I'm Very Very Well I'm Glad to Tell (Shore Cry)

DESCRIPTION: "I'm very very well I'm glad to tell, I fear no judge nor jailer... so list to the lees (lies?) of a sailor." "Ah, what a delight on a stormy night To sit beside a burning log, A-swapping tales of wondrous whales And drink a glass of grog."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1971 (Maorilander, according to Mike Harding, _When the Pakeha Sings of Home: A Source Guide to the Folk & Popular Songs of New Zealand_); reportedly collected in the 1920s by John Leebrick
KEYWORDS: whaler sailor drink nonballad
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Colquhoun-NZ-Folksongs-SongOfAYoungCountry, p. 13, "Shore Cry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Garland-FacesInTheFirelight-NZ, p. 48, "(Shore Cry)" (1 text with an unidentified added verse)
NOTES [105 words]: This is one of the several songs allegedly collected by John Leebrick although we know of them only through the publications of Neil Colquhoun. (For background on this, see the notes to "Davy Lowston") The history behind it was the subject of an article by Frank Fyfe, first published in Maorilander, parts 1-4 (1970-1971); I have not seen it.
John Archer, in an article on folksong.org.nz, suggests that Leebrick (whose very existence I doubted in my examination of "Davy Lowston") was real, and really did supply this version to Neil Colquhoun, but he calls its origin "a puzzle" and wonders how much of it is by Leebrick. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: Garl048

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