The Mermaid
'Twas Friday morn when we set sail,
And we had not got far from land,
When the Captain, he spied a lovely mermaid,
With a comb and a glass in her hand.
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Chorus
Oh the ocean waves may roll,
And the stormy winds may blow,
While we poor sailors go skipping aloft
And the land lubbers lay down below, below, below
And the land lubbers lay down below.
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Then up spoke the Captain of our gallant ship,
And a jolly old Captain was he;
"I have a wife in Salem town,
But tonight a widow she will be."
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Chorus
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Then up spoke the Cook of our gallant ship,
And a greasy old Cook was he;
"I care more for my kettles and my pots,
Than I do for the roaring of the sea."
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Chorus
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Then up spoke the Cabin-boy of our gallant ship,
And a dirty little brat was he;
"I have friends in Boston town
That don't care a ha' penny for me."
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Chorus
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Then three times 'round went our gallant ship,
And three times 'round went she,
And the third time that she went 'round
She sank to the bottom of the sea.
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Chorus
posted by Yasha at 9:42 PM
4 Comments:
WOW!!! That is like so totally awsome!! I love it!!
ttyl, lylab,
Gwen
Hello everybody.
This song is quite a good piece of historical data in the sense that it shows us one of the superstitions that sailors had with the sea: the sighting of mermaids. Mermaids were mysterious creatures, thought by many to bring bad luck and bad sea voyages. So to sight a mermaid meant bad things were going to happen. As an appeasement, many seamen would dump bottles of wine into the sea for the mermaids, or toss gold coins into the waters as a toll to pay to the mermaids. Well, in this case (the song), the sighting of a mermaid caused extreme havoc on the deck of the ship because of the sight of the mermaid. So much, in fact, that the ship sank. Such was the supposed danger of the sighting of a mermaid.
In reference to part of the song that says something about a "comb and a glass in her hand": Well, mermaids were always found to be resting on rocks combing their hair with special combs and looking at themselves with some sort of a mirror-like device (the glass). Also in legend, but not in the song, the mermaid was always reputed to have a special cap sitting next to her side, and if she saw a particular human sailor or landman she thought was uncommonly beautiful, she would go over to him and put the cap on him. From that point on, the human man was forever to be her husband. He could never leave her for as long as they both lived.
Aidan
That is a really cool song! Great lyrics!
Thanks everybody, I am so glad you guys liked it! I have seen this song for a long time and I decided that it would look good on here! Be sure to click the link on the title of the post and listen to the song! It is a classic sea shanty from the 18th century.
Aidan
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