Britannia on Our Lee

DESCRIPTION: "A wet sheet and a flowing sea And a wind that follows fair... Away our good ship flies and leave (Columbia/Britannia) on our lee." The singer hopes for a good wind and rejoices in the life at sea
AUTHOR: Words: Allan Cunningham (1785-1842)
EARLIEST DATE: 1822 (Atheneum, or Spirit of English Magazines, according to Jim Dixon. Four different nineteenth century broadsides are listed in Wolf-AmericanSongSheets, p. 172)
KEYWORDS: ship sea sailor nonballad
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Lane/Gosbee-SongsOfShipsAndSailors, p. 186, "A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-SongsTheWhalemenSang, pp. 49-50, "A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Stone-SeaSongsAndBallads, XXXIX, p. 57, "A Sea Song" (1 text)
Wolf-AmericanSongSheets, #2548, p. 172, "A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea" (4 references)
Dime-Song-Book #8, p. 50, "A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: [No author listed], _The Household Treasury of English Song_, T. Nelson and Sons, 1872, pp. 182-183, "A Sea-Song" (1 text)
[no editor listed], _Atheneum, or, Spirit of the English Magazines_, Volume 12, Boston, 1822 (available on Google Books), p. 195
Roud #2014
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Low, Black Schooner" (lyrics, tune)
SAME TUNE:
Alma Mater (by A. T. Pierson, [Class of 18]57) ("All hail to dear old Hamilton, 'Sweet mother' of our youth") (Henry Randall Waite, _Carmina Collegensia: A Complete Collection of the Songs of the American Colleges_ first edition 1868, expanded edition, Oliver Ditson, 1876, p. 6)
Come Raise the Song ("Come brothers, let us raise the song, Let hearts and voice agree") (Henry Randall Waite, _Carmina Collegensia: A Complete Collection of the Songs of the American Colleges_ first edition 1868, expanded edition, Oliver Ditson, 1876, p. 52)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Columbia on Our Lee
File: SWMS049

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