Ben Backstay

DESCRIPTION: "Ben Backstay was our boatswain, A very merry boy." The captain serves out double grog. Ben gets drunk and falls overboard. They throw ropes to him, but he can't return because a "shark had bit his head off." Ben's ghost warns against mixing liquor
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1812 (Ulverston New Poetical Miscellany, Ulverston: G. Ashburner, 1812)
KEYWORDS: sailor death humorous ghost drink
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Shay-AmericanSeaSongsAndChanteys, pp. 98-101, "Ben Backstay" (1 text)
Huntington-TheGam-MoreSongsWhalemenSang, pp. 111-112, "Ben Backstay's Warning" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill-SongsOfTheSea, p. 52, "Ben Backstay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Stone-SeaSongsAndBallads, XXXII, pp. 46-47, "Ben Backstay" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: The Ulverston New Poetical Miscellany: Containing a Selection of the Most Fashionable Songs, with Many Originals, Not Inserted in Ashburner's Vocal and Poetic Repository, G. Ashburner, Ulverston, 1812 (available on Google Books), p. 189, "Ben Backsay" (1 text)
ST ShSea098 (Partial)
Roud #21256
File: ShSea098

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography