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> June Tabor > Songs > Our Captain Cried All Hands / Fountains Flowing

Our Captain Cried All Hands / Fountains Flowing

[ Roud 602 ; Master title: Our Captain Cried All Hands ; Ballad Index Pea416 ; VWML GB/6a/129 , GG/1/8/468 ; GlosTrad Roud 602 ; Wiltshire 781 ; DT CAPTCALL ; Mudcat 26943 , 76196 ; trad.]

Michael Dawney: The Ploughboy’s Glory Roy Palmer: Folk Songs Collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams Frank Purslow: Southern Harvest James Reeves: The idiom of the People Stephen Sedley: The Seeds of Love

George ‘Pop’ Maynard was recorded singing Our Captain Calls All Hands by Marvyn Plunkett in The Cherry Tree, Copthorne, Sussex, in September 1956. This track was included in 1998 on the Topic anthology Come Let Us Buy the Licence (The Voice of the People Volume 1).

Martin Carthy sang Our Captain Cried All Hands on his and Dave Swarbrick’s 1967 album Byker Hill, this track was included in the 4&LP folk anthology Electric Muse: The Story of Folk into Rock and its 3CD successor, New Electric Muse: The Story of Folk into Rock, and in 2003 on the Dave Swarbrick anthology Swarb! Martin Carthy noted on the original album:

The tune of Our Captain Cried All Hands was noted down by Vaughan Williams and slightly adapted to John Bunyan’s famous hymn He Who Would Valiant Be. James Reeves, in his notes on the song in the The Everlasting Circle, suggests that the song may at one time have been converted for religious use (in much the same way that the Salvation Army converted Oh, No John to Oh, Yes Lord) which would possibly explain the rather confusing last verse which suggests a voyage into Eternity rather than a simple naval expedition. Lucy Broadwood has cited a broadside entitled The Welcome Sailor as a possible literary origin of the song.

The Electric Muse sleeve notes added:

This tune is also known as The Blacksmith (a song recorded by both the first two versions of Steeleye Span and Planxty) and to hymn-singers as Monksgate, from the fact that Vaughan Williams collected it with these words from a Mrs Verrall in Monksgate, near Horsham in Sussex, and set John Bunyan’s words from Pilgrims Progress to an adaption of the same melody. This early example of Carthy/Swarbrick, using a rather start fiddle as sole accompanying instrument, is a brilliant tour de force.

Shirley Collins sang Our Captain Cried All Hands as part of her and her sister Dolly’s Song Story which was one half of both their albums Anthems in Eden (1969) and Amaranth (1976).

The Druids sang Our Captain Cried All Hands in 1971 on their Argo album Burnt Offering. They noted:

This Sussex song was arranged by Doctor R. Vaughan Williams to John Bunyan’s famous hymn, with which most people will be familiar. The lines –

There’s no belief in man
Not my own brother.
So girls if you can love
Love one another.

is not an exhortation to lesbianism.

John Wright (uncle of Lucy Wright of Pilgrims’ Way) sang Our Captain Cried All Hands in 1978 on his Topic LP Unaccompanied. He noted:

A bit of a concoction: the tune is from the Folk Song Journal (no 3, p 131) collected by W.P. Merrick from Mr Henry Mills at Lodsworth, Sussex in October 1900 and the seemingly irregular rhythm works out at 13/8. The words are mostly from a version collected from Mrs Overd, Langport. The text is sometimes joined on to that of The Blacksmith. Whether it is really a separate song I do not know.

Blowzabella sang Our Captain Cried in 1988 on their Plant Life album A Richer Dust.

June Tabor sang Our Captain Cried All Hands unaccompanied and with somewhat different verses in 1988 on Andrew Cronshaw’s LP Till the Beasts’ Returning. She returned to this song in 2011 when she sang it with the Oysterband under the title Fountains Flowing on their CD Ragged Kingdom.

Steeleye Span used the second half of the first verse as chorus for their song Fighting for Strangers on their 1976 album Rocket Cottage.

Gordon Tyrrall sang Our Captain Cried All Hands on his 1993 album The Bridge Flows. He noted:

Compiled from various versions. The tune was also used for The Blacksmith and by Vaughan Williams for his setting of the hymn To Be a Pilgrim.

Jane Threlfall and Carl Hogsden sang Fountains Flowing on their 1995 album Who?.

Chris Wood sang Our Captain Calls in 2005 on his CD The Lark Descending. He added in his liner notes:

Thanks to Topic Records for putting out The Voice of the People and thanks to Norma Waterson for pointing me towards track 5 Volume 1. The field recording is of Pop Maynard singing at the Cherry Tree, Copthorne, Sussex in 1956. I have included this song because I think it is a masterpiece and because so much of England’s story is tied up in the single line “…how can you go abroad fighting for strangers?”

The Witches of Elswick sang Our Captain Calls in 2005 on their second and last album, Hell’s Belles. They noted:

This is a bit of a weepy song that highlights the sadness of men being forced to fight for their country. Gillian learnt it from Chris Wood who heard it on The Voice of the People Volume 1 sung by George ‘Pop’ Maynard in Sussex in 1956. Not only was Pop a champion singer, he was a champion marbles player too!

Cath and Phil Tyler sang Our Captain Cried on their 2009 album The Hind Wheels of Bad Luck.

Amsher sang Our Captain Cried All Hands on their 2015 album of songs Collected by George Gardiner in Hampshire 1905-1909, Amsher Sings Hampshire Songs. They noted:

George Smith, Fareham 1906 [VWML GG/1/8/468] .
Ralph Vaughan Williams made this song famous when he used the tune in his English Hymnal. A very similar tune was used for another song, The Blacksmith.

Maurice Condie and Adam Holden aka Another Penny sang Our Captain Cried All Hands on their eopnymous 2014 CD Another Penny Maurice Condie noted:

I used to play this with [the late] Gillian Tolfrey, who also recorded it with the Witches of Elswick. The arrangement takes a lead from Chris Wood who taught Gillian the song.

Emily Portman sang Our Captain Calls at the Fife Traditional Singing Festival, Collessie, Fife in May 2011. This recording was included in the following year on the festival anthology The Little Ball of Yarn (Old Songs & Bothy Ballads Volume 8). She also sang it on the Furrow Collective’s 2014 album At Our Next Meeting, with her first verse sung in parallel to Lucy Farrell’s first two verses of Handsome Molly. Emily Portman noted:

Martin Carthy introduced me to George ‘Pop’ Maynard’s singing when I was 17. It was the first time I’d heard anything quite like it: an old man with a crackling voice, banging his stick to keep time and gripping me with his storytelling. It was the first song I performed unaccompanied and it brought about a sea-change in my whole approach to singing.

Brian Peters sanf Our Captain Calls on his 2015 album Squeezebox, Voicebox. He noted:

Back in my youth we had to sing hymns in school assemblies, and John Bunyan’s To Be a Pilgrim, with its hobgoblins and foul fiends, was more colourful than most. Years later I found out that the tune had been expropriated from the traditional song Our Captain Calls by Ralph Vaughan Williams, who had heard it from a Mrs Verral in Monks Gate, Sussex [VWML GB/6a/129] , and commemorated the village in his title for the hymn tune.

Fi Fraser recorded Our Captain Cried All Hands, “a perennial favourite with a high sense of melodrama”, with The Old Fashioned for their 2016 No Masters CD Strawberry Leaves.

Granny’s Attic sang Our Captain Cried “All Hands” on their 2019 CD Wheels of the World. They noted:

These words were collated by Frank Purslow in The Constant Lovers with verses from the singing of George Smith (Fareham), David Sawyer (Ogbourne) and Elizabeth Smitherd (Tewkesbury). We got this from the newly revised edition of Purslow’s book, titled Southern Harvest. The tune, Deep in Love or Cupid’s Courtesie, shows up in a number of places attached to a few different songs. A variant of this tune was collected from Mrs Harriet Verrall of Monk’s Gate, Horsham, and later adapted for use as a hymn tune by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Andy Turner sang Our Captain Cried as the 18 April 2018 entry of his project A Folk Song a Week, referring to Mrs Verrall and to Granny’s Attic.

Ewan McLennan sang Our Captain Calls All Hands, “a beautiful English traditional ballad, a tale of love lost”, on his 2020 album Borrowed Songs.

Doran sang Our Captain Cried All Hands on their eponymous 2021 album Doran.

Nick Hart sang Our Captain Calls on his 2022 album Nick Hart Sings Ten English Folk Songs. He noted:

Tom Willett was 82 when he was recorded singing this song by Ken Stubbs. From a Romani family, he was a horse dealer and seems to have spent most of his life in the South East. His tune is essentially the same as the canonical version (used by Vaughan Williams for his setting of Bunyan’s To Be a Pilgrim), but Willett’s ornamentations and variations on the melody are sensational.

Angeline Morrison sang Our Captain Cried on her 2022 album The Brown Girl and Other Folk Songs. She noted:

A haunting anti-war song from two perspectives; the one who will be left broken-hearted and the other who is seduced by the ‘adventure’ of war. The tune was collected by Vaughan Williams, and adapted to fit the lyrics of John Bunyan’s hymn, He Who Would Valiant Be (in case you were wondering which came first). Check out the glorious singing of Sussex’s George ‘Pop’ Maynard, who sings Our Captain Calls All Hands in 1956 on Topic Records’ Voice of the People Vol. 1.

Lyrics

Pop Maynard sings Our Captain Calls All Hands

Our captain calls all hands tomorrow
To leave my true-love behind in grief and sorrow.
“Dry up those briny tears and leave off weeping.
How happy we shall be, love, at our next meeting.”

“How can you go abroad fighting for strangers?
Why don’t you stay at home free from all danger?
I will roll you in my arms, my own dearest jewel,
So stay at home with me, love, and don’t be cruel.”

“When I had gold in store, you used to invite me,
But now I’m low and poor you seems to slight me.
You courted me a while just for to deceive me,
Now my poor heart you won you’re a-going to leave me.”

“Here’s adieu to all my friends, both father and mother,
Grieve not for me at all for you have no other.
Grieve not, grieve not for me for I am a-going
Into everlasting joy where fountains flowing.”

Martin Carthy sings Our Captain Cried All Hands

Our captain cried all hands and away tomorrow,
Leaving these girls behind in grief and sorrow.
What makes you go abroad, fighting for strangers
When you could stop at home, free from all dangers?

“You courted me a while just to deceive me,
Now my heart you have gained and you means to leave me.”
Saying, “There’s no belief in men, not my own brother
So girls if you can love, love one another.”

“When I had gold in store oh you did invite me
And now I’m low and poor you seems to slight me.”
“Dry off your brandy tears and leave off weeping,
For happy we shall be at our next meeting.”

“Oh I’ll roll you in my arms, me dearest jewel,
So stay at home with me and don’t be cruel.”
She fell down on the ground like one was dying;
This house was full of grief, sighing and crying.

“Farewell me dearest friends, father and mother,
I am your only child, and I have no brother.
It’s in vain to weep for me for I am going
To where the lasting joy’s with fountains flowing.”

Shirley Collins sings Our Captain Cried All Hands

Our captain cried all hands, away tomorrow,
Leaving us girls behind in grief and sorrow.
“What makes you go abroad, fighting for strangers
When you could stay at home, and free from dangers?”

“I’d roll you in my arms, my dearest jewel,
So stay at home with me and don’t be cruel.”
She fell up on the floor like one that was dying;
This house was filled with grief, sighing and crying.

“You courted me a while just to deceive me,
Now that you’ve gained my heart you mean to leave me.
For there’s no trust in men, not my own brother,
So girls if you would love, love one each other.”

“The drums are beating loud, the pipes are playing,
I must be on my way, no longer staying.
Dry off those brandy tears and leave off weeping
And happy we shall be at our next meeting.”

June Tabor sings Our Captain Cried All Hands

Our captain cried all hands and away tomorrow,
Leaving us poor girls behind in grief and sorrow.
“What makes you go abroad, fighting for strangers
When you could stay at home, free from all dangers?”

“I’d roll you in my arms, my dearest jewel,
So stay at home with me and don’t be cruel.”
She fell down on the floor like one that was dying;
This house was filled with grief, crying and sighing.

“You courted me a while just to deceive me,
But now my heart you’ve won, oh, you mean to leave me.”
“Dry off your briny tears and cease your weeping,
It’s happy we shall be at our next meeting.”

“When I had gold in store you did invite me,
But now I’m low and poor, oh, you mean to slight me.
I’ll put no trust in men, not in my own brother,
It’s maids, if you would love, love one each other.”

The Witches of Elswick sing Our Captain Calls All Hands

Our captain calls all hands tomorrow
To leave my true-love behind in grief and sorrow.
“Dry up those briny tears and leave off weeping.
How happy we shall be, love, at our next meeting.”

“Why must you go away fighting for strangers?
Why can’t you stay at home free from all dangers?
I’d roll you in my arms, my dearest jewel,
So stay at home with me, love, and don’t be cruel.”

“When I had gold in store, you used to invite me,
But now I’m low and poor you seem to slight me.
You courted me a while all for to deceive me,
Now my poor heart you’ve won you’re going to leave me.”

“Here’s adieu to all my friends, both father and mother,
Grieve not for me at all for you have no other.
Grieve not, grieve not for me for I am now going
Into everlasting life, love, where fountains are flowing.”

Angeline Morrison sings Our Captain Cried

Our Captain cried, “All hands away tomorrow”,
Leaving us girls behind, in grief and sorrow.
What makes you go abroad, fighting for strangers?
When you’d be safe at home, and free from dangers.

I’d roll you in my arms, my dearest jewel,
So stay at home with me, love, don’t be cruel.
She fell upon the floor, like one that was dying.
This house was filled with grief, sighing and crying.

You courted me awhile just to deceive me,
For now you’ve gained my heart, you mean to leave me.
O there’s no trust in men, not my own brother.
So maids, if you would love, love one each other.

O the drums are beating love, the pipes are playing,
I must be on my way, no longer staying.
Dry off those briny / brandy tears, and leave off weeping,
And happy we shall be at our next meeting.

Acknowledgements

Martin Carthy’s version was transcribed by Garry Gillard, Shirley Collins’ and June Tabor’s version by Reinhard Zierke.