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Mermaid

[ Roud 124 ; Child 289 ; Ballad Index C289 ; trad.]

Martin Carthy sang this dark song from The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs on his and Dave Swarbrick's album Straws in the Wind. He commented in the sleeve notes:

When I was a child, Mermaid was a song which we all sang a lot. That we didn't know all the words didn't matter. When in the summer of 1961 I met The Charles River Valley Boys all from Harvard University and they sang an Old Timey version of the song with the memorable line in the chorus “...The Landlord lies sleeping down below...”, joy was unconfined. However the version sitting in the Penguin Book learned by E.T. Sweeting from a James Herridge in Twyford in 1906 is an altogether different kettle of fish from these jolly romps and makes for a much darker journey. Given that, as A.L. Lloyd says, the sight of a mermaid was the worst of omens, you would think that it would be an invitation to all sorts of songs but it's not so: this one song in its various forms and (possibly) the children's song The Big Ship Sails on the Alley-O seems to be it.

Martin Carthy recorded it again in 2006 with Waterson:Carthy and with somewhat different verses. This recording was published on the double CD Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys, together with Waterson:Carthy singing Hog-Eye Man and Eliza Carthy singing Rolling Sea.

Pete Coe sang Mermaid in 2004 on his CD In Paper Houses. He commented in his liner notes:

This grandiose minor tune came from a Dorset church organist and I selected verses which concentrated on the role of the mermaid. Stan Hugill told me that, in the days of sail, if a sailor saw a mermaid it could be a sign of good luck, or bad luck… I hope that makes things clear, then.

Lyrics

Martin Carthy sings Mermaid on Straws in the Wind

One night as I lay on my bed,
I lay so fast asleep,
When the thought of my true love come running in my head,
And sailors that sail on the deep.

As I sailed out one day one day
And being not far from land,
There I saw a mermaid sat on a rock,
A comb and a glass in her hand.

Now the song she sang, she sang so sweet,
No answer at all could I say,
Till our gallant ship she swung round about,
Which made our poor hearts to ache.

Then up stepped the helmsman of our ship,
In his hand a lead and line.
For to sound the seas so wide and so deep,
No hard rock or sand could he find.

Up stepped the captain of our ship,
And a well-speaking man is he.
He says, “I have a wife in fair Plymouth town,
This night and a widow she'll be.”

Up stepped the bosun of our ship,
And a well-spoken man was he.
He says, “I have two sons in fair Bristol town,
And orphans I fear they will be.”

And then up stepped our cabin boy,
And a fine pretty boy was he.
He says, ”Oh, I grieve for my mother dear,
Whom I shall never more see.

Last night last night when the moon shone bright,
My mother she had sons five.
But now she may look in the salt salt sea
And find but one alive.”

Call for boats, call for boats, my fair Plymouth boys,
Do you hear how the trumpets sound?
For the want of a long-boat in the ocean we're lost
And most of our merry men drowned.

Martin Carthy sings Mermaid on Rogue's Gallery

As we lay musing on our bed,
So early morn at ease,
We thought upon those lodging beds
Poor sailors have at sea.
Though last Easter day in the morning fair,
We was not far from land,
We spied a mermaid sitting on a rock
With a comb and a glass in her hand, in her hand,
With a comb and a glass in her hand.

And first come the bosun of our ship
With courage, stout and bold:
“Stand fast, stand fast, brave lively lads,
Stand fast, brave hearts of gold.
For our gallant ship, she's gone to wreck,
She was so lately trimmed,
The raging seas have sprung her good,
And the salt seas all run in, run in,
And the salt seas all run in.”

And up then spoke our cabin boy,
Oh, a well spoke boy was he:
“I'm sorry for my mother dear,
I'm lost in the salt, salt sea.
For last night, last night, the moon shone bright,
And you know that she had sons five,
Tonight she may look in the salt, salt waves
And find but one alive, alive,
And find but one alive.”

For boats, for boats, you fair Plymouth girls,
Don't you hear how the trumpet sound?
For the want of a boat our good ship is lost
And the most of the young men drowned, oh drowned,
And the most of the young men drowned.

Acknowledgements

Lyris taken from the The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, ed. Ralph Vaughan Williams and A.L. Lloyd, Penguin, 1959:70, and adapted to the actual singing of Martin Carthy by Garry Gillard.