The English and Scottish Popular Ballads :: :: University of Virginia Library

The English and Scottish Popular Ballads

Edited by Francis James Child.

Part I.

II.

III.

IV.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

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151

The Mermaid

THE MERMAID—D

[_]

a. Long, A Dictionary of the Isle of Wight Dialect, London, 1886, p. 142. b. H. Such, 177 Union St., Boro'.

1

`Twas a Friday morning when we set sail,
And our ship was not far from land,
When there we spied a fair pretty maid,
With a comb and a glass in her hand.
Oh, the raging seas they did roar,
And the stormy winds they did blow,
While we poor sailor-boys were all up aloft,
And the land-lubbers lying down below, below, below,
And the land-lubbers lying down below.

2

Then up spoke the captain of our gallant ship,
And a mariner good was he;
‘I have married a wife in fair London town,
And this night a widow she will be.’

3

Then up spoke the cabin-boy of our gallant ship,
And a brave little boy was he;
‘I've a father and a mother in old Portsmouth town,
And this night they will both weep for me.’

4

Then up spoke a seaman of our gallant ship,
And a well-spoken man was he;
‘For want of a long-boat we shall all be drowned,
And shall sink to the bottom of the sea.’

5

Then three times round went that gallant ship,
And down like a stone sank she;
The moon shone bright, and the stars gave their light,
But they were all at the bottom of the sea.