(High) Barbaree

[ Roud 134 ; Child 285 ; Laws K33 ; Ballad Index C285 ; trad.]

Peter Bellamy recorded Barbaree in 1979 for his Topic LP Both Sides Then. He accompanied himself on concertina and Dave Swarbrick played fiddle. According to the sleeve notes, this is

A hybrid of Bob Robert's East Anglian version and a Carolina variant collected by the late Frank Warner.

Bob Robert's version of High Barbaree can be found in a BBC archive recording by Peter Kennedy on the 1955 anthology Folk Song Today. and on the compilation CD Sea Songs and Shanties. The latter album's notes comment:

This classic story of pirate encounter was published by Ashton in 1891, though it is likely to have been extant before then, and has also been found in versions on the Eastern seabord of the United States.

Jon Boden sang High Barbaree with his brother Tom as bonus track of the September 16, 2010 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day.

Lyrics

Bob Roberts sings High Barbaree

There were two lofty ships that from old England came,
Blow high, blow low, and so a-sailed we.
One was the Prince o' Luther and the other Prince o' Wales,
Sailing down along the coast of High Barbaree.

“Aloft there, aloft,” our jolly bosun cried,
Blow high, blow low, and so a-sailed we.
“Look ahead and look astern, a-weather and a-loo,
Look down along the coast of High Barbaree.”

“Oh theres naught upon the stern and there's naught upon the lee,”
Blow high, blow low, and so a-sailed we.
“But there's a lofty ship to wind'ard and she's sailing fast and free,
Sailing down along the coast of High Barbaree.”

“Oh hail 'er, oh hail 'er,” our gallant captain cried,
Blow high, blow low, and so a-sailed we.
“Are you a man-o'-war or a privateer,” says 'e,
Sailing down along the coast of High Barbaree.

“Oh I'm not a man-of-war, nor a privateer,” says 'e,
Blow high, blow low, and so a-sailed we.
“But I'm a salt-sea pirate, a-looking for my fee
Looking down along the coast of High Barbaree.”

So 'twas broadside and broadside, as hour on hour we lay,
Blow high, blow low, and so a-sailed we.
Until the Prince o' Luther shot the pirate's mast away,
Sailing down along the coast of High Barbaree.”

“Oh quarter! Oh quarter!” the pirate then did cry,
Blow high, blow low, and so a-sailed we.
The quarter that we gave them, we sunk 'em in the sea,
Sailing down along the coast of High Barbaree.”

And oh, it was a cruel sight and grieved us full sore,
Blow high, blow low, and so a-sailed we.
To see 'em all a-drowning as they tried to swim ashore,
Sailing down along the coast of High Barbaree.”

Peter Bellamy sings Barbaree

Now there was two jolly ships from out of England came,
Blow high, blow low, and so sail we.
One she was the Queen of Russia and the other Prince of Wales,
Cruising down along the coast of Barbaree.

“Step aloft, step aloft,” then our jolly bosun cried,
Blow high, blow low, and so sail we.
“Look ahead and look astern, look aweather, look alee,
And look down along the coast of Barbaree.”

“Well, there is no ship astern and there is no ship alee,”
Blow high, blow low, and so sail we.
“But there's a lofty ship to wind'ard, she's a-sailing fast and free,
She's a-sailing down along the coast of Barbaree.”

“Oh hail 'er! Oh, hail 'er!” then our jolly captain cried,
Blow high, blow low, and so sail we.
“Oh, youse a man-o'-war or a privateer,” says he,
“A-cruising down along the coast of Barbaree?”

“I'm not no man-of-war, nor a privateer,” says he,
Blow high, blow low, and so sail we.
But I'm a salt-sea pirate, I'm a-seeking for me fee,
“I'm a-seeking down along the coast of Barbaree!”

So broadside to broadside, a long hour we lay,
Blow high, blow low, and so sail we.
Till at lenght the Queen of Russia blew the pirate's mast away,
Cruising down along the coast of Barbaree.

And “For quarters! For quarters!” the jolly pirate cried,
Blow high, blow low, and so sail we.
“Oh, the quarter I will give you, I will sink you in the tide,
I will sink you down along the coast of Barbaree.”

So we tied them up by twos and we tied them up by threes,
Blow high, blow low, and so sail we.
Yes, we tied them up by dozens and we chucked them in the sea,
Yes, we drowned them down along the coast of Barbaree.

Acknowledgements

I found the lyrics in the Mudcat Café thread Lyr Req: Peter Bellamy's Barbaree.