Sling the Flowing Bowl

DESCRIPTION: "Come come my jolly lads the wind's abaft, Brisk gales our sails shall crowd...." "Then sling the flowing bowl. Fond hopes arise the girls we prize Shall bless each jovial soul." The sailors boast of their prowess while on patrol
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1809 (Hay, see notes)
KEYWORDS: ship sailor nonballad drink political
FOUND IN: US Britain(England)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Huntington-SongsTheWhalemenSang, pp. 51-52, "Sling the Flowing Bowl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Erskine-TwentyYearsBeforeTheMast, p. 6, "(Then we'll sling the flowing bowl)" (1 text)
Stone-SeaSongsAndBallads XXVII, "'Come, come, my jolly lads!'" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Robert Hay, _Landsman Hay_ (Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing, 2010), pp. 153-143, "Then Sling the Flowing Bowl" (1 fragment)
Roud #2015 and 24416
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(998), "Jolly Lads," J, Pitts (London), 1802-1819; also Harding B 11(2534), Firth c.13(127), and Harding B 15(294a), "Sling the flowing bowl," E. M. A. Hodges (London) 1846-1854; also Harding B 15(293b), "Sling the flowing bowl," unknown (n.d.); also Harding B 11(1278), "Sling the flowing bowl," R Stone & E Keys (Exeter & Davenport), n.d.
NOTES [175 words]: Huntington's versions are from American whalers, but it is clear that this song was originally sung by British sailors, probably from naval vessels, as it refers to patrolling the coast of Spain.
This has been printed so many times that I decided it needed inclusion, but there is little evidence that it is traditional, and I find that not in the least surprising. It's not good poetry, and whoever wrote it clearly had never worked a ship, and very possibly had never been on a ship. If you ignore the fact that it isn't very good, it sounds like something a crew of Gilbert and Sullivan sailors would have sung. Maybe by the crew of H. M. S. Make-Me-Sick. - RBW
From the British navy, on returning home from India, July 1809, and entering the English Channel, Hay writes, "All our favourite national songs were chanted that day with great good humour. One, 'Then Sling the Flowing Bowl,' in which occur the lines 'Bear a hand, be steady boys soon we'll see / Old England once again' was chorused and encored till the decks were made to ring." - BS
Last updated in version 6.2
File: SWMS051

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