The Late Victorian Folksong Revival by Gregory E. David;

Author:Gregory, E. David;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Published: 2010-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Blaw the Wind Southerly

Anon

Fig. 10.5

Less well known, but also endowed with a haunting tune, was a night-visiting song in which the course of true love did not run smooth, “I Drew My Ship into the Harbour.” The lyric included some pithy and poetic observations about the fragile nature of human relationships:

I Drew My Ship Into the Harbour

Anon

Fig. 10.6

I drew my ship into the harbour,

I drew her up where my true love lay;

I drew her close by up to the window,

To listen what my dear girl did say.

“Who’s there that raps so loud at my window—

That raps so loud and fain would be in?”

“It is your true love that loves you dearly,

So rise, dear girl, and let him in.”

Then slowly, slowly, got she up,

And slowly, slowly, came she down;

But before she got the door unlocked,

Her true love had both come and gone.

“Come back, come back, my only true love,

Come back, my ain one, and ease my pain;

Your voice I knew not, your face I saw not,

Oh, John! My heart will break in twain.”

The ripest apple is soonest rotten,

The hottest love is soonest cold;

Seldom seen is soon forgotten,

True love is timid, so be not bold.

He’s brisk and braw, lads, he’s far awa’, lads,

He’s far beyond yon raging main,

When fishers dancing, and dark eyes glancing,

Have made him quite forget his ain.25

The collection also included a substantial number of regional folksongs, including “Elsie Marley,” “The Sandgate Lass’s Lament,” “The Water of Tyne,” “The Hexhamshire Lass,” “The Shoemakker,” “Captain Bover,” and “Here’s the Tender Coming.” Stokoe’s version of “The Keel Row” included two sets of lyrics. The first was traditional, the second set was written by Thomas Thompson in the local dialect and titled “The New Keel Row.” Here is the traditional lyric, followed by the tune and the new words:

As I cam’ thro’ Sandgate, thro’ Sandgate, thro’ Sandgate,

As I cam’ thro’ Sandgate, I heard a lassie sing:

“Weel may the keel row, the keel row, the keel row,

Weel may the keel row that my laddie’s in.

And weel may the keel row, the keel row, the keel row,

Weel may the keel row that my laddie’s in.”

“He wears a blue bonnet, blue bonnet, blue bonnet,

He wears a blue bonnet, a dimple in his chin.

Weel may the keel row, the keel row, the keel row,

Weel may the keel row that my laddie’s in.

And weel may the keel row, the keel row, the keel row,

Weel may the keel row that my laddie’s in.”26

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