Calabar, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer calls "dry-land sailors" to hear of the (Calabar), sailing the (Strabane canal). The food runs out. They hit mud, and throw off the captain's wife to lighten ship. They fight off a "pirate" scow. The captain says he'll take the train next time.
AUTHOR: John Trainor (1910) (OLochlainn-MoreIrishStreetBallads)
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (OLochlainn-MoreIrishStreetBallads)
KEYWORDS: canal humorous food disaster wreck
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "CRUISE OF THE CALABAR, THE"
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H502, pp. 98-99, "The Cruise of the Calabar" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-MoreIrishStreetBallads 17, "The Cruise of the Calabar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hammond-SongsOfBelfast, pp. 32-33, "The Cruise of the Calibar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hamer-GarnersGay, pp. 62-63, "The Cruise of the Calibar" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, CALABARR
ADDITIONAL: Frank Harte _Songs of Dublin_, second edition, Ossian, 1993, pp. 16-17, "The Cruise of the Calabad" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Jon Raven, _VIctoria's Inferno: Songs of the Old Mills, Mines, Manufacturies, Canals, and Railways_, Roadside Press, 1978, pp. 45-46, "The Cruise of the Calibar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1079
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The E-ri-e" (theme) and references there
cf. "The Wreck of the Mary Jane" (theme and first line)
cf. "The Wreck of the Varty" (theme and first line)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Manchester Canal
The Wreck of the Calibar
The Good Ship Calabah
The Strabane Fleet
NOTES [106 words]: Sort of an Irish version of "The E-ri-e." It doesn't follow that it's older, though; there are references to steam.
Harte makes the interesting comment that he never encountered a serious canal song, adding that a canalman told him that the worst danger on the canal boats was fleas! Harte's statement is a little strong -- there are a couple of minor canal disaster songs in the American tradition -- but he isn't far wrong. - RBW
Also collected and sung by David Hammond, "Cruise of the Calabar" (on David Hammond, "I Am the Wee Falorie Man: Folk Songs of Ireland," Tradition TCD1052 CD (1997) reissue of Tradition LP TLP 1028 (1959)) - BS
Last updated in version 6.8
File: HHH502

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