Female Smuggler, The

DESCRIPTION: The smuggler's daughter dresses in men's clothes to serve her father. She fights off a raider, but eventually is taken by "the blockade." During her trial, she reveals her sex. Her bravery commends her to a gentleman, who gains her pardon and marries her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1891 (Ashton-RealSailorSongs)
KEYWORDS: cross-dressing ship sailor trial punishment reprieve marriage
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South)) Canada(Newf) US(NE)
REFERENCES (13 citations):
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "FEMALE SMUGGLER, THE"
Copper-SongsAndSouthernBreezes, pp. 234-235, "The Female Smuggler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 333-334, "The Female Smuggler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-AmericanSeaSongsAndChanteys, pp. 190-194, "The Female Smuggler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-BarroomBallads/PiousFriendsDrunkenCompanions, pp. 132-133, "The Female Smuggler" (1 text)
Ashton-RealSailorSongs, #96, "The Female Smuggler" (1 text)
Finger-FrontierBallads, pp. 18-20, "The Female Smuggler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Frank-NewBookOfPirateSongs 30, "The Female Smuggler" (1 text, 1 tune, slightly corrected; #26 in the first edition)
Hugill-SongsOfTheSea, pp. 122-123, "The Female Smuggler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lane/Gosbee-SongsOfShipsAndSailors, pp. 206-207, "The Female Smuggler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dime-Song-Book #9, p. 63, "The Female Smuggler" (1 short text, distinct enough that it might be a different song)
DT, FEMLSMUG
ADDITIONAL: George Allan England, _Vikings of the Ice: Being the Log of a Tenderfoot on the Great Newfoundland Seal Hunt_ (also published as _The Greatest Hunt in the World_), Doubleday, 1924, pp. 129-130, "(no title)" (1 text)
Roud #1200
RECORDINGS:
Mrs. Mary Ann Galpin, "The Female Smuggler" (on PeacockCDROM) [one verse only]
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y4:034, "The Female Sailor," unknown, 19C
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dark-Eyed Sailor (Fair Phoebe and her Dark-Eyed Sailor)" [Laws N35] (tune, per broadsides Bodleian Johnson Ballads 2483, Bodleian Harding B 11(498), Bodleian Harding B 11(499))
cf. "The Smuggler's Bride" (theme, lyrics)
NOTES [64 words]: Frank suggests that this song may not be traditional, at least among sailors, pointing out that Whall never quite says that he heard it sung. But the distribution of versions seems to imply that somebody was carrying it around the oceans!
The Dime-Song-Book #9 version dates to 1862 or earlier, but I haven't used that as the earliest date because I'm not sure it's the same song. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: CoSB234

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