Golden Vanity, The [Child 286]

DESCRIPTION: A ship is threatened by a foreign galley. The ship's cabin boy, promised gold and the captain's daughter as wife, sinks the galley. He comes back to his ship; the captain will not take him from the water. (The ending is variable)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1685 (broadside)
KEYWORDS: sea battle death promise lie abandonment betrayal trick
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
c. 1552-1618 - Life of Sir Walter Raleigh (one of whose ships was named "The Sweet Trinity")
FOUND IN: Britain(England(All),Scotland(Aber,Bord)) Ireland US(All) Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont)
REFERENCES (116 citations):
Child 286, "The Sweet Trinity (The Golden Vanity)" (3 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #52, #55}
Bronson 286, "The Sweet Trinity (The Golden Vanity)" (111 versions+1 in addenda)
Bronson-SingingTraditionOfChildsPopularBallads 286, "The Golden Vanity" (7 versions: #2, #27, #43, #71, #74, #94, #102)
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "GOLDEN VANITY, THE"
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast #116, p. 1, "The Lowlands O"; #119, p. 2, "The Lowlands Low" (2 texts)
Greig/Duncan1 37, "The Golden Vanity" (5 texts, 4 tunes) {D=Bronson's #13}
Ord-BothySongsAndBallads, pp. 450-451, "The Lowlands Low" (1 text)
Porter/Gower-Jeannie-Robertson-EmergentSingerTransformativeVoice #30, pp. 165-166, "The Golden Victory" (1 text, 1 tune)
Broadwood/Maitland-EnglishCountySongs, pp. 182-183, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune)
Williams-FolkSongsOfTheUpperThames, pp. 199-200, "The Golden Vanitee" (1 text) (also Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Wt 444)
Reeves-TheEverlastingCircle 51, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text)
Purslow-TheConstantLovers, pp. 37-38, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Hamer-GarnersGay, pp. 78-79, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune)
Baring-Gould/Sheppard-SongsOfTheWest2ndEd, #64, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #3}
Roud/Bishop-NewPenguinBookOfEnglishFolkSongs #9, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune)
OShaughnessy-MoreFolkSongsFromLincolnshire 7, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kane-SongsAndSayingsOfAnUlsterChildhood, pp. 130-131, "(The Golden Vanity)" (1 text, excerpted)
Barry/Eckstorm/Smyth-BritishBalladsFromMaine pp. 339-347, "The Golden Vanity" (4 texts plus 2 fragments, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #108, #66}
Lane/Gosbee-SongsOfShipsAndSailors, pp. 156-157, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders-AncientBalladsTraditionallySungInNewEngland4, pp. ,188-263 "The Sweet Trinity or the Golden Vanity" (39 texts plus 11 fragments, 18 tunes) {E=Bronson's #71, HH=#64}
Ford-VagabondSongsAndBalladsOfScotland, pp. 103-106, "The Goulden Vanitee" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #53}
Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety, pp. 97-100, "The Golden Vanity" (3 texts)
Randolph 38, "The Lowlands Low" (4 texts plus a fragment, 3 tunes) {A=Bronson's #69, D=#48, E=#51}
Randolph/Cohen-OzarkFolksongs-Abridged, pp. 56-59, "The Lowlands Low" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 38A) {Bronson's #69}
Abrahams/Riddle-ASingerAndHerSongs, pp. 142-146, "The Golden Willow Tree" (1 text, 1 tune, plus some excerpts)
Davis-TraditionalBalladsOfVirginia 47, "The Sweet Trinity (The Golden Vanity)" (4 texts plus 2 fragments, 1 tune entitled "The Turkish-Rogherlee and the Yellow Golden Tree, or Lowlands Low") {Bronson's #109}
Davis-MoreTraditionalBalladsOfVirginia 43, pp. 339-343, "The Sweet Trinity (The Golden Vanity)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 47, "The Sweet Trinity (The Golden Vanity)" (3 texts plus mention of 2 more)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore4 47, "The Sweet Trinity (The Golden Vanity)" (6 excerpts, 6 tunes)
Chappell-FolkSongsOfRoanokeAndTheAlbermarle 21, "The Green Willow Tree" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #50}
Jones-MinstrelOfTheAppalachians-Bascom-Lamar-Lunsford, pp. 196-197, "Merrie Golden Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Richardson/Spaeth-AmericanMountainSongs, pp. 28-29, "THe Mary Golden Tree" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #97}
Morris-FolksongsOfFlorida, #174, "The Sweet Trinity (The Golden Vanity)" (2 texts)
Hudson-FolksongsOfMississippi 25, pp. 125-127, "The Sweet Trinity (The Golden Vanity)" (1 text)
Moore/Moore-BalladsAndFolkSongsOfTheSouthwest 56, "There Was a Little Ship" (1 text, 1 tune)
Owens-TexasFolkSongs-2ed, pp. 38-40, "The Merry Golden Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Bronner/Eskin-FolksongAlivePart1 5, "Golden Willow Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wolfe/Boswell-FolkSongsOfMiddleTennessee 20, pp. 37-39, "There Was a Ship Sailing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Burton/Manning-EastTennesseeStateCollectionVol1, pp. 37-38, "The Golden Willow Tree, or The Turkish Rebilee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Burton/Manning-EastTennesseeStateCollectionVol2, pp. 86-87, "The Golden Willow Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-ASongCatcherInSouthernMountains, pp. 184-189, "The Sweet Trinity; The Golden Vanity" (2 texts; the first, with no title, is from Randolph; the second has local title "The Golden Willow Tree"; 1 tune on pp. 406-407) {Bronson's #107}
Shellans-FolkSongsOfTheBlueRidgeMountains, pp. 62-63, "The Lonesome Sea Ballad" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rosenbaum-FolkVisionsAndVoices, p. 10, "The Little Shipi" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brewster-BalladsAndSongsOfIndiana 25, "The Sweet Trinity (The Golden Vanity)" (3 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #68}
List-SingingAboutIt-FolkSongsInSouthernIndiana, pp. 291-294, "The Lowland Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering-BalladsAndSongsOfSouthernMichigan 82, "The Lowlands Low" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #110, related to "The Arkansas Traveller"}
Sackett/Koch-KansasFolklore, pp. 165-168, "The Sweet Trinity (The Golden Vanity)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown-VermontFolkSongsAndBallads, pp. 230-231, "The Green Willow Trees" (1 text)
Linscott-FolkSongsOfOldNewEngland, pp. 136-137, "The Gallant Victory or Lowlands Low" (1 short text, with no hint of the Captain's refusal to save the boy; he is hauled aboard and dies, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior-TraditionalSongsOfNovaScotia, pp. 101-106, "The Sweet Trinity, or The Golden Vanity" (3 texts plus 2 fragments, 4 tunes) {Bronson's #44, #17, #19, #18}
Creighton-SongsAndBalladsFromNovaScotia 10, "Sweet Trinity; or The Golden Vanity" (1 text, called "Golden Vallady" by the singer, 1 tune) {Bronson's #21}
Creighton-FolksongsFromSouthernNewBrunswick 6, "The Golden Vanity" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Greenleaf/Mansfield-BalladsAndSeaSongsOfNewfoundland 19, "The Golden Vanitie" (2 fragments)
Vikár/Panagapka-SongsNorthWoodsSungByOJAbbott 64, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord-SongsOfAmericanSailormen, pp. 154-156, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #45}
Harlow-ChantyingAboardAmericanShips, pp. 35-36, "Golden Vanitee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kinsey-SongsOfTheSea, pp. 153-154, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill-ShantiesFromTheSevenSeas, pp. 62-64, "Lowlands Low" (3 texts, 3 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 58-60]
Logan-APedlarsPack, pp. 42-46, "The Goulden Vanitie (Golden Vanity, or the Low Lands Low)" (2 texts)
Leach-TheBalladBook, pp. 667-670, "The Sweet Trinity or The Golden Vanity" (3 texts)
Leach-HeritageBookOfBallads, pp. 89-90, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text)
Leach-FolkBalladsSongsOfLowerLabradorCoast 8, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wyman/Brockway-LonesomeSongs-KentuckyMountains-Vol1, p. 72, "The Mary Golden Tree, or The Lonesome Low" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #37}
Cambiaire-EastTennesseeWestVirginiaMountainBallads, pp. 93-94, "The Merry Golden Tree" (1 text)
Ritchie-FolkSongsOfTheSouthernAppalachians, pp. 74-75, "Lonesome Sea" (1 text, 1 tune) {cf. Bronson's #41, which is also by Jean Ritchie and uses the same tune but a different title and slightly different words}
McNeil-SouthernFolkBalladsVol1, pp. 34-36, "The Green Willow Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Frank-NewBookOfPirateSongs 7, "Sir Walter Raleigh Sailing in the Lowlands" (1 text; #7 in the first edition); also 8, "The Sweet Trinity" (2 texts, 1 tune, with texts and tunes from different sources; #4 in the first edition)
Friedman-Viking/PenguinBookOfFolkBallads, p. 409, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text)
Cazden/Haufrecht/Studer-FolkSongsOfTheCatskills 67, "The Bold Trellitee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shoemaker-MountainMinstrelsyOfPennsylvania, pp. 132-133, "The Cruise in the Lowlands Low" (1 text) (pp. 111-112 in the 1919 edition); pp. 299-300, "The Golden Vanity, or The Low Lands Low" (1 text)
Quiller-Couch-OxfordBookOfBallads 132, "The 'Golden Vanity'" (1 text)
Warner-TraditionalAmericanFolkSongsFromAnneAndFrankWarnerColl 104, "Lowland Low (or, The Golden Willow Tree)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner-FolkSongsAndBalladsOfTheEasternSeaboard, p. 51-52, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text)
Peters-FolkSongsOutOfWisconsin, pp. 108-109, "A Ship Set Sail for North America" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #85}
Sharp-EnglishFolkSongsFromSouthernAppalachians 41, "The Golden Vanity" (7 texts plus 3 fragments, 11 tunes) {Bronson's #94, #93, #88, #104, #43, #46, #78, #90, #99, #39, #106}
Sharp-OneHundredEnglishFolksongs 14, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Karpeles-TheCrystalSpring 27, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronsons' #1}
Gentry/Smith-ASingerAmongSingers, #21, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #94}
Niles-BalladBookOfJohnJacobNiles 61, "The Sweet Trinity (The Golden Vanity)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-EightyEnglishFolkSongs 28, "The Weeping Willow Tree (The Golden Vanity)" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #94}
VaughanWilliams/Lloyd-PenguinBookOfEnglishFolkSongs, pp. 46-47, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #35}
Scott-TheBalladOfAmerica, pp. 138-139, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume-CanadasStoryInSong, pp. 38-40, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan-PenguinBookOfCanadianFolkSongs 82, "The 'Green Willow Tree'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-FolkSongsFromNewfoundland 23, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text fragment, 1 tune)
Fowke-TraditionalSingersAndSongsFromOntario 4, "The Golden Vanity"; Fowke-TraditionalSingersAndSongsFromOntario 61, "The Green Willow Tree" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Lomax/Lomax-OurSingingCountry, pp. 210-212, "The Low-Down, Lonesome Low" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FolkSongsOfNorthAmerica 95, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune) {should be Bronson's #73, but heavily reworked}
Chase-AmericanFolkTalesAndSongs, pp. 120-121, "The Merry Golden Tree" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #74}
Abrahams/Foss-AngloAmericanFolksongStyle, pp. 79-80, "Golden Willow Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pound-AmericanBalladsAndSongs, 10, pp. 24-26, "The Lowlands Low" (1 text)
Cox-FolkSongsSouth 32, "The Sweet Trinity (The Golden Vanity)" (2 texts plus a fragment)
Cox/Hercog/Halpert/Boswell-WVirginia-A, #15A-C, pp. 64-69, "The Golden Vanity," "The Mary Golden Lee," "The Green Willow Tree" (3 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #38, which -- despite Cox -- he calls "The Weeping Willow Tree"; this version has two American ships "The Weeping Willow Tree" and "The Golden Silveree"}
Bush-FSofCentralWestVirginiaVol1, pp. 88-90, "The Green Willow Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gainer-FolkSongsFromTheWestVirginiaHills, pp. 96-97, "The Golden Willow Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roberts/Agey-InThePine #34, "Golden Willow Tree" (1 text plus a fragment, 2 tunes)
Coleman/Bregman-SongsOfAmericanFolks, pp. 16-17, "The Golden Willow Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hubbard-BalladsAndSongsFromUtah, #18, "The Golden Vanity" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Ashton-RealSailorSongs, #75, "Sir Walter Raleigh Sailing in the Low-lands" (1 text)
Palmer-OxfordBookOfSeaSongs 22, "Sir Walter Raleigh Sailing in the Lowlands" (1 text)
Scott-ACollectorsNotebook-31TraditionalSongs, p. 22, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune, much-rearranged)
Stone-SeaSongsAndBallads XLIV, pp. 74-76, "Sir Walter Raleigh Saling in the Low-Lands" (1 text); XLV, pp. 77-78, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text)
Sedley/Carthy-WhoKilledCockRobin, pp. 106-107, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NewAmericanSongster, pp. 64-66, "The Sweet Trinity"; "The Golden Willow Tree" (1 text plus a fragment)
Fireside-Book-of-Folk-Songs, p. 172, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 213, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text)
SongsOfAllTime, pp. 14-15, "Merry Golden Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
NorthCarolinaFolkloreJournal, Andra Joy Hamilton, "A Garland of Ballads from Caldwell County", Vol. 3, No. 1 (Jul 1955), pp. 8-9, "The Golden Willow Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
NorthCarolinaFolkloreJournal, W. Amos Abrams, "Horton Barker: Folk Singer Supreme," Vol. XXII, No. 4 (Nov 1974), pp. 143+147-148, "The Golden Willow Tree" (1 text)
MidwestFolklore, Ivan H. Watson, "Folk Singing on Beaver Island," Volume 2, Number 4 (WInter 1952), p. 246, "The Lowlands (reference only)
Olson-BroadsideBalladIndex, ZN2370, "Sir Walter Rawleigh ha's built a Ship"
DT 286, VANTYGL1* VANTIGL2* VANTIGL3* VANTIGL4* (VANTYGL9)
ADDITIONAL: John Ashton, _A Century of Ballads_, Elliot Stock, London, 1887; reprinted 1968 by Singing Tree Press, pp. 201-204, "Sir Walter Raleigh Sailing in the Low-Lands" (1 text)
James P. Leary, Compiler and Annotator, _Wisconsin Folklore_ University of Wisconsin Press, 2009, article "Kentucky Folksong in Northern Wisconsin" by Asher E. Treat, pp. 229-230, "A Ship Set Sail for North America" (1 text, 1 tune, sung by Mrs. M. G. Jacobs, Maud Jacobs, Pearl Jacobs Borusky) {Bronson's #85}
Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #411, "The Golden Vanity" (1 text)
Henry Randall Waite, _Carmina Collegensia: A Complete Collection of the Songs of the American Colleges_ first edition 1868, expanded edition, Oliver Ditson, 1876, p. 58, "Lowlands" (a two-verse fragment, on of which is from "The Golden Vanity" and the other about "Pompey" although it's too short to know which Pompey song is meant)
ST C286 (Full)
Roud #122
RECORDINGS:
Almanac Singers, "The Golden Vanity" (General 5016B, 1941; on Almanac02, Almanac03, AlmanacCD1)
Horton Barker, "The Turkish Rebilee" (on Barker01) {Bronson's #74}
Justus Begley, "Golden Willow Tree" (AFS, 1937; on KMM)
Bill Cameron, "The Golden Vanity" (on FSB5) {Bronson's #10}
The Carter Family, "Sinking In The Lonesome Sea" (Conqueror 8644/Okeh 03160, 1936; Columbia 37756) {Bronson's #73}
Dodie Chalmers, "The Golden Victory (The Golden Vanity) (on FSBBAL2) {Bronson's #33}
Johnny Doughty, "The Golden Vanity" (on JDoughty01, HiddenE)
Warde Ford, "The Lowlands Low" [fragment] (AFS 4194 A2, 1938; in AMMEM/Cowell); "The Lowlands Low, or The Golden Willow Tree" (on USWolfRiver) {Bronson's #20}
Sam Hazel, "The Golden Willow Tree" (AFS 2095 B2, 3096 A, 3096 B1, 1939)
[Mrs.?] Ollie Jacobs, "A Ship Set Sail for North America" (AFS, 1941; on LC58) {Bronson's #86}
Paul Joines, "Green Willow Tree" (on Persis1)
Joe Kelly, "The Golden Vanity" (on Ontario1)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "The Merry Golden Tree" (Riverside RLP 12-645, 1956)
James Maher, "The Golden Vanity" (on MUNFLA/Leach)
Paralee McCloud, "The Little Ship" (on FolkVisions1)
Jimmy Morris, "The Golden Willow Tree" (AFS, 1937; on LC58) {Bronson's #105}
New Lost City Ramblers, "Sinking in the Lonesome Sea" (on NLCR06, NLCR11)
Frank Proffitt, "Lowlands Low" [excerpt] (on USWarnerColl01)
Almeda Riddle, "Merry Golden Tree" (on LomaxCD1707)
Jean Ritchie, "The Merry Golden Tree" (on JRitchie01) {Bronson's #41}
Pete Seeger, "The Golden Vanity" (on PeteSeeger16) (Commodore 3006, n.d. -- but this may be the same recording as the General disc by the Almanac Singers)
Rob Walker, "The Lowlands Low" [fragment] (AFS 4194 A3, 1938; in AMMEM/Cowell) {Bronson's #49}
Doug Wallin, "The Golden Vanity" (on Wallins1)
Rick Ward, "The Merry Golden Tree" (Fragment: Piotr-Archive #134, recorded 04/18/2022)
Erica Warnock, "The Golden Vanity" (Fragment: Piotr-Archive #462, recorded 01/26/2023)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1086), "The Golden Vanity" or "The Low Lands Low," H. Such (London), 1849-1862
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(122a), "Lowlands Low," Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1877; also L.C.Fol.70(103b), "Lowlands Low"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Louisiana Lowlands" (lyrics)
SAME TUNE:
Sinking of the Great Ship (Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2, #287, pp. 662-663, the "A" text)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Lonesome Low
The Merry Golden Tree
The Sweet Kumadee
The Weep-Willow Tree
The Turkish Revoloo
Cabin Boy
Lowland Sea
Ye Gowden Vanitie
NOTES [733 words]: Connecting this song with actual events is impossible even if one accepts Sir Walter Raleigh as the murderous captain. Moreover, there is a curious mystery of where, exactly, is the "Lowland Sea" in which the song is set. But Steve Woodbury suggested to me that it should be set in the seas near the Netherlands, pointing to the title "The Lowlands of Holland," as well as references to the Netherlands in some of the versions (e.g. Child's "A", with its opening lines, "Sir Walter Raleigh has built a ship / In the Netherlands ....  / Sailing in the Low-lands").
It's a good point, and it set me researching. With very little success. I consulted dictionaries about the sea, folklore dictionaries, Middle English dictionaries, common speech dictionaries... and found no references. Internet searches all seemed to be derived from this song. As best I can tell, there never was an actual "Lowland Sea."
So what do we know? Start with the fact that the typical versions have either a Spanish or a Turkish enemy. The Spanish for a long time ruled the Netherlands -- the Habsburgs inherited the Netherlands from the extinct line of the Dukes of Burgundy in the late fifteenth century, and the troops for the Armada's invasion of England were mostly supposed to be picked up from the Spanish Netherlands. So it would be no surprise if a Spanish ship attacked an English ship in the North Sea off the Low Countries. There was certainly much English shipping there.
On the other hand, the North Sea is almost always rough, and the waters are generally cold. To swim to an enemy ship, drill holes in her, and come back safely was not impossible (after all, there are people who have swum the English Channel) -- but it is not at all easy and is extraordinarily dangerous. It would be much easier in the warmer, calmer waters of the Mediterranean.
On the other hand, it would be easier to see a diver in the clear waters of the Mediterranean.
What's more, while a Spanish ship might well have been found in the North Sea (or in the Mediterranean), a Turkish (Ottoman) ship could only be found in the Mediterranean.
Informal conclusion: I think you get to decide for yourself where the "Lowland Sea" is. If the enemy is a Turk, then it has to be the Mediterranean. If the enemy is Spanish and the song refers to the Netherlands, it's probably the North Sea. If neither of those conditions apply... it's your call.
Oddly enough, the best date is almost certainly fifteenth or sixteenth century, no matter where the song takes place, as shown by the following dates:
1453 - Fall of Constantinople gives the Turks good access to the Mediterranean Sea.
1571 - Battle of Lepanto cripples the Turkish navy.
1588 - Voyage of the Spanish Armada. Spanish navy crippled.
As far as I know, every version lists the enemy as Spanish, Turkish, or French. It should be noted, however, that the Barbary pirates were often called "Turks," since the Ottoman Empire had (often nominal) soveriegnty over them.
Incidentally, while this song does not have a historical setting, the plot has historical antecedents; Bowers, p. 24 and note, mentions a 1605 pamphlet, "Two most unnatural and bloodie Murthers: The one by Maister Cauerly... the other by mistris Browne and her servant Peter." Apparently Peter, a servant, had been promised land and the girl's hand; when her father reneged, the young couple turned to murder.
The sinking of a ship by a youth is also apparently attested: Rodger, p. 46, says that a Saracen vessel threatened the fleet of Richard I on his way to the Third Crusade, but that one report claims it was sunk by a boy with an auger. Unfortunately, Rodger does not cite any primary sources for this account, and I don't believe sinking a ship with an auger is actually possible (by that time, ships had pumps and carpenters to plug leaks). I suspect that one of Rodger's sources actually heard a distorted version of this song.
Somewhat later, at the Battle of Sluys in 1340, the English fleet of Edward III "even [had] divers who tried to sink the enemy ships by boring holes in their hulls below water," according to Seward, p. 44. Sluys was a great English victory, but if the divers accomplished anything, I haven't heard of it. - RBW
In Fowke-TraditionalSingersAndSongsFromOntario 4 the drowned cabin boy returns as a ghost and -- never having said he would not sink it -- sinks the captain's ship. - BS
BibliographyLast updated in version 6.8
File: C286

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

The Ballad Index Copyright 2024 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.