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Ten Thousand Miles Away / Blow the Winds High-O

[ Roud 1778 ; Ballad Index MA084 ; Joseph Bryan Geoghegan (c. 1816-1889)]

Ten Thousand Miles Away is a shanty printed in Stan Hugill's Shanties from the Seven Seas, pp. 312-313.

The Halliard sang this as A Thousand Miles Away on their album The Halliard : Jon Raven, originally published in 1968 and reissued on CD in 1997. Later, this recording was also included in the Halliard's CD Broadside Songs. The Halliard's version is somewhat different to Hugill's, it just shares two verses and half of Hugill's chorus.

Tony Hall sang Ten Thousand Miles Away during the recording sessions for his 1977 Free Reed album Fieldvole Music. This recording was finally published in 2002 on the Free Reed anthology This Label Is Not Removable, and in 2007 on the original album's CD reissue.

Jon Boden sang a version quite similar to Hugill's as the September 25, 2010 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day, though he chose to call it Blow the Winds High-O after the first chorus line.

A few years earlier, John Spiers and Jon Boden sang an abbreviated form of Blow the Winds High-O with just two verses, bookended by two John Spiers tunes (Holly's Reel and The Pork Pie Polka), on their 2005 Fellside CD Tunes. They commented in their sleeve notes:

The first tune is a rant John wrote for his new niece who came to her first gig before she was born and the last one is a heel & toe polka that he wrote after running around the unlit Welsh countryside with The Folk Mutants. In the middle is a nautical ditty.

A.L. Lloyd's song A Thousand Miles Away is a quite different song about the cattle runs of outback Queensland.

Lyrics

The Halliard sings A Thousand Miles Away
Sing oh for a brave and a gallant barque, A brisk and a lively breeze, A little crew and a captain too, To carry me over the seas. Chorus (after each verse): And sing blow, ye winds, hi-ho, A-roving I will go. I'll stay no more on England's shore: So let the music play. Oh my love she is beautiful, My love she is young. Her eyes are as blue as the violet's hue And delicately then she smiles. Oh that was a dark and a dismal day When we left the strand; She bid goodbye with a tearful eye And sadly waved her hand. If I were but a bosun bold Or maybe a bombardier, I'd hire a boat and hurry afloat; Straight to my love I'd steer. So straight to my love steer, me boys, Though the dancing dolphins play. Though the whales and the sharks are having their larks, It's a thousand miles away. Though the sun may shine through a London fog, The Thames run bright and clear. Though the ocean's brine be turned to wine, I'll ne'er forget my dear.

Jon Boden sings Blow the Winds High-O on Tunes	Jon Boden sings Blow the Winds High-O on A Folk Song a Day
	It's of a brave and a gallant ship With a fair an' a fav'ring breeze, And a goodly crew and a captain too, For to carry me over the seas. For to carry me over the seas, my lads, To my true love far away; I'm taking a trip on a Government ship Ten thousand miles away!
	Chorus (after each verse): And sing blow the winds high-o, A-roving I will go. I'll stay no more on England's shore For to hear the music play, For I'm off on the morning train And I won't be back again. For I'm taking a trip on a Government ship Ten thousand miles away.
Oh, my true love she was beautiful, My true love she was fair; Her eyes were like the diamonds bright And silvery was her hair. And silvery was her hair, my lads, As the big ship left the bay And I said that I'd be true to her Ten thousand miles away!	Oh, my true love she was beautiful, My true love she was young; Her eyes were like the diamonds bright And silvery was her tongue. And silvery was her tongue, my lads, As the big ship left the bay She said, will you remember me Ten thousand miles away?
	Oh dark and dismal was the day When last I saw my Meg, She'd a Government band around each hand And another one around the leg. And another one around the leg, my lads, As the big ship left the bay, I said that I'd be true to her Ten thousand miles away.
Now the sun may shine through the London fog Or the river run quite clear, Or the ocean's brine turn into wine Or I forget my beer. Or I forget my beer, my lads, And the landlord's quarter-day Before I'll forget my own delight Ten thousand miles away.	Oh the sun may shine through a London fog And the river run quite clear, And the ocean's wine turn into brine And I'll forget my beer. and I'll forget my beer, my lads, And the landlord's quarter-day Before I'll forget my own dear Meg Ten thousand miles away.
Chorus: And sing blow the winds high-o A-roving I will go I'll stay no more on England's shore For to hear the music play For I'm off on the morning train And I won't be back again For I'm taking a trip on a Government ship Ten thousand miles away.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Garry Gillard for the Halliard's verses.