> A.L. Lloyd > Songs > A Sailor’s Life
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> The Watersons > Songs > Sweet William / Willie the Bold Sailor Boy

Sweet William / Willie the Bold Sailor Boy / A Sailor’s Life / Early in the Month of Spring

[ Roud 273 ; Master title: Sweet William I ; Laws K12 ; G/D 6:1245 ; Ballad Index LK12 ; VWML FS/S160215 , RVW2/1/71 ; GlosTrad Roud 273 ; Wiltshire 1194 ; PapaBuild at Old Songs ; DT SAILIFE ; Mudcat 22870 ; trad.]

Lucy E. Broadwood, J.A. Fuller Maitland: English County Songs Norman Buchan and Peter Hall: The Scottish Folksinger Katherine Campbell: Songs From North-East Scotland Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger: The Singing Island Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger: Travellers’ Songs From England and Scotland Roy Palmer: Folk Songs Collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams Roy Palmer: The Valiant Sailor James Reeves: The Everlasting Circle Steve Roud, Julia Bishop: The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs Cecil Sharp: One Hundred English Folksongs Mike Yates: Traveller’s Joy

W.P. Merrick collected A Sailor’s Life in 1899 from Henry Hills of Lodsworth, Sussex [VWML FS/S160215] . This version was published by Ralph Vaughan Williams and A.L. Lloyd in 1959 in The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. In the following year, A.L. Lloyd recorded A Sailor’s Life 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:

A song as touching and innocent as the wood engravings that broadside printers used to put at the head of ballad sheets. It is known to sundry tunes all over the British Isles and in America (a Wisconsin set, called The Pinery Boy, transforms the sailor into a lumberjack). Most versions end with the girl ordering her own funeral, and directing that a marble dove be set over her grave, but in fact this motif belongs more properly to the song Died for Love, and Mr Henry Hills, of Lodsworth, Sussex, who sang our version to W.P. Merrick in 1899, would have none of it.

The Carter Family sang I Have No One to Love Me (But the Sailor in the Deep Blue Sea) in an American 78rpm recording from the 1920s or 1930s. It was included in 2015 on the anthology of British songs in the USA; My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean.

Ella Shelton of Alleghany, North Carolina, sang A Sailor’s Trade to Maud Karpeles in 1950. This recording was included in 2017 on the Musical Traditions anthology of historic recordings of Appalachian singers and musicians, When Cecil Left the Mountains. Mike Yates and Rod Stradling noted:

For some reason or other this British broadside ballad has proven especially popular with North American singers. Verses often mingle with another song, Died for Love (Roud 60), though this latter song lacks the part where the girl searches the ocean for her true love. English Victorian broadside printers issued the words under various titles, such as The Sailor Boy and His Faithful Mary (Catnach of London and Harkness of Preston), Sailor Boy (Pitts of London), while Brereton of Dublin called it “A new song call’d the Young lady’s lamentation for the loss of her true love”.

Lal Smith from Co. Waterford sang Sweet Willie to Peter Kennedy and Sean O’Boyle on 24 July 1952. This BBC recording 18302 was included on the anthology Sailormen and Servingmaids (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 6; Caedmon 1961; Topic 1970).

Harry Cox sang Sweet William to Peter Kennedy in London in December 1953. This recording was included in 2000 on his Rounder anthology What Will Become of England?.

Charlie Scamp sang Come, Father, Build Me a Boat to Peter Kennedy and Maud Karpeles at Chartham Hatch, near Canterbury, Kent, on 15 January 1954. This recording was included in 2012 on the Topic anthology of songs by Southern English Gypsy traditional singers, I’m a Romany Rai.

Ewan MacColl sang My Sailor Boy and Peggy Seeger sang Sweet William in 1975 on their Riverside album Matching Songs of the British Isles and America. Editor Kenneth S. Goldstein noted:

This song has long been a favourite on both sides of the Atlantic. In some versions, the lost lover is identified as a soldier, in others as a sailor, and in some, his trade goes unmentioned; but in all cases, the young lady hears of his death from the captain of a passing ship. Very often the ballad ending borrows lines from The Butcher Boy, in which the young lady requests pen and paper and writes a letter instructing how she should be buried. Numerous nineteenth century broadsides of the ballad were printed in Britain, though the great variation in collected texts indicates a long life in oral tradition. MacColl’s Scottish version was learned from his mother. Miss Seeger’s version is a composite, both textually and melodically, of many variants collected by Sharp in the Southern Appalachians.

Shirley Collins sang this song as Sweet William in 1958 on her first album, Sweet England, and the returned to it in 2021 on her Domino EP Crowlink. The original album’s sleeve notes commented:

One of the best known English lyric songs with a variant tune. The words are from English County Songs by Lucy Broadwood and J. Maitland and the tune is arranged by Shirley Collins.

Isla Cameron sang Sweet William in 1962 on her Prestige album The Best of Isla Cameron. Ewan MacColl noted:

This typical broadside ballad is widespread throughout the British Isles and America. It is known under a variety of titles, and it is not unusual to find versions of if crossed with The Butcher Boy.

Joe Heaney sang My Boy Willie to Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger in 1964. It was released in 2000 on his Topic anthology The Road From Connemara.

Isabel Sutherland sang Father, Father in 1966 on her Topic album Vagrant Songs of Scotland. She noted:

This version of Sweet William is known in many forms, among them A Sailor’s Life (Penguin Book of English Folk Songs). I learned it from the singing of Maggie Kelbie of Banff. The barge-skipper Bob Roberts sang this version to some seamen who said “it should be Yarmouth Pier Billy drowned off, not yonder pier”. Evidently the waters off Yarmouth Pier are well known to be dangerous and many seamen have been drowned there. Take your choice.

Martin Carthy recorded A Sailor’s Life in 1966 for his Second Album. He noted:

Often adapted to fit other occupations this is one of a group of songs which includes Early Early All in the Spring and the American song on the same theme, Sailor on the Deep Blue Sea. It was published in various broadsides in the 18^th century, but often became confused with Died for Love. It is printed in the The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs.

Martin Carthy’s future brother-in-law, Mike Waterson sang this song, using the title Died for Love, in 1969 at Folk Union One, the former Watersons’ own folk club held at the Blue Bell. This was recorded for the privately pressed LP Blue Bell Folk; Hallamshire Traditions reissued it in 2014 on CD. The liner notes commented:

Mike is the last remaining member of the Waterson Family at the Bluebell. He is a great influence on many of the other singers and is one of the founder members of “Folk Union One”. The ballad, Died for Love, has many variants, some of which have survived and remain in our own memories due to the need for self entertainment. During the last two wars it was learnt by most servicemen, be they Air Force, Army or Navy.

Mike Waterson also sang Sweet William live at the Down River Folk Club, Loughton, on 20 October 1974, together with the Watersons’ Pace-Egging Song and Boston Harbour. All three tracks were included in 2004 on the Watersons’ 4CD anthology Mighty River of Song. Mike Waterson noted:

We learnt this version of Sweet William from Margaret Birkett of Elterwater—the wife of Frank Birkett from whom we had Dido Bendigo.

Martin and Eliza Carthy sang Died for Love in 2014 on their duo album, The Moral of the Elephant. Eliza Carthy noted:

Dad and I are dedicating this song to my late uncle Mike, who never got around to recording it—Dad says he tried to persuade him many times, even when they were in the studio—somehow it never came out right. We were sent a CD of a live recording of a Watersons concert at Folk Union One in 1969 by Steve Gardham, and decided to learn Mike’s version, and credit him posthumously with the arrangement, as it is so very unique to him. Apparently required some fierce breath control too, to sing it exactly the way he did. We chickened out of bits of it! Mike was known for his detailed descriptions of just how terrible he was feeling if you asked him how he was. When he got ill, that changed. You would ask, and he would say “I’m alright, thank you”, apart from one memorable occasion which is now family legend! Do ask us about it sometime, it’s a good one.

This video shows Martin and Eliza Carthy at McCabe’s in Santa Monica, California, in April 2015:

A Sailor’s Life is one of Sandy Denny’s folk club songs which she added to Fairport Convention’s repertoire, and it proved to be the turning point of Fairport’s history from earlier contemporary Americana to English songs. An early live studio recording turned up on Richard Thompson’s 3 CD set, Watching the Dark. This was apparently transcribed from an acetate recording which everyone had forgotten about. Another early version, a live recording from Royal Festival Hall, London, on 24 March 1969 with an abbreviated introduction by John Peel, was included in 2002 on the anthology Fairport unConventioNal. The first officially released version on Fairport Convention’s 1969 album Unhalfbricking added Dave Swarbrick on violin, showing what would become of Fairport in the following years. This track was also reissued on The History of Fairport Convention, on Fairport’s double CD compilation Meet on the Ledge: The Classic Years 1967-1975, in 2004 on the 5CD Fledg’ling Sandy Denny anthology A Boxful of Treasures, and in 2005 on the Island anthology Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal.

A live version recorded at Cropredy 1987 was released on Fairport’s video It All Comes ’Round Again. The line up on this track is Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol, Dave Mattacks, Ric Sanders, Maartin Allcock and June Tabor (vocals).

Vikki Clayton sang A Sailor’s Life in 1994 on her Sandy Denny tribute album, It Suits Me Well.

Dave and Toni Arthur sang Father Father Build Me a Boat on their 1969 Topic album The Lark in the Morning. They noted:

This song appears in various versions, under such titles as: Sweet William and A Sailor’s Life. It has been collected all over Great Britain, America, and Canada. In Wisconsin it became adapted to the life of the loggers and raftsmen. The words used here were collected by Frank Kidson from Mrs Hollings, a Lincolnshire charwoman [VWML FK/2/89] . Mrs Hollings had three verses we do not sing. In these, the young girl writes an anguished letter about the loss of her true love, and is found hanging from a beam by her father. We have added a verse from Gavin Greig’s Folk-Song of the North-East. The tune is in Folk Song Journal No. 3 under the title of A Sailor’s Life. It is reproduced in Ralph Vaughan Williams and A.L. Lloyd’s The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, p. 94.

The Union Folk sang A Sailor’s Life in 1969 on their Traditional Sound album A Basketful of Oysters.

The Wayfarers sang A Sailor’s Life in 1970 on their Folk Heritage album Take 2. They noted:

This song has some connection with the one time popular ballad Died for Love, from which the well known There’s a Tavern in the Town originates.

The Druids sang A Sailor’s Life in 1971 on their Argo album Burnt Offering. They noted:

This song has become a standard for many traditional singers. It could be related to Farewell Nancy—both are indictive of the female point of view of the sailor’s departure and it is also interesting to note that the texts of these two songs can be amalgamated to form one complete story. As the song is so often performed using the collected tune, a different melody has been employed here—although the unusual structure of A Sailor’s Life made effective tune swapping somewhat of a challenge. The tune used is usually associated with The Female Highwayman but lent itself very willingly to adaptation.

Martyn Wyndham-Read sang The Lost Sailor (A Sailor’s Life) in 1971 on his eponymous Trailer album Martyn Wyndham-Read.

Frankie Armstrong sang The Sailor Boy in 1973 on the Topic album The Valiant Sailor accompanying Roy Palmer’s book of the same name. This track was included in 2000 on the Fellside reissue of her 1972 album Lovely on the Water.

Derek Sarjeant and Hazel King sang A Sailor’s Life on their 1973 album Folk Matters. They noted:

Collected in Sussex in 1899 and noted in The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs.

Norman Perks sang Early, Early in the Spring to Mike Yates at Hawkesbury Upton, Avon, in 1975. This recording was released in 1988 on the Veteran cassette The Horkey Load Vol. 2 and in 2001 on the Veteran CD anthology of traditional folk music from coastal England, When the Wind Blows. Mike Yates commented:

A highly popular song that probably dates from the 18^th century. Cecil Sharp noted no less than eleven English versions, usually under the title Sweet William, as well as finding a dozen further sets in the Appalachian Mountains of North America. Norman’s final verses—where the girl is discovered by her father—are sometimes found as a separate song, entitled ’Died for Love. Maggie Murphy of Co. Fermanagh also sings a fine version.

Phoebe Smith sang Sweet William to Mike Yates in 1975-6. This recording was released in 1977 on the Topic anthology from Gypsy singers, The Travelling Songster. Mike Yates note:

Versions of Sweet William have turned up repeatedly from singers throughout the English-speaking world, suggesting that at one time it enjoyed a widespread popularity. On the surface it seems an innocent enough story. However, in some versions William’s ghost appears as a warning to his over-faithful sweetheart—other like the ghost in the ballad of The Unquiet Grave (Child 78)—and it would seem that the ballad has become linked with Irish forms of another supernatural tale, The Grey Cock (Child 248). Phoebe’s version, in common with most English sets, omits this element.

Liz Jefferies sang Willie, the Bold Sailor Boy in September 1976 in her own home in Bristol, recorded by Barry and Chris Morgan. This was included on the 1998 Topic anthology O’er His Grave the Grass Grew Green (The Voice of the People Series Volume 3).

Devon traveller Sophie Isaacs sang Sweet Willie to Sam Richards, Tish Stubbs and Paul Wilson in 1974-1976; Her recording was included in 1979 on the Topic anthology Devon Tradition.

Sophie Isaacs’s performance of Father, Father Build Me a Boat arose spontaneously in a local pub. No sobbing here, and few other recent influences too. The style is direct, unadorned, and very effective—more typical of older travellers.

The Bothy Band sang The Sailor Boy in 1977 on their Mulligan album Out of the Wind Into the Sun. They noted:

The Sailor Boy or My Boy Willie, is widely known. It is printed with two additional verses in Colm O Lochlainn’s Irish Street Ballads.

Danny Brazil sang My Love Willie in his caravan in Staverton, Gloucestershire, on 6 October 1977 to Gwilym Davies. His recording was included in 2007 on the Brazil Family’s Musical Tradition anthology Down by the Old Riverside.

The Albion Band sang A Sailor’s Life in a 1979 recording on Ashley Hutchings anthology The Guv’nor Vol 1. This may also be the track on the their 2010 anthology Vintage II: On the Road 1972-1980.

Alison McMorland and Peta Webb sang Sailing’s a Weary Life in 1980 on their eponymous Topic album, Alison McMorland & Peta Webb. They give Lucy Stewart of Fetterangus as their source. Alison McMorland returned to this song in 2000 on her Tradition Bearers CD of Scots songs and ballads, Cloudberry Day.

Kate Delaney sang The Lost Sailor in 1981 on Gordon McIntyre’s and her Larrikin album Blackwaterside.

Maggie Murphy sang Willie-O to Keith Summers in her cottage in Tempo, Co Fermanagh, in 1982. This recording was included in 2004 on the Musical Tradition anthology of football, hunting and other traditional songs from around Lough Erne’s shore, The Hardy Sons of Dan. She also sang Early, Early All in the Spring on her 1996 Veteran CD Linkin’ O’er the Lea.

Pat Ryan sang The Lost Sailor in 1983 on her Traditional Sound Recordings album Moving On.

Mikeen McCarthy sang this song as Early in the Month of Spring in a recording made by Jim Carroll and Pat Mackenzie on the title track of the 1986 VWML cassette of songs and a story of Irish Travellers, Early in the Month of Spring. This cassette was included in 2003 on the Musical Tradition anthology of songs of Irish travellers in England, From Puck to Appleby.

Mark T and the Brickbats sang Sweet William in 1986 on their Fellside album Johnny There.

Fred Whiting of Kenton, Suffolk, sang One Fine Morning Early in Spring to John Howson in 985-97. This recording was issued in 1988 on the Veteran Tapes cassette of old songs anf ballads, Songs Sung in Suffolk Vol. 3., and in 2000 on the Veteran anthology of popular folk songs, old songs and ballads, Songs Sung in Suffolk. John Howson noted:

This song has been known in Britain, U.S.A and Australia under many different titles including The Sailor Boy, The Sailing Trade, The Sailor Boy and his Faithful Mary, The Faithful Lovers and Sweet William. It probably dates from the time of George III, during the wars with France. The song appears in just about every folk-song collection in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, and there are numerous recordings of it.

Fred told me this: “I learned that one from Ernie Mayes. We were sitting in a meadow one Sunday there, when he came along and he said, ‘I’ll sing you a song you’ve never heard before!’ and that’s the one he sung us. I had a fantastic memory that time of day and I knew it word-for-word as soon as he’d sung it.”

Swan Arcade sang A Sailor’s Life on their 1990 CD Full Circle.

Fred Jordan sang Sweet William on his 1991 EFDSS cassette In Course of Time. This recording was included in 2003 on his posthumous Veteran anthology A Shropshire Lad.

Jo Freya sang A Sailor’s Life in 1992 on her Saydisc album Traditional Songs of England. The liner notes commented:

Sung to Percy Merrick by Henry Hills, Lodsworth, Sussex in 1899 [VWML FS/S160215] . This song has been collected in various guises throughout England and has a connection with the well-known song Died for Love. It exists in published broadside versions and travelled to North America where it has been commonly reported including an adaption to the life of a timber-raftsman.

Elizabeth Stewart sang Sailin, Sailin on her 1992 cassette ’Atween You an’ Me. This recording was also included in 2004 on her Elphinstone Institute CD Binnorie.

Finest Kind sang A Sailor’s Life on their 1999 album Heart’s Delight. They noted:

Despite the title, this ballad is really about the sailor’s unfortunate sweetheart who follows him to sea and dies for love. Ian [Robb] learned it 30 years ago in the English folksong clubs, but it has been around for a long time. Maine folksong scholar Fannie Eckstorm writes about her father travelling in the late 1830s: “At a woods tavern or ‘shanty’ where he stopped, a very drunken teamster was alternately busy in trying to roll up his employer in a dirty quilt until he looked like a cocoon, and in singing this song:

And e-ve-ry ship tha-at she-e passed by
She did inquire for her sailor bo-eee!

A comical image of a rather desolate song.”

Bob Lewis sang this song as My Boy Jimmy at a concert he did with Bob Copper at Nellie’s Folk Club, The Rose and Crown Hotel, Tonbridge, Kent, on 17 October 1999. This concert was released in 2017 on their Musical Traditions CD The Two Bobs’ Worth.

Elspeth Cowie sang A Sailor’s Life on her 2000 CD Naked Voice.

Freyja sang A Sailor’s Life in 2000 on their Osmosys album One Bathroom.

Kathryn Roberts sang Sailor Boy in 2001 on Equation’s EP The Dark Ages. Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman recorded it again for their 2020 album On Reflection.

Kate Burke and Ruth Hazleton sang The Lost Sailor on their 2002 album Swapping Seasons. They also included an archival recording of Simon McDonald singing The Lost Sailor that was collected and recorded by Norm O’Connor in 1965.

Linde Nijland sang A Sailor’s Life on a CD accompanying the Dutch Fairport Convention fanzine Flatback Paper, #80, December 2002.

Fiona Hunter sang Sailin’s a Wearie Life on the 2002 album of traditional music from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, No. 1 Scottish. She also sang it as A Sailor’s Life on her 2024 album Atween the Salt Sea and the Sand.

Norma Waterson sang Willie the Bold Sailor Boy in 2003 on the “English” CD of the Fellside anthology of English traditional songs and their Australian variants, Song Links. Edgar Waters noted in the album’s booklet:

This song exists in many versions and has been published under many names. Some versions are fragmentary, or contain verses that do not appear to belong to it, making the texts seem almost incomprehensible. In one form or another, it has been widely recorded from oral tradition all over the British Isles and in North America. Norma Waterson’s version was learnt from a singer called Liz Jefferies. Liz Jefferies’ version may be heard on the third of the twenty CD collection called The Voice of the People, published by Topic Records.

Cathie O’Sullivan sang the matching The Lost Sailor on the “Australian” CD of the Song Links anthology.

Alasdair Roberts sang Sweet William on his 2005 Drag City album No Earthly Man. He noted:

Variants of this song of lost love are commonly found throughout the English-speaking world—Cecil Sharp collected eleven versions in England and twelve in the Appalachians alone. This version was learnt from a recording of the Shropshire singer Fred Jordan, who in turn learnt it from the singing bargeman Bob Roberts.

John Tams sang A Sailor’s Life in 2005 on his Topic album, The Reckoning.

Craig Morgan Robson sang The Sailing Trade on their 2006 CD Stranded. They noted:

This charming song can be found in Roy Palmer’s excellent book The Valiant Sailor. We learned it at the time of the Trafalgar celebrations as is makes a fleeting (sorry!) reference to the Victory.

Nick Cave sang Pinery Boy on the album of new recordings of pirate ballads, sea songs and chanteys, Rogue’s Gallery.

Viv Legg sang Sweet William on her 2006 Veteran CD of a Cornish family’s songs, Romany Roots. Mike Yates noted:

A highly popular song that goes under numerous titles, including Father, Father Build Me a Boat, Captain, Captain Tell me True, My Boy Willie, My Sailor Lad, The Sailor Boy, A Sailor’s Life and The Sailor’s Trade is a Weary Life. It would seem to have started life at the end of the 18^th century (although at least one version mentions the bombardment of Cartagena, Colombia, during Admiral Vernon’s 1740 expedition, so it may be earlier) and was printed in London at the beginning of the 19^th century by both Pitts and Evans.

Rattle on the Stovepipe sang Father, Father Build Me a Boat, in 2006 on their WildGoose CD Eight More Miles. They noted:

Several years ago Francis Shergold, stalwart and longtime Squire of Bampton Morris, decided to dance Highland Mary to the tune of Yellow Submarine, and when challenged by an academic visitor on his use of the wrong tune, Francis, a master of repartee, as well as a fine dancer, suggested he went and pissed in his hat! A critique of a performance shouldn’t be based on whether the lyric, tune, key, speed, instrument, is correct but whether it works. Of course we all have our personal preferences, but that’s what they are, preferences, and not laws carved in stone. Which is why Virginia’s Doc Boggs was as happy to sing Papa, Build Me a Boat to the waltzy major Victorian parlour tune, used here, as other singers were to use more archaic sounding, high lonesome, vehicles for the same words. Doc learnt it in the 1920s from Charlie Powers, one of his band members. Dave uses Doc’s tune (or pretty close) to a set of words that he learnt back in the 1960s, collected by Frank Kidson from a Mrs Hollings, a Lincolnshire charwoman [VWML FK/2/89] . The dramatic “Sailors, oh sailors, dress all in black” verse is from Gavin Greig’s Folk-Song of the North-East. Widely sung in Britain and the USA with titles such as A Sailor’s Life, Early, Early All in the Spring, Sweet William, and on a Catnach broadside The Sailor Boy and his Faithful Mary, the song, adapted in Wisconsin to the life of the timber-raftsmen, is frequently mixed up with Died for Love, both songs sharing/borrowing verses from each other.

Burgess, Ådin & Wingård sang Sailor Boy on their 2007 CD Doggerland. They noted:

There’s no lack of traditional songs about sailor sweethearts lost at sea. This one was collected by Vaughan Williams in 1907 from a Sussex shepherd by the name of Mr Flint [VWML RVW2/1/71] .

Paul Davenport sang Died for Love in 2008 on his and Liz Davenport’s Hallamshire Tradition CD Songbooks. They noted:

A lesser known version of A Sailor’s Life. This [is] from the great Joseph Taylor via Mike Waterson more years ago than we care to remember.

Marilyn Tucker sang Sweet Willie on her and Paul Wilson’s 2009 Wren Trust album of songs of sea and shore, On the Tide. They noted:

This version was collected by Paul Wilson from Sophie Isaacs from South Devon in the 1970s.

The Young’uns sang A Sailor’s Life on their 2010 CD Man, I Feel Like a Young’un.

Sue Brown and Lorraine Irwing sang Sweet William, in 2012 on their RootBeat album The 13^th Bedroom.

Andy Turner sang Early in the Month of Spring, referring to Mikeen McCarthy on the 1986 VWML cassette, as the 9 June 2012 entry of his project A Folk Song a Week.

Rob William sang Early, Early All in the Spring on his 2012 album of songs collected in 1905 by the Hammond Brothers from Jane Gulliford of Combe Florey, Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Marc Block sang A Sailor’s Life on his 2014 CD The Hawthorn Spring.

Hannah Sanders sang A Sailor’s Life in 2015 on her album Charms Against Sorrow.

Claire Hastings sang Sailin’s a Weary Life on her 2019 CD Those Who Roam.

Emily Smith and Jamie McClennan sang Sailin’s a Weary Life on their 2019 CD Small Town Stories.

Matt Lazenby sang Sweet William on his 2020 EP Sweet Dreams of Life.

Nuala Kennedy sang Father Father on her 2023 CD Shorelines. She noted:

What I see as a more open-ended version of the song Died for Love, the first part of this melody I learned from Alasdair Roberts, which he got in turn from Shropshire singer Fred Jordan. John Moulden comments that “The Fred Jordan tune is a close relative of The Croppy Boy tune aka Cailín Ó Chois tSúire Me, among the first Irish tunes in the oral tradition to be written down”. I have added to the melody here.

Lyrics

Ella Shelton sings A Sailor’s Trade

A sailor’s trade is a cruel life,
It robs young ladies of their heart’s delight.
It causes them for to weep and mourn,
The loss of a sailor-boy never to return.

Yellow was the colour of my truelove’s hair,
His cheeks was like a lily fair.
If he returns it will give me joy
For I never loved any but my sweet sailor-boy.

She run her boat against the main,
She spied three ships all sailing from Spain.
She hollered each captain as he pass by,
Oh there she enquired for her sweet sailor-boy.

“Oh Captain, Captain, tell me true,
Does my sweet sailor-boy sail with you?
Oh answer me quick and therefore give me joy
For I never loved any like my sweet sailor-boy.”

“Oh lady, lady, he’s not here,
He got killed in the battle, my dear.
At the head of rocky islands (as) we passed by
Oh there we saw your sailor-boy lie.”

She wrung her hands all in her hair
Just like a lady in despair.
She rode her boat against the rock,
I thought that lady’s heart was broke.

Shirley Collins sings Sweet William

“Father, father, come build me a boat
That over the wide ocean I may go,
And every ship that I pass by
There I’ll enquire of my sailor boy.”

I hadn’t been sailing but half an hour
Before I met a bold man-of-war,
“Captain, captain, come tell me true,
Is my sweet William on board with you?”

“No, kind lady, he is not here.
That he has drownded most great I fear.
The other night when the wind blew high,
That’s when we lost your sailor boy.”

I’ll sat me down, I’ll write a song,
I’ll write it neat and I’ll write it long.
In every verse I’ll shed a tear
In every line hold Willy dear.

I wish I wish but it’s all in vain,
I wish I was a maid again.
But a maid, a maid I’ll never be,
Till apples grow on an orange tree.

A.L. Lloyd sings A Sailor’s Life

A sailor’s life is a merry life.
They rob young girls of their hearts’ delight,
Leaving them behind to sigh and mourn,
They never know when they will return.

“Here’s four-and-twenty all in a row,
My sweetheart cuts the brightest show.
He’s proper, tall, genteel withal,
And if I don’t have him,” she said, “ I’ll have none at all.”

“Oh father, fetch me a little boat,
That I might on the ocean float.
And every Queen’s ship that we pass by
We’ll make enquire for my sailor boy.”

We hadn’t sailed long upon the deep
Before a Queen’s we chanced to meet.
“You sailors all, come tell me true,
Does my sweet William sail among your crew?”

“Oh no, fair lady, he isn’t here,
For he is drownded, we greatly fear.
On yon green island as we passed by,
There we lost sight of your sailor boy.”

She wrung her hands and she tore her hair
Much like a woman in great despair.
Her little boat ’gainst a rock did run.
“How can I live now my William is gone?”

Martin Carthy sings A Sailor’s Life

A sailor’s life is a merry life.
They robs young girls of their hearts’ delight,
Leaving them behind for to weep and mourn,
They never know when they will return.

“Oh there’s four-and-twenty all in a row,
My sweetheart cuts the finest show.
He’s proper, tall, genteel withal,
If I don’t have him I’ll have none at all.”

“Oh father, build me a bonny boat,
That on the wide ocean I may float.
And every Queen’s ship that we pass by
There I’ll enquire for my sailor boy.”

Now they had not sailed long upon the deep
Before the Queen’s ship they chanced to meet.
“You sailors all, pray tell me true,
Does my sweet William sail among your crew?”

“Oh no, fair maid, he is not here,
For he’s been drownded, we greatly fear.
On yon green island as we passed by,
There we lost sight of your sailor boy.”

Now she wrung her hands and she tore her hair
Much like a damsel in great despair.
Her little boat ’gainst a rock did run.
“How can I live now my William is gone?”

Mike Waterson sings Sweet William

It was early, early on a sunny day in spring
My love has listed all for to serve the king
The wind’s blown high and the wind’s blown low
And we parted, me and my young sailor boy

“Oh father, far, will you build me a boat
That on the cold ocean I may float?
And every king’s ship that we pass by
I’ll make enquiry for my sailor boy.”

Why, she hadn’t been a-sailing so very far upon the deep
When did her first king ship she chanced to meet,
It’s, “Captain, captain, tell me true,
Does my sweet William sail on board with you?”

“What colour is your true love’s hair?
And what sort of jacket does your true love wear?”
“His jacket’s blue, it’s bright round with gold
And his hair it is the same colour as yours.”

“Oh no, fair maiden, I’m afraid he isn’t here.
But he’s been drownded and that I greatly fear.
On yon green ocean as we passed by,
There we lost sight of your young sailor boy.”

Why, she wrung her hands a little while and tore her hair
Much like some maiden in great despair.
“Oh happy, happy is the girl,” she cried,
“What has her own true lover by her side.”

Her father he, he come home late at night
His looking round for, for his sad delight
He went upstairs and the door he broke
And he found her hanging by a rope.

And didn’t he take him a knife so long and sharp and he cut her down
And in her bosom a note was found
Been written in blood just to testify
That for her true love William she did die.

“Will you dig me a grave so very wide and so very deep
And put a marble stone at, at my head and feet
And in the middle, place a snow-white dove
Just to let the world know that I died for love.”

Sandy Denny sings A Sailor’s Life

A sailor’s life, it is a merry life.
He robs young girls of their hearts’ delight.
Leaving them behind to weep and mourn,
They never know when they will return.

“Well, there’s four and twenty all in a row,
My true love he makes the finest show.
He’s proper tall, genteel and all,
And if I don’t have him, I’ll have none at all.”

“Oh father, build for me a bonny boat,
That on the wide ocean I may float.
And every Queen’s ship that we pass by,
There I’ll enquire for my sailor boy.”

Well, they had not sailed long on the deep
When a Queen’s ship they chanced to meet.
“You sailors all, pray tell me true,
Does my sweet William sail among your crew?”

“Oh no, fair maiden, he is not here.
For he’s been drownded we greatly fear.
On yon green island as we passed it by,
There we lost sight of your sailor boy.”

Well, she wrung her hands and she tore her hair.
She was like a young girl in great despair.
And her little boat against a rock did run.
“How can I live now my sweet William is gone?”

Phoebe Smith sings Sweet William

There was six bonny sailors stood in a row
And my love William among the crew.
He’s tall and handsome, both young and fair,
If I don’t have William I’ll have none at all.

Now he sails away on the morning tide,
I stood on shore and watched that ship sail by,
To plough the ocean both far and wide
When the sea is raging and the wind blows high.

“Now come father, come father, build to me a boat
And on the ocean l’m going to float,
To watch those Queen’s ships as they sail by;
Then I will enquire for my Willie boy”

She did not sail on the ocean far
Before a Queen’s ship she chanced to meet.
“Come Captain, Captain, now tell me true,
The ship my love William’s on board with you?”

“Now what colour clothes did your Willie wear?”
“The colour blue with his eyes so true.
His ruby lips they’re so fresh and fine
And ten thousand times they have been joined with mine.”

“Oh no fair lady he is not here,
He’s dead and drowned, I am aware.
The other night when the wind blew high
That’s when I lost sight of your Willie boy.”

“Now are you single and are you free
Or will you come love and marry me?”
“I won’t be bound but I will go free
Until apples grow on an orange tree.”

Maggie Murphy sings Willie-O

Oh early, early all in the spring,
When my love Willie went to serve the King,
The storm high and the wind did blow,
Which parted me from my sailor boy.

It’s get for me, love, a small wee boat,
That it’s on the ocean I mean to float,
From the lowlands low to the mainland sky,
That I might enquire for my sailor boy.

She just passed by one league or two,
When she met a captain with his ship crew.
Saying, “Captain, captain, come tell me true,
Does my love Willie sail on board with you?”

“What kind of hair has your Willie dear?
What kind of clothes does your Willie wear?”
“He wears a suit of the Royal blue.
And you’ll know him by his heart so true.”

“Oh no, my dear, your Willie is not here,
For he was drown-ded last night I fear.
In yon green island as we passed by,
It was there we lost your fine sailor boy.”

She wrang her hands and she tore her hair.
Like a lady that’s raked it in deep despair.
Saying, “Ha, ha, ho, what shall I do?
How shall I live when my Willie’s gone?”

For she sat down for to write a song.
She wrote it broad and she wrote it long.
At every line she dropped a tear
And at every verse she cries, “Willie dear”.

It’s dig my grave both long and deep.
Put a marble headstone at my head and feet.
And on my breast put a cream white dove,
For to show the world that I died for love.

Fred Whiting sings One Fine Morning Early in Spring

It was one fine morn all early in spring,
I went on board to serve my King.
Leaving my dearest girl behind,
She always told me that her heart was mine.

I built my love a little boat,
On the ocean waves that she might float.
And every ship that passed her by,
She made enquire of her sailor boy.

So she set sail across the deep,
For a big King’s ship she chanced to meet.
“Come tell me, bold sailor, come tell me true,
Is my boy Bill on board with you?”

“Ah no, fair maid, he is not here,
He’s dead and drowned, I do declare.
On yonder waves that roll so high,
There I lost sight of your sailor boy.”

She wrung her wrists and tore her hair,
Like some poor girl in deep despair.
Her little boat on the rocks did run,
“Oh, what shall I do now my sailor be gone?

“I will go home and write a song,
I’ll write it clear, I’ll write it long.
And every line I’ll shed a tear,
And every verse, farewell my dear.”

Three days later this maiden died,
Leaving this song by her bedside.
To tell the world of why she died,
She could not be a sailor’s bride.

So dig her grave both wide and deep,
And on it plant the lilies sweet.
And upon her breast put turtle doves,
To tell the world she died for love.

Fred Jordan sings Sweet William

“Oh, father, father come build me a boat
That o’er this ocean wide I may float.
And every ship that I chance to meet
I will enquire for my William sweet.”

We had not sailed more than half an hour
Before we met with a man-o-war.
“O, captain, captain, come tell me true
Is my boy, William, on board with you?”

“What colour suit did your William wear,
What was the colour of your true love’s hair?”
“Oh, he had a suit of the royal blue
And you’d know him, for his heart is true.”

“Then your boy, William, I’m sad to say,
That he was drownded the other day
On yonder island that we passed by
T’was there that we laid to rest your sailor boy.”

She wrung her hands and she tore her hair
She was a young lady in deep despair.
“O, father, father, how can I go on
How can I live now my William’s gone?

“I’ll sit me down and I’ll write me a song,
I’ll write it neat and I’ll write it long,
And in every word I’ll shed a tear
And in every line I’ll set my William, dear.

“I wish, I wish, but it’s all in vain
I wish I was a young maid again
But a maid again, I shall never be
Till apples grow on an orange tree.
A maid, a maid, I shall never be
Till apples grow on an orange tree.”

Norma Waterson sings Willie the Bold Sailor Boy

The sailing trade is a weary life
It robs young maids of their heart’s delight
It leaves them all for to sigh and mourn
To think that true lovers will ne’er return.

“Oh father, father, build for me a boat
And on the ocean I’m bound to float.
And every sail ship that I pass by
I will enquire for my sailor boy.”

She was not sailing long upon the deep
A fleet of Frenchmen she chanced to meet.
“Oh captain, captain, come tell me true,
Does my love William sail on board with you?”

“What sort of clothes does your true love wear
What colour being your true love’s hair?”’
“His jacket’s blue and his trousers white,
His curly locks tied to his waistband tight.”

“Oh no, fair maid, William is not here
He is drownded I greatly fear.
It was last evening the storm rolled by
And parted William from our topmast high.”

She’s wrung her hands and she tore her hair,
She cursed herself in most modest fair,
Her little boat against the rocks she’s run.
“How can I live now that my love has gone?”

With pen and paper she’s wrote a song,
She’s wrote it right and she has wrote it long
At every line she did shed a tear
And every verse she did cry, “William dear.”

“Come dig my grave long and dig it deep
And over me let true lovers weep
And on my breast place a small white dove
To show the world oh that I died for love.”

Viv Legg sings Sweet William

“Father, father, bring a boat,
Out on the sea that I might float.
And watch those ships as they sail by
And find my lovely sailor boy.”

“What like is he, your sweet William fair,
And what’s the clothes that he do wear?”
“He wears a coat of navy blue.
You’ll find him from his heart so true.”

“But every sailor wears the blue
And every sailor’s heart is true.
So tell me maiden, sweet and kind,
What like is he, this man you find?”

“He’s tall and handsome, brave and free,
And on his chin for all to see,
A dimple shows whene’er he smiles,
For my poor heart to beguile.”

“Maiden, maiden, sad to say,
Your William died on yesterday,
On yon green isle as we passed by,
We gently laid your sailor boy.”

Dig her grave both wide and deep,
Lay tombstones at her head and feet,
And on her grave Sweet William grow,
To show she loved her William so.

Acknowledgements

Transcription started by Reinhard Zierke with corrections by Wolfgang Hell and Garry Gillard. Thank you! However, Mike Waterson’s singing on this track is very difficult to decipher and I’m sure there are still errors and mishearings, especially in the last verses.