Bill Seymour the Bold Seaman

DESCRIPTION: "Come all you bold heroes who wear jackets of blue" to hear of two twins, Bill and Warren Seymour, who court the same woman. Warren wins her; Bill vows revenge. They take ship and fight; lightning strikes; somebody dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1947 (collected from Alonzo Lewis by Helen Hartness Flanders)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection ship battle death storm
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lane/Gosbee-SongsOfShipsAndSailors, pp. 150-151, "Bill Seymour" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES [80 words]: According to Lane/Gosbee-SongsOfShipsAndSailors, this is based on a story by Henry P. Cheever, "The Rival Brothers, or, the Corsair and the Privateer; A tale of the last war" published in 1845. Google Books, as of this writing, does not have a copy of the tale available but lists a publication in a 66 page booklet. Lane/Gosbee admit that the song as given -- even after they edited it -- doesn't make sense; you have to read the story. I strongly doubt it's worth the bother. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.4
File: LaGo150

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