsmouth toon,
And this nicht they’ll be weepin for me, for me, for me,
And this nicht they’ll be weepin for me.”
Oot spoke the cook o oor gallant ship,
And a rough spoken fellow was he;
Says, “I care as much for my pots and my pans,
As ye dee for your wives all three, all three, all three,
As ye dee for your wives all three.”
Three times roon went oor gallant, gallant ship,
And three times roond went she,
And three times roon went oor gallant, gallant ship,
Til she sank to the bottom of the sea, the sea, the sea,
Til she sank to the bottom of the sea.
Bob Hart sings The Mermaid
It was February the 13th that we set sail
And our ship not so very far from land,
Well, whom should I spy but a fair pretty maid,
With a glass and a comb in her hand.
Chorus (repeated after each verse):
And the ragin’ seas did roar,
And the stormy winds did blow,
And we jolly sailor lads were up, were up aloft,
And the landlubbers lyin’ down below, below, below,
And the landlubbers lyin’ down below.
Then up spoke a man of our gallant ship,
And a well-spoken man was he.
“I have married a wife in fair London Town,
And tonight she a widow will be.”
Then up spoke the boy of our gallant ship,
And a well-spoken boy was he.
“I’ve a father and mother in fair London Town
And tonight, they will weep for me.”
“They will look, they will weep witha watery eye,
They will look, they will weep for me.
They will look, they will weep with a watery eye,
They will look to the bottom of the sea.”
Then three time round went our gallant ship
And three time round went she,
Three time round went our gallant ship
And she sank to the bottom of the sea.
Almeda Riddle sings The Nerrimac at Sea
I will sing you a song of the Merrimac at sea
Oh a fine large vessel was she
When she set sail for New Orleans
But she sank to the bottom of the sea.
Chorus:
Oh the sea how it rolls and roars
The noisy winds hear them blow
Tossing a sailor man to and fro
And the ladies have all gone below.
The first that came up was the captain bold
And a fine young man was he
Saying, “I have a wife down in New Orleans
And tonight she’s a-looking for me.
“She will gaze, she will look with her beautiful eyes
Gaze towards the bottom of the sea
She may wait for me but I never shall return
And tomorrow a widow she will be.”
(Chorus)
Now the next that came up was a little cabin boy
Oh a fine little fellow was he
Said, “I have a mother too in New Orleans
And tonight she’s a-looking for me.
“She can gaze, she can look with her beautiful eyes
Gaze toward the bottom of the sea
She may wait for me but I shall not return
And tomorrow childless she shall be.”
(Chorus)
Then the next that came up was the old greasy cook
And a greasy old customer was he
Said, “I’m thinking more about my pot, kettle and hooks
Than I am about the roaring of the sea.”
(Chorus)
Then around and around and three times around
She sank to the bottom of the sea
They’ll look for her but she never will return
But tomorrow on the bottom she will be.
(Chorus)
Johnny Doughty sings The Mermaid
One Friday morn when we set sail.
And our ship was nigh on the land,.
We there did espy a fair mermaid.
With a comb and glass in her hand.
Chorus (repeated after each verse):
While the raging seas did roar
And the stormy winds they did blow,
And we jolly sailor boys was up, up aloft
And the landlubbers lying down below, below, below,
And the landlubbers lying down below.
Then up spake the captain of our gallant ship
And a good old skipper was he:
“I have married a wife in fair London Town,
But this night she shall weep for me, for me, for me,
And this night she shall weep for me.”
Then up spake the cabin boy of our gallant ship
And a fair-haired boy was he:
“I’ve a father, and a mother in fair Portsmouth Town,
But tonight they shall weep for me, for me, for me,
But this night they shall weep for me.”
The three times around went our gallant, gallant ship
And three times round went she.
Then three times around went our gallant, gallant ship
And she sank to the bottom of the sea, the sea, the sea,
And she sank to the bottom of the sea.
Martin Carthy sings Mermaid on Straws in the Wind
One night as I lay on my bed,
I lay so fast asleep,
When the thought of my true love come running in my head,
And sailors that sail on the deep.
As I sailed out one day one day
And being not far from land,
There I saw a mermaid sat on a rock,
A comb and a glass in her hand.
Now the song she sang, she sang so sweet,
No answer at all could I say,
Till our gallant ship she swung round about,
Which made our poor hearts to ache.
Then up stepped the helmsman of our ship,
In his hand a lead and line.
For to sound the seas so wide and so deep,
No hard rock or sand could he find.
Up stepped the captain of our ship,
And a well-speaking man is he.
He says, “I have a wife in fair Plymouth town,
This night and a widow she’ll be.”
Up stepped the bosun of our ship,
And a well-spoken man was he.
He says, “I have two sons in fair Bristol town,
And orphans I fear they will be.”
And then up stepped our cabin boy,
And a fine pretty boy was he.
He says, “Oh, I grieve for my mother dear,
Whom I shall never more see.
“Last night last night when the moon shone bright,
My mother she had sons five.
But now she may look in the salt salt sea
And find but one alive.”
Call for boats, call for boats, my fair Plymouth boys,
Do you hear how the trumpets sound?
For the want of a long-boat in the ocean we’re lost
And most of our merry men drowned.
Martin Carthy sings Mermaid on Rogue’s Gallery
As we lay musing on our bed,
So early morn at ease,
We thought upon those lodging beds
Poor sailors have at sea.
Though last Easter day in the morning fair,
We was not far from land,
We spied a mermaid sitting on a rock
With a comb and a glass in her hand, in her hand,
With a comb and a glass in her hand.
And first come the bosun of our ship
With courage, stout and bold:
“Stand fast, stand fast, brave lively lads,
Stand fast, brave hearts of gold.
For our gallant ship, she’s gone to wreck,
She was so lately trimmed,
The raging seas have sprung her good,
And the salt seas all run in, run in,
And the salt seas all run in.”
And up then spoke our cabin boy,
Oh, a well spoke boy was he:
“I’m sorry for my mother dear,
I’m lost in the salt, salt sea.
For last night, last night, the moon shone bright,
And you know that she had sons five,
Tonight she may look in the salt, salt waves
And find but one alive, alive,
And find but one alive.”
For boats, for boats, you fair Plymouth girls,
Don’t you hear how the trumpet sound?
For the want of a boat our good ship is lost
And the most of the young men drowned, oh drowned,
And the most of the young men drowned.
Brian Peters sings The Sailor’s Song
Oh, the first to come in was the Captain of the ship,
Fine young Captain was he.
He formed a song, “We’ve all done wrong,
As we sailed on the lonesome sea.”
The next to come in was the lady of the ship,
Fine young lady was she.
Says, “I’ve got a husband down in New Mexico
And tonight he is looking for me.”
Well, the next to come in was the doctor of the ship,
A fine young doctor was he.
He told his patients on their beds so low,
They would sink to the bottom of the sea.
The next to come in was the drunkard of the ship,
A wicked old cuss was he.
He said he didn’t give a damn if the boat would never land,
Let her sink to the bottom of the sea.
Stormy winds let them blow,
Raging seas let them roar.
While these poor sailors all a-running up the ropes
And the landlord a-crying out below.
Banter sing Below Below
One Friday morn as we set sail
And our ship not far from land
We there did espy a fair pretty maid
With a comb and a glass in her hand, her hand
With a comb and a glass in her hand
Then up spoke the captain of our gallant ship
Who at once did our peril see
I have married a wife in fair London town
And this night she a widow will be, will be
This night she a widow will be
Chorus (after each verse):
And the raging seas did roar
And the stormy winds did blow
And we jolly sailor boys were sitting up aloft
And the land lubbers lying down below, below
And the land lubbers lying down below
Then up and spoke the little cabin boy
And a fair-haired boy was he
I’ve a father and mother in fair Portsmouth town
And this night they will weep for me, for me
This night they will weep for me
Then three times round went our gallant ship
And three times round went she
For the want of a lifeboat they both were drowned
And she sank to the bottom of the sea, the sea
And she sank to the bottom of the sea
Acknowledgements and Links
Lyrics taken from the The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, ed. Ralph Vaughan Williams and A.L. Lloyd, Penguin, 1959:70, and adapted to the actual singing of Martin Carthy by Garry Gillard.
See also Stephen Winick’s article The Mermaid: the Fascinating Tail Behind an Ancient Ballad.