One Ship Drives East

DESCRIPTION: Round. "One ship drives east and one ship drives west, By the south-same winds that blow, Yet the set of the sails and not the gale (x20 Determines the way-i-aye-i-aye, That determines the way she goes."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1946 (Peters-FolkSongsOutOfWisconsin)
KEYWORDS: ship nonballad
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peters-FolkSongsOutOfWisconsin, pp. 100-101, "One Ship Drives East" (1 text)
Roud #15670
NOTES [79 words]: Peters-FolkSongsOutOfWisconsin files this among the nautical songs. Yet every other song in this section of the book is well-attested -- a handful of shanties known (mostly from Walton) to have been sung on the Great Lakes, several midwestern occupational songs, and a number of old ballads. This song is none of those things. It is not found elsewhere, and doesn't appear suitable for shanty work. I think it is a children's game that just happens to be about a ship. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.6
File: Pet100

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