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Cruising Round Yarmouth

[ Roud 2432 ; Ballad Index RcCRYar ; trad.]

Harry Cox of Catfield, Norfolk, sang Cruising Round Yarmouth on 2 December 1953 to Alan Lomax. This recording was included on the album Songs of Seduction (The Folk Songs of Britain Vol. 2, Caedmon 1961; Topic 1968) but not on the extended Rounder CD reissue that was published in 2000. A longer recording with one and two half more verses, made by Peter Kennedy in the 1950s, was included in 1994 on the Saydisc anthology of traditional English sea songs and shanties from the last days of sail, Sea Songs and Shanties. The first album’s notes commented:

The Maid of Amsterdam is the best known folk song to exploit the sexually symbolic features of the sailing ship and the sailor’s life. There are, however, other songs of this type, including The Roving Kind, Maggie May (Roud 1757), The Cruise of the Calebar and the most obscene of all, The Good Ship Venus. None of these can compare in aptness of imagery, in simplicity and strength of language to this masterpiece from Harry Cox of Norfolk.

Ewan MacColl sang While Cruising Around Yarmouth in 1957 on his and A.L. Lloyd’s Tradition Records album Blow Boys Blow. A.L. Lloyd noted:

This ballad, as rough as sailcloth and as sharp-flavoured as salt-horse, probably began its life among the “flying-fish sailors” who voyaged to the Orient in East Indiamen and Blackwall frigates. The men in the Western Ocean packets learned this song too, but they changed it into a shanty, well-known as Blow the Man Down. The present version, which pulls no punches, is from one of the best of English folk singers, Harry Cox of Catfield, Norfolk.

Sam Larner of Winterton, Norfolk, sang Cruising Round Yarmouth in 1958 to Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger and/or Charles Parker. This recording was included in 2014 as the title track on Larner’s Musical Traditions anthology Cruising Round Yarmouth. Rod Stradling noted:

This song seems to be the almost exclusive property of Harry Cox, whose first line “While cruising round Yarmouth one day for a spree” has given the song its title. Roud has only 15 entries, all from England except for a couple of Doerflinger collections in the USA.

Louis Killen sang Cruising Round Yarmouth at a midnight folk concert recorded in London in May 1963 for the Decca album Hootenanny in London. He also recorded it in 1995 for his CD Sailors, Ships & Chanteys. He noted:

From the “low end” of Sam Larner’s repertoire, which had many boisterous songs filled with humorous innuendo. In this one, the humour is increased by the use of shipboard terms to describe behaviour and anatomy, a practise used in many sailors songs.

Cyril Tawney recorded Cruising Round Yarmouth in 1989 for his maritime cassette of songs of seafarers and the fairer sex, Sailor’s Delight. This track was also included in 2007 on his 2 CD anthology The Song Goes On. He noted:

A bit of bawdry from the singing of Harry Cox. Peter Bellamy, who featured the song in his set for many years, described it as an exercise in single entendre. It belongs to that genre of songs where precise vocabulary and references to some artisan practice are applied to sexual activity.

Eliza (nor surname given) noted on Mudcat in 2013:

There was indeed a pub called the Trafalgar Tavern in Yarmouth, in Victoria Road, and the King’s Head situated in Row 139 (rows being narrow streets between fishermen’s cottages in the old part of the town). Both pubs are now closed. There were over a hundred pubs there at the time of this song.
… and the Two-Necked Swan used to be in Market Place.

Lyrics

Harry Cox sings Cruising Round Yarmouth

Note: Verses shown in brackets aren’t sung on Songs of Seduction.

While cruisin’ round Yarmouth one day for a spree
I met a fair damsel, the wind blowing free.
“I’m a fast-going clipper, my kind sir,” said she,
“I’m ready for cargo, my hold is quite free.”

Chorus (repeated after each verse):
Sing fal the ral laddie and fal the ral dey,
Fal the ral laddie and fal the ral dey

[What country she came from I could not tell which,
By her appearance I thought she was Dutch.
Her flag wore rich colours, her masthead was low,
She was round at the quarter and bluff at the bow.]

I gave her the rope and I took her in tow,
From yardarm to yardarm a-towing we go.
[We towed on together till we came to the Head,
We both towed together through Trafalgary Bay.

We towed till we came to the House of Expire,
We gave her old house plenty of fire.]
I lift up her hatches, found plenty of room,
And into her cabin I stuck my jib-boom.

She took me upstairs and her topsails she lowered,
In a neat little parlour she soon had me moored.
She laid in her foresails, her staysails an’ all,
With her lily-white hand on my reef-tackle fall.

I said, “Pretty fair maid, it’s time to give o’er,
Betwixt wind and water you’ve ran me ashore.
My shot locker’s empty and powder’s all spent,
I can’t fire a shot for it’s choked at the vent.”

Here’s luck to the girl with the black curly locks,
Here’s luck to the girl who ran Jack on the rock.
Here’s luck to the doctor who eased all his pain.
He’s squared his mainyards; he’s a-cruisin’ again.

Ewan MacColl sings While Cruising Round Yarmouth

Chorus (repeated after each verse):
Sing fal the ral laddie and fal the ral dey,
Fal the ral laddie and fal the ral dey

What country she come from I could not tell which,
By her appearance I thought she was Dutch.
Her flag wore rich colours, her masthead was low,
She was round at the quarter and bluff in the bow.

I gave her the rope and I took her in tow,
From yardarm to yardarm a-towing we go.
We towed on together till we came to the Head,
We both towed together through Trafalgary Bay.

Here’s luck to the girl with the black curly locks,
Here’s luck to the girl who ran Jack on the rocks.
Here’s luck to the doctor who eased all his pain.
He’s squared his mainyards; he’s a-cruisin’ again.

Sam Larner sings Cruising Round Yarmouth

As I was got walking one morning in May,
I met a fair damsel these words she did say:
“I’m a fast going clipper, and that you can see,
I’m ready for cuttering to my own country’s free.”

Chorus (repeated after each verse):
Singing fal the ral laddy, right fal the ral day,
Fal the ral laddy right fal the ral day.

Which country she came from I can’t tell you which,
But by her appearance I thought she was Dutch;
Her flags flew in colours, her mastheads were low,
She was round at the quarters and bluff at the bow.

Now I gave her my hawser, I took her in tow,
Yard arms to yard arms together we’d go.
She lowered her tops’l, t’gans’ls and all,
Her lilywhite hand on my (reef-tackle) fall.

And now my fair women, it’s time to give o’er,
For in her snug parlour she soon had me moored;
She opened her hatches with plenty of room
Right into her cabin I shoved my jib-boom.

Spoken: MacColl: Do you know any more?
Larner: Yeah, shall I sing it?

“And now my fair women it’s time to give o’er,
Betwixt wind and water you’ve land me on shore.
My shotbag is empty, my powders are all spent,
And my old … is choked at the vent.
(I can’t fire a shot for it’s choked at the vent)”

Louis Killen sings Cruising Round Yarmouth

Chorus (repeated after each verse):
Sing fal de ral laddie and fal de ral dey,
Fal de ral laddie and fal de ral dey

While cruisin’ round Yarmouth one day for a spree
I met a fair damsel, the wind blowing free.
“I’m a fast-going clipper, my kind sir,” said she.
“I’m ready for cargo, my hold is quite free.”

What country she come from, I could not tell which,
But by her appearance I thought she was Dutch.
And her flag wore the colours, her masthead was low,
She was round in the quarter and bluff in the bow.

I gave her my rope and I took her in tow,
Yardarm to yardarm towing we’d go.
We both towed together till we came to the Head,
We both towed together through Trafalgary Bay.

She took me upstairs and her tops’ls she lowered,
In her neat little parlour she soon had me moored.
She laid in her fores’ls, her stays’ls and all,
With her lily-white hand let my reef-tackle fall.

The watch being ended I said, “Maid, give o’er,
’Twixt wind and water you’ve run me ashore.
My shot-locker’s empty, my powder’s all spent,
I can’t fire a shot for it’s choked at the vent.”

Well, here’s luck to that girl with the black curly locks,
Here’s luck to that girl who ran Jack on the rocks.
Here’s luck to the doctor who eased all his pain.
He’s squared his mainyards; he’s a-cruisin’ again.

Cyril Tawney sings Cruising Round Yarmouth

A-cruisin’ round Yarmouth one day for a spree
I met a young damsel, the wind blowing free.
“I’m a fast-going clipper, my kind sir,” said she,
“I’m ready for cargo, my hold is quite free.”

Chorus (repeated after each verse):
Singing fal de ral laddie, sing fal de ral dey,
Fal de ral laddie, sing fal de ral dey

What country she came from I couldn’t tell which,
But from her appearance I think she was Dutch.
Her flag wore rich colours, her masthead was low,
She was round in the quarter and bluff in the bow.

I gave her my rope and I took her in tow,
Yardarm to yardarm a-towing we’d go.
We both towed together till we came till the Head,
We both towed together through Trafalgary Bay.

She took me upstairs and her topsails she lowered,
In a neat little harbour she soon had me moored.
She laid in her foresails, her stunsails an’ all,
With her lily-white hand on my reef-tackle fall.

Says I, “Pretty maiden, it’s time to give o’er,
For between wind and water you’ve ran me ashore.
My shot locker’s empty, my powder’s all spent,
I can’t fire a shot for it’s choked at the vent.”