Margot Evans (Let the Bullgine Run)

DESCRIPTION: "Oh the smartest clipper you can find, Oh hey, oh ho, are you 'most done? Is the (Margot Evans) of the (Blue Cross) line, So clear the track, let the bullgine run!" The singer describes the fast passage of the ship, and hopes Liza Lee will marry him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1921 (Terry)
KEYWORDS: sailor work ship courting nonballad shanty
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Lomax-FolkSongsOfNorthAmerica 29, "The Bullgine Run" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord-SongsOfAmericanSailormen, p. 99, "Clear the Track" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow-ChantyingAboardAmericanShips, pp. 18-19, "Clear the Track, Let the Bulgine Run" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill-ShantiesFromTheSevenSeas, pp. 344-347, "Clear the Track, let the Bulgine Run" (2 texts, 2 tune) [AbEd, pp. 258-259]
Hugill-SongsOfTheSea, p. 157, "Clear the Track" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp-EnglishFolkChanteys, VI, p. 7, "Clear the Track" (1 text, 1 tune)
Terry-TheShantyBook-Part1, #5, "Clear the track, let the Bullgine run" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kinsey-SongsOfTheSea, pp. 53-54, "Clear the Track, Let the Bulgine Run" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eckstorm/Smyth-MinstrelsyOfMaine, p. 237, "Mobile Bay" (1 fragment, clearly this despite the "Mobile Bay" title)
Darling-NewAmericanSongster, p. 317, "Clear the Track and Let the Bullgine Rune" (1 text)
DT, MARGOEVN*
Roud #810
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Eliza Lee
NOTES [107 words]: Hugill, following Sharp, claims this is sung to the tune similar to "Shule Agrah" (Lomax says they're the same), though it's not any variant I've ever heard.
Colcord-SongsOfAmericanSailormen thinks that explains the strange combination of bullgine engine (railroad engine) and low-backed car: Someone from the Margot Evans (the ship in her version, though Hugill has a Wild Cat or similar) heard Irish sailors singers sing it, and adapted it.
The Margot Evans, according to Colcord-SongsOfAmericanSailormen, was a packet running apparently from Mobile to New York.
Personally, I think the whole song needs a lot more historical study. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.2
File: LoF029

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