Poor Smuggler's Boy, The

DESCRIPTION: Singer meets a boy who is mourning his father. The father was a smuggler; caught in a storm, their ship was wrecked and his father drowned. The boy has clung to a plank and been swept ashore. A rich lady hears his complaint and adopts him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1888 (Ashton)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer, walking the beach on a stormy day, meets a boy who is mourning his father. The father was a smuggler who would, "venture out on the salt sea/For a keg of good brandy from the land of the free" (Holland). Caught in a storm, the ship has been wrecked and his father has drowned, despite the boy's efforts to save him. The boy has clung to a plank and been swept ashore. A rich lady hears his complaint, and adopts him
KEYWORDS: grief crime death drowning storm wreck father orphan
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "SMUGGLER'S BOY, THE"
Roud/Bishop-NewPenguinBookOfEnglishFolkSongs #140, "The Poor Smuggler's Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #618
RECORDINGS:
Bob Roberts, "The Smuggler's Boy" (on LastDays)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fisherman's Boy" [Laws Q29] (plot)
cf. "The Soldier's Poor Little Boy" [Laws Q28] (plot)
cf. "The Farmer's Boy" [Laws Q30] (plot)
cf. "The Fisherman's Girl" (plot)
File: RcTSmBy

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