Trawler Songs (1916)
But where's the drifter that went out alone ? :-Roll and go, and fare you well-
'Was her. name Peggy Nutten ? That name is my own.
O, fare you well, my sailor.
They sing in the dark, "Let her go ! Let her go !"
And she sailed to the West, where the broad waters flow ;
And the others come back, but . . . the bitter winds blow.
Ah, fare you well, my sailor.
The women, at evening, they wave and they cheer,
-Roll and go, and fare you well-
They're waiting to welcome their lads at the pier.
O, fare you well, my sailor.
They're all coming home in the twilight below ;
But there's one little boat . . . Let her go ! Let her go !
She carried my heart, and a heart for the foe.
Ah, fare you well, my sailor,
The Nell and the Maggie, the Ruth and the Joan,
-Roll and go, and fare you well-
They come to their namesakes, and leave me alone,
Fare you well, my sailor.
And names are kept dark, for the spies mustn't know ;
But they'll look in my face, an' I think It will show ;
For my name's Peggy Nutten, an' God let her go.
Ah, fare you. well, my sailor. -Alfred Noyes. Notes From the Adelaide Newspaper The Register 11 Dec 1916 p. 9.