Willie Was As Fine a Sailor

DESCRIPTION: Willie and Mary plan marriage but his ship must "sail for a foreign land." If he proves false he prays her spirit haunt him until he dies. He is false. His captain writes Mary. She drowns herself and haunts him until a wave sweeps him overboard.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Hayward-UlsterSongsAndBalladsOfTheTownAndCountry)
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity curse suicide death sailor ghost
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar) Ireland US(MA)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Manny/Wilson-SongsOfMiramichi 101, "Willie Was As Fine a Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hayward-UlsterSongsAndBalladsOfTheTownAndCountry, pp. 82-84, "Now, Wullie was as Nice a Lad" (1 text)
Bethke-AdirondackVoices,pp. 103-104, "Willie Was As Fina a Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST MaWi101 (Partial)
Roud #2972
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Captain Glen/The New York Trader (The Guilty Sea Captain A/B) [Laws K22]" (Jonah theme) and references there
cf. "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter (The Gosport Tragedy; Pretty Polly)" [Laws P36A/B]
NOTES [41 words]: Manny/Wilson-SongsOfMiramichi ends with the Jonah motif: "When an unknown wave swept o'er the deck, And swept him o'er the side ... The night grew calm and clear." cf. Jonah 1:15 "And they heaved Jonah overboard, and the sea stopped raging." - BS
Last updated in version 5.1
File: MaWi101

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