Soldier and the Sailor, The

DESCRIPTION: The sailor "has a good mind to pray For the rights of all people and the wrongs of all men." He accuses the lawyers of "tak[ing] your hard earnings and giv[ing] you hard laws"; the ministers for condemning you to hell, and the farmers for high prices
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1902 (Petrie)
KEYWORDS: political curse
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond,South),Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar) Ireland US(NE,So)
REFERENCES (13 citations):
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "SOLDIER AND THE SAILOR, THE"
Doerflinger-SongsOfTheSailorAndLumberman, pp. 277-278, "The Soldier and the Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lane/Gosbee-SongsOfShipsAndSailors, pp. 218-219, "The Prayer of the Soldier & the Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hudson-FolkTunesFromMississippi 5, "The Sailor and the Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig/Duncan3 685, "The Soldier and the Sailor" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Reeves/Sharp-TheIdiomOfThePeople 85, "The Sailor and the Soldier" (1 text)
Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Mi 709, "Soldier's Prayer" (1 text)
Purslow-MarrowBones, p. 81, "The Soldier's Prayer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy-FolksongsOfBritainAndIreland 239, "The Soldier and the Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hamer-GarnersGay, p. 22, "The Soldier and the Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson-SongsOfMiramichi 94, "The Soldier's Prayer (The Soldier and the Sailor)" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Dallas-TheCruelWars-100SoldiersSongs, pp. 151-153, "The Soldier's Prayer" (1 text, 1 tune)
NorthCarolinaFolkloreJournal, Charles W. Joyner, "The Repertory of Nancy Jones as a Mirror of Culture in Scotland County," Vol. XXI, No. 3 (Sep 1973), p. 96, "The Soldier and the Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Doe277 (Partial)
Roud #350
RECORDINGS:
Archie Lennox, "The Soldier and the Sailor" (on FSB8)
Brigid Tunney, "The Soldier and the Sailor" (on IRTunneyFamily01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.14(226), "The Soldier and the Sailor"[title incomplete] ("As a sailor and a soldier was walking one day"), unknown, n.d.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "'Pleasant and Delightful" (meter)
cf. "The First Thing They Asked For" (some lyrics)
cf. "Ye Gentlemen of England (I)" [Laws K2] (theme)
NOTES [103 words]: This appears to exist in two forms -- one, exemplified by Doerflinger-SongsOfTheSailorAndLumberman, condemning various wrongs; the other, found in Kennedy-FolksongsOfBritainAndIreland, just calling for a good time (praying for beer and the like). There are, however, enough similarities that I would consider them still one song. On the other hand, the song we've filed as "The First Thing They Asked For" is essentially the request for a good time without the rest. The problem of intermediate versions is so severe that Roud lumps them. I think the extremes are distinct enough to split, but you'd better see both. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: Doe277

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