British Man-of-War, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer hears a sailor telling his love that he must leave her; he must go into battle. She begs him not to go. He says that he might win glory. He has fought before; he will fight again. He tears his handkerchief in two and gives her half as a token
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1847 (Journal of William Histed of the Cortes)
KEYWORDS: war separation farewell brokentoken
FOUND IN: US(MA,NE,So) Canada(Newf) Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (13 citations):
Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Gl 145, "British Man of War" (1 text)
Lane/Gosbee-SongsOfShipsAndSailors, pp. 38-39, "The British Man-O'-War" (1 text, 1 tune)
Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety, pp. 379-380, "The Yankee Man of War" (1 text)
Cazden/Haufrecht/Studer-FolkSongsOfTheCatskills 13, "The Yankee Man-of-War" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 181-182, "British Man-O'-War" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 96, "Lovely Susan" (1 stanza, which the editors cannot identify but which matches many texts of this song)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore4 96, "Lovely Susan" (1 excerpt, 1 tune)
Scott-TheBalladOfAmerica, pp. 226-227, "The Yankee Man o' War" (1 text, 1 tune)
Galvin-IrishSongsOfResistance, pp. 48-49, "The Fenian Man o' War" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-SongsTheWhalemenSang, pp. 108-110, "The British Man-of-War" (1 text, 1 tune)
Palmer-OxfordBookOfSeaSongs 62, "The Yankee Man-of-War" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wolf-AmericanSongSheets, #2691, p. 182, "A Yankee Man-of-War" (5 references); #2692, p. 182, "Yankee Man of War, A Companion to the 'Bold Privateer'" (3 references)
DT, BRITMANO
Roud #372 and 4616
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 15(397a), "[Young] William of the Man-of-War" ("One winter's day as I was walking"), W. Jackson and Son (Birmingham), 1842-1855; also Harding B 16(309b), Harding B 11(4232), Harding B 11(4233), Harding B 11(4234), 2806 c.16(59), "William of the Man-of-War"; Harding B 31(127), Harding B 31(141),"[A] Yankee Man-of-War"; Harding B 11(466), Firth c.12(135), Firth b.26(180), "British Man-of-War"
LOCSinging, hc00037c, "A Yankee Man-of-War," Charles Magnus (New York), no date; also as115330, "Yankee Man of War"
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(139), "British Man-of-War," unknown, no date
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lowlands of Holland" (tune, theme)
cf. "The Cork Men and the New York Men" (subject)
cf. "On Board of a Man-of-War (Young Susan)" (theme, lyrics)
SAME TUNE:
A Yankee Man of War, No. 2 (by M. Hogan) (Wolf-AmericanSongSheets, p. 182)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Fenian Man-of-War
NOTES [258 words]: As the titles make clear, this general text and tune were applied to whatever war seemed most convenient at the time (e.g. the Mexican War, the Civil War; a British text refers to fighting "the proud Chinee," presumably during the Opium Wars).
The Fenian version (named for the Fenians, a group of Irish-Americans who thought they could gain freedom for Ireland by invading Canada) is slightly changed; the opening is the same, but the broken token is missing, and in the end Bridget agrees that her Patrick should fight for Ireland.
The Fenians actually did purchase a ship, which they named Erin's Hope, but it accomplished nothing except to make one voyage to Ireland -- where no one wanted them. (For more details, see the notes to "The Cork Men and New York Men.") Similarly, they invaded Canada -- and were easily repelled, with many taken captive. Later they built a submarine; its only use was as a fundraising device.
Viewed from any standpoint except pure Irish patriotism, the Fenians were utterly ineffective and really quite silly. (For other examples, see "A Fenian Song (I)" and "The Smashing of the Van.") - RBW
Broadsides Bodleian Harding B 11(466), Firth c.12(135) and Firth b.26(180) refer to the Opium War of 1840-1842; Harding B 31(141) and Harding B 31(141) refer to the American Civil War of 1861-1865; the "William" broadsides are not specific. There are also "answers" [such as Bodleian, 2806 c.16(90), "Susan's Adventures in a British Man-of-War"] and "No. 2's" [such as LOCSinging, cw106880, "Yankee Man-of-War. No. 2." - BS
Last updated in version 6.4
File: FSC013

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