P. 245 ff. The Rev. S. Baring-Gould has recently found this
ballad in South Devon.
| 1 |
'T was of a sea-captain came oer the salt billow,
He courted a maiden down by the green willow:
'O take of your father his gold and his treasure,
take of your mother her fee without measure.' |
| 2 |
'I'll take of my father his gold and his treasure,
I'll take of my mother her fee without measure:'
She has come with the captain unto the seaside, O,
'We'll sail to lands foreign upon the blue tide, O!' |
| 3 |
And when she had sailed today and tomorrow,
She was beating her hands, she was crying in sorrow;
And when she had sailed the days were not many,
The sails were outspread, but of miles made not any. |
| 4 |
And when she had sailed today and tomorrow,
She was beating her hands, she was crying in sorrow;
And when she had sailed not many a mile, O,
The maid was delivered of a beautiful child, O. |
| 5 |
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . . |
| 6 |
'O take a white napkin, about my head bind it!
O take a white napkin, about my feet wind it!
Alack! I must sink, both me and my baby,
Alack! I must sink in the deep salten water. |
| 7 |
'O captain, O captain, here's fifty gold crown, O,
I pray thee to bear me and turn the ship round, O;
O captain, O captain, here's fifty gold pound, O,
If thou wilt but set me upon the green ground, O.' |
| 8 |
'O never, O never! the wind it blows stronger,
O never, O never! the time it grows longer;
And better it were that thy baby and thou, O,
Should drown than the crew of the vessel, I vow, O.' |
| 9 |
'O get me a boat that is narrow and thin, O,
And set me and my little baby therein, O:'
'O no, it were better that thy baby and thou, O,
Should drown than the crew of the vessel, I vow, O.' |
| 10 |
They got a white napkin, about her head bound it,
They got a white napkin, about her feet wound it;
They cast her then overboard, baby and she, O,
Together to sink in the cruel salt sea, O. |
| 11 |
The moon it was shining, the tide it was running;
O what in the wake of the vessel was swimming?
'O see, boys! O see how she floats on the water!
O see, boys! O see! the undutiful daughter! |
| 12 |
'Why swim in the moonlight, upon the sea swaying?
what art thou seeking? for what art thou praying?'
'O captain, O captain, I float on the water;
For the sea giveth up the undutiful daughter. |
| 13 |
'O take of my father the gold and the treasure,
O take of my mother her fee without measure;
O make me a coffin of gold that is yellow,
And bury me under the banks of green willow!' |
| 14 |
'I will make thee a coffin of gold that is yellow,
I'll bury thee under the banks of green willow;
I'll bury thee there as becometh a lady,
I'll bury thee there, both thou and thy baby.' |
| 15 |
The sails they were spread, and the wind it was blowing,
The sea was so salt, and the tide it was flowing;
They steered for the land, and they reachd the shore, O,
But the corpse of the maiden had reachd there before, O. |
