Sea Apprentice, The

DESCRIPTION: "When I first went a sea-apprentice bound, I sailed the salt seas all round and round." The singer falls in love with Anne. The captain calls him foolish; she will take another while he is at sea. But he offers her tokens, and she promises to wait
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Greig/Duncan1)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation sailor
FOUND IN: Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast #64, p. 1, "The Apprentice Sailor"; #67, p. 2, "The Apprentice Sailor" (1 text plus 1 fragment)
Greig/Duncan1 54, "The Apprentice Sailor" (11 texts, 8 tunes)
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H739, p. 291, "The Sea Apprentice" (1 text, 1 tune)
Graham-Joe-Holmes-SongsMusicTraditionsOfAnUlsterman 67, "The Sea-Apprentice" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield-BalladsAndSeaSongsOfNewfoundland 107, "The Prentice Boy" (2 texts)
Peacock, pp. 575-578, "A Prentice Boy in Love" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Creighton-SongsAndBalladsFromNovaScotia 139, "Prentice Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 579, PRENTICE

Roud #1671
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "The Apprentice Sailor" (on IRRCinnamond03)
Charlotte Decker, "A Prentice Boy in Love" (on PeacockCDROM) [one verse only]
Roisin White, "Apprentice Boy" (on IRRWhite01)

CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Doffin' Mistress" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
The Doffin' Mistress (File: K220)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Bonny Anne
The Apprentice Boy
The Sailor Boy
NOTES [32 words]: The Digital Tradition version of this song, from Creighton, is listed as Laws M12, but it appears to be this song (Creighton also has a version of Laws M12, which may explain the confusion). - RBW.
Last updated in version 3.5
File: HHH739

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