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The Handsome Cabin Boy

[Trad.]

This was sung by Ewan MacColl on his and A.L. Lloyd's albums The Blackball Line and A Hundred Years Ago. This track was included on the Topic Sampler No 7, Sea Songs and Shanties and on the French compilation Chants de Marins IV: Ballads, Complaintes et Shanties des Matelots Anglais. The Handsome Cabin Boy was also sung by A.L. Lloyd in 1960 on his and Ewan MacColl's album Blow Boys Blow. He said in the album's sleeve notes:

The Handsome Cabin Boy portrays a common sailor's dream that among the crew is a girl dressed as a boy. Oddly enough, in songs based on this fantasy, it is nearly always an officer who discovers the girl's identity. In this case the plight of the pregnant cabin “boy” might be considered tragic, seen from the girl's viewpoint. But as sailors see it, the situation is inexhaustibly comic. The version of this much-loved ballad that is sung here is unusual for the unequivocal role played by the captain's wife.

Martin Carthy recorded this song in 1965 for his first album, Martin Carthy and Sweeney's Men in 1968 for their LP Sweeney's Men.

Lyrics

A.L. Lloyd's version

It's of a pretty female as you may understand,
Her mind being bent for rambling into some foreign land.
She dressed herself in sailor's clothes or so it does appear,
And she hired with a captain to serve him for a year.

The captain's wife she being on board, she seemed in great joy
To think her husband had engaged such a handsome cabin boy.
And now and then she slipped him a kiss, and she would have liked to toy,
But it was the captain found out the secret of the handsome cabin boy.

Her cheeks they were like roses and her hair all in a curl,
The sailors often smiled and said, he looks just like a girl.
But eating of the captain's biscuit her color did destroy
And the waist did swell of pretty Nell, the handsome cabin boy.

it was in the Bay of Biscay our gallant ship did plough.
One night among the sailors was a fearful flurryin' row.
They tumbled from their hammocks for their sleep it did destroy
And they swore about the groaning of the handsome cabin boy.

“Oh doctor dear, oh doctor,” the cabin boy did cry,
“Me time has come, I am undone and I shall surely die.”
The doctor came a-running and smiling at the fun,
To think a sailor lad should have a daughter or a son.

The sailors when they saw the joke, they all did stand and stare.
The child belong to none of them, they solemnly did swear.
And the captain's wife she says to him, “My dear I wish you joy,
For it's either you or I betrayed the handsome cabin boy.”

So each man took his drop of rum and he drunk success to trade,
And likewise to the cabin boy who was neither man nor maid.
It's hoping the wars don't rise again, us sailors to destroy,
And here's hoping for a jolly lot more like the handsome cabin boy.

Martin Cathy's version

'Tis of a pretty female as you shall understand
Her mind was set on roving into some foreign land.
Attired in sailor's clothing she boldly did appear
And engaged with a captain to serve him for one year.

She engaged with the captain a cabin boy to be.
The wind stood fine and clearly and so they put to sea.
The captain's lady being on board, she seemed for to enjoy,
So glad that the captain had engaged with a handsome cabin boy.

Now so nimble was this pretty maid, she did her duty well,
But mark what follows after, the song it soon will tell.
By eating of the captain's biscuits her colour did destroy,
And the waist did swell of pretty Nell, the handsome cabin boy.

Now as through the Bay of Biscay our gallant ship did plough,
One night among the sailors there was a pretty row.
They bundled from their hammocks which did their rest destroy,
They swore about the groaning of the handsome cabin boy.

“Oh doctor, oh doctor,” the cabin boy did cry,
The sailors swore by all and one the cabin boy would die.
The doctor ran with all his might, a-smiling at the fun,
To think that a sailor lad could have a daughter or a son.

Now when the sailors all heard the joke, they all began to stare,
The child belonged to none of them, they solemnly declared.
The lady to the captain said, “My lad, I wish you joy,
For it's either you or I betrayed the handsome cabin boy.”

Acknowledgements

A.L. Lloyds version transcribed by Reinhard Zierke; Martin Carthy's version transcribed by Wolfgang Hell.