Merman, The (Pretty Fair Maid with a Tail) [Laws K24]

DESCRIPTION: The crew is waiting for a breeze to carry them south when a merman appears with a shout. The ship's anchor has stopped his front door! The merman reveals that he is a sailor who was washed overboard. Having married a mermaid, he grew a tail
AUTHOR: A. L. C. (=William Makepeace Thackeray?) (source: FolkSongAndMusicHall)
EARLIEST DATE: 1866 (source: FolkSongAndMusicHall)
KEYWORDS: ship mermaid/man
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws K24, "The Merman (Pretty Fair Maid with a Tail)"
Greenleaf/Mansfield-BalladsAndSeaSongsOfNewfoundland 64, "The Pretty Fair Maid with a Tail" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow-ChantyingAboardAmericanShips, pp. 131-133, "The Merman" (1 text)
Ranson-SongsOfTheWexfordCoast, pp. 30-31, "The Merman" (1 text)
FolkSongAndMusicHall,"Merman, The"
DT 564, MERMAN
Roud #1898
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.26(152), "The Merman", T. Pearson (Manchester), 1850-1899
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Down in the Diving Bell (The Mermaid (II))" (plot)
cf. "Change Islands Song" (plot)
cf. "Married to a Mermaid" (theme of marrying a mermaid)
NOTES [89 words]: According to FolkSongAndMusicHall, this is a song Arthur Lloyd sung as a sequel to "Married to a Mermaid."
FolkSongAndMusicHall suggests that, since "Married to a Mermaid" is by "A. L. C.," and this is its sequel (and said in advertisement that it was by the same author), this is perhaps also by A. L. C., whom the site suggests s a pseudonym for none other than William Makepeace Thackeray. I note that Arthur Lloyd's initials are "A. L." Coild A. L. C. = "Arthur Lloyd's Composer" or "Arthur Lloyd, Composer"? Just a thought. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.0
File: LK24

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography