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The Female Rambling Sailor Catherine Peaty Come all ye maidens far and near And listen to my ditty It was near Gravesend there lived a maid She was both young and pretty Her true love he was pressed away And drownded in a foreign sea Which caused this fair maid for to say I'll be a female sailor With jacket blue and trousers white Just like a sailor neat and tight Sure the sea it was the heart's delight Of the female rambling sailor When in storm upon the raging sea She was ready at her station And her mind was as calm as calm could be She loved her occupation When in the calm this damsel young She charmed the sailors with her tongue She walked the deck and swiftly sang The female rambling sailor This maiden gay a wager lay She would go aloft with any From stem to stern she freely went Where times she had been many From stem to stern she freely goes She braves all dangers fears no foes And soon you'll hear of the overthrow Of the female rambling sailor From stem to stern she freely went Where times she had been many Her hold it slipped and down she fell And calmly bid this world farewell When a snowy white breast in sight it came It appeared to be a female frame And Rebecca Young it was the name Of the female rambling sailor O come all ye maidens far and near Come listen to my story Her body's anchored in the ground Let's hope her soul's in glory May the willows wave around her grave And around the laurels planted May the roses sweet grow at the feet Of the one that was undaunted May the roses sweet grow at the feet Of the one that was undaunted As fair a maid as the sun shone on Was the female rambling sailor On the river Fame she was known well Few sailors there could her excel One tear let fall for the last fairwell Of a female rambling sailor Notes Collected by Bob Michell and Norm O'Connor from Catherine Peatey, who sings it on: Traditional Singers and Musicians in Victoria , Wattle Records 1963. In his notes on the record Edgar Waters writes "The story of a girl dressing as a man and serving as a sailor in the navy is certainly not an uncommon one in English broadside ballads of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries." For many years I thought this was the only field recording of the song but recently I discovered though the internet that an earlier recording exists from 1932: Jack McNally in the USA was recorded by the folklorist Helen Hartness Flanders whose collection can now be searched online at Middlebury College. Many thanks for permission to add their recocording to the Australian Folk Songs website: File source: Middlebury College, Flanders Ballad Collection, used with permission Usage restrictions: non-commercial, educational uses only; commercial recordings or further distribution/copying permitted only with permission of Middlebury College. Copyright concerns regarding the original recording: contact Middlebury College at address below Middlebury College contact: Andrew Wentink, Curator of Special Collections & College Archives, awentink@middlebury.edu, Library 101, Middlebury College, Middlebury VT 05753 802.443.5501 Folklore on the Internet: Mark Gregory In Search of Rebecca Young: Eric DeBeck Warrior Women and Popular Balladry: Mark Gregory Top
The Female Rambling Sailor Catherine Peaty
Come all ye maidens far and near And listen to my ditty It was near Gravesend there lived a maid She was both young and pretty Her true love he was pressed away And drownded in a foreign sea Which caused this fair maid for to say I'll be a female sailor With jacket blue and trousers white Just like a sailor neat and tight Sure the sea it was the heart's delight Of the female rambling sailor When in storm upon the raging sea She was ready at her station And her mind was as calm as calm could be She loved her occupation When in the calm this damsel young She charmed the sailors with her tongue She walked the deck and swiftly sang The female rambling sailor This maiden gay a wager lay She would go aloft with any From stem to stern she freely went Where times she had been many From stem to stern she freely goes She braves all dangers fears no foes And soon you'll hear of the overthrow Of the female rambling sailor From stem to stern she freely went Where times she had been many Her hold it slipped and down she fell And calmly bid this world farewell When a snowy white breast in sight it came It appeared to be a female frame And Rebecca Young it was the name Of the female rambling sailor O come all ye maidens far and near Come listen to my story Her body's anchored in the ground Let's hope her soul's in glory May the willows wave around her grave And around the laurels planted May the roses sweet grow at the feet Of the one that was undaunted May the roses sweet grow at the feet Of the one that was undaunted As fair a maid as the sun shone on Was the female rambling sailor On the river Fame she was known well Few sailors there could her excel One tear let fall for the last fairwell Of a female rambling sailor Notes Collected by Bob Michell and Norm O'Connor from Catherine Peatey, who sings it on: Traditional Singers and Musicians in Victoria , Wattle Records 1963. In his notes on the record Edgar Waters writes "The story of a girl dressing as a man and serving as a sailor in the navy is certainly not an uncommon one in English broadside ballads of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries." For many years I thought this was the only field recording of the song but recently I discovered though the internet that an earlier recording exists from 1932: Jack McNally in the USA was recorded by the folklorist Helen Hartness Flanders whose collection can now be searched online at Middlebury College. Many thanks for permission to add their recocording to the Australian Folk Songs website: File source: Middlebury College, Flanders Ballad Collection, used with permission Usage restrictions: non-commercial, educational uses only; commercial recordings or further distribution/copying permitted only with permission of Middlebury College. Copyright concerns regarding the original recording: contact Middlebury College at address below Middlebury College contact: Andrew Wentink, Curator of Special Collections & College Archives, awentink@middlebury.edu, Library 101, Middlebury College, Middlebury VT 05753 802.443.5501 Folklore on the Internet: Mark Gregory In Search of Rebecca Young: Eric DeBeck Warrior Women and Popular Balladry: Mark Gregory Top
Come all ye maidens far and near And listen to my ditty It was near Gravesend there lived a maid She was both young and pretty Her true love he was pressed away And drownded in a foreign sea Which caused this fair maid for to say I'll be a female sailor With jacket blue and trousers white Just like a sailor neat and tight Sure the sea it was the heart's delight Of the female rambling sailor When in storm upon the raging sea She was ready at her station And her mind was as calm as calm could be She loved her occupation When in the calm this damsel young She charmed the sailors with her tongue She walked the deck and swiftly sang The female rambling sailor This maiden gay a wager lay She would go aloft with any From stem to stern she freely went Where times she had been many From stem to stern she freely goes She braves all dangers fears no foes And soon you'll hear of the overthrow Of the female rambling sailor From stem to stern she freely went Where times she had been many Her hold it slipped and down she fell And calmly bid this world farewell When a snowy white breast in sight it came It appeared to be a female frame And Rebecca Young it was the name Of the female rambling sailor O come all ye maidens far and near Come listen to my story Her body's anchored in the ground Let's hope her soul's in glory May the willows wave around her grave And around the laurels planted May the roses sweet grow at the feet Of the one that was undaunted May the roses sweet grow at the feet Of the one that was undaunted As fair a maid as the sun shone on Was the female rambling sailor On the river Fame she was known well Few sailors there could her excel One tear let fall for the last fairwell Of a female rambling sailor
Collected by Bob Michell and Norm O'Connor from Catherine Peatey, who sings it on: Traditional Singers and Musicians in Victoria , Wattle Records 1963. In his notes on the record Edgar Waters writes "The story of a girl dressing as a man and serving as a sailor in the navy is certainly not an uncommon one in English broadside ballads of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries."
For many years I thought this was the only field recording of the song but recently I discovered though the internet that an earlier recording exists from 1932: Jack McNally in the USA was recorded by the folklorist Helen Hartness Flanders whose collection can now be searched online at Middlebury College.
Many thanks for permission to add their recocording to the Australian Folk Songs website:
File source: Middlebury College, Flanders Ballad Collection, used with permission Usage restrictions: non-commercial, educational uses only; commercial recordings or further distribution/copying permitted only with permission of Middlebury College. Copyright concerns regarding the original recording: contact Middlebury College at address below Middlebury College contact: Andrew Wentink, Curator of Special Collections & College Archives, awentink@middlebury.edu, Library 101, Middlebury College, Middlebury VT 05753 802.443.5501
Folklore on the Internet: Mark Gregory In Search of Rebecca Young: Eric DeBeck Warrior Women and Popular Balladry: Mark Gregory
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australian traditional songs . . . a selection by mark gregory
