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Folklore on the Internet by Mark Gregory
In Search of Rebecca Young: Eric DeBeck

After a year of Australian Folk Songs being on the World Wide Web and recording over 7000 hits or visits, I have also received over 100 email messages from people around the world. Early this year I got a message from Eric DeBeck in Canada that read:

"Mark : Thank Goodness for the Internet! I was just surfing around when I came across your 101 Australian Folk Songs and to my delight it included "Female Rambling Sailor." I have been searching for any information on this folk song for almost 4 years. My search has taken me to Ottawa, Canada and Eugene, Oregon."

I first heard The Female Rambling Sailor on a Wattle record of field recordings (Australian Traditional Singers and Musicians in Victoria) which was published in 1963. Sung by Catherine Peatey, it was collected by Bob Michell and Norm O'Connor in 1959. Edgar Waters' notes about the song state that it "belongs to a type that is familiar enough: but of this particular ballad I have been able to find no trace in the collection available to me, neither songs taken from oral tradition nor of reprintings of broadside ballads".Of the singer the notes say "Most of her songs she learnt from her father, writing down the words in a manuscript book which she has preserved".

The Female Rambling Sailor appeared on 2 other recordings in Australia, one in 1968, sung by Shayna Karlin (Score Records: Soldiers and Sailors) and one in 1985 sung by the Larrikins.

I was reminded of the Larrikin recording by Eric who wrote:

"I was surfing through something online here at my local university (University of Victoria) library called "WorldCat" (OCLC FirstSearch) and I came up with the citation below. Anyway, not only is this recording listed below Australian but it is in this library's collection!

AUTHOR: Fahey, Warren.
TITLE: Limejuice & vinegar
PLACE: Paddington, Australia :
PUBLISHER: Larrikin Records,
YEAR: 1985
PUB TYPE: Recording
FORMAT: 1 sound disc : analog, 33 1/3 rpm ; 12 in."

Before that discovery he had sent me a package of photocopies of broadside versions of the song, two from Ireland and one from W & T Fordyce of Newcastle. Among the photocopies were pages from an article called "Rambling Female Sailors" by Dianne Dugaw from the International Journal of Maritime History of June 1992. Dianne begins her article with the words of Female Rambling Sailor which she dates as a "street ballad of the 1830's". She's the author of a book "Warrior Women and Popular Balladry, 1650-1850". I discovered I could order the book from the internet so naturally that's what I did (using Amazon.com Books).


The Female Sailor c. 1820 (from Dianne Dugaw's book)


Meanwhile I tracked down the recording of Shayna via Gordon McIntyre in Rozelle and of Catherine Peatey via the National Library in Canberra, and sent cassette copies of them to my email friend in Canada. He in return has sent me a cassette with 8 recordings of the song that he has found! And Edgar Waters was very interested to discover that his supposition about the song having a broadside background was correct. That's folklore on the internet.





Catherine Peatey's version:

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

 The broadside version:

Come all young people far and near,
And listen to my ditty,
At Gravesend lived a maiden fair,
Who was both young and pretty,
Her lover he was pressed away,
And drowned in a foreign sea,
Which caused this fair maid for to say,
I'll be a female sailor.

This maid she was resolved to go
Across the foaming ocean,
She was resolved to let them know,
How she could gain promotion.
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.

Like a sailor bold she went on board,
All for to do her duty,
She was always ready at her call,
This maid--the queen of beauty.
When in the calm, this damsel young,
Would charm the sailors with her tongue,
As she walked the deck and sweetly sung,
The female rambling sailor,

When in a storm upon the sea,
She was ready at her station,
And her mind was as calm as calm could be,
She loved her occupation.
From stem to stern she'd freely go,
She braved all dangers, feared no foe,
But soon you'll hear of the overthrow
Of this female rambling sailor.

This maiden gay did a wager lay
That she would go aloft with any,
And up aloft she straight did go
This maiden bold, O ! sad to tell,
She missed her hold and down she fell,
Then calmly bid this world farewell,
Did this female rambling sailor.

This maiden gay did fade away,
Just like a drooping willow,
Which made the sailors sigh and say,
Farewell, young faithful Willy.
When her snow white breast in sight came,
She proved to be a female frame
And Rebecca Young it was the name
Of this female rambling sailor

May the willows wave around her grave,
And round it laurels planted,
May roses sweet grow at the feet
Of one that was undaunted
May a marble slab be inscribed upon,
"Near here lies one so lately gone,
A maiden fair as the sun shone on,
The female rambling sailor."

So all young men and maids around,
Come listen to my story,
Her body is anchored in the ground,
Let's hope her soul's in glory.
On the river Thames she was known well,
Few sailors there could her excel
One tear let fall as the fate you tell,
Of the female rambling sailor.

Recordings of the Female Rambling Sailor

list from Eric DeBeck (updated by Mark Gregory 2006)

  1. Catherine Peatey
    Australian Traditional Singers and Musicians in Victoria
    Wattle Archive Series 2 1963

  2. Shayna Karlin
    Soldiers and Sailors, Score Records, 1968

  3. Martyn Wyndham-Read
    Harry the Hawker is Dead, Argo ZFB 82, 1982

  4. Warren Fahey and the Larrikins
    Limejuice and Vinegar, Larrikin Records LRF-159, 1985

  5. Ian Robb
    Rose and Crown, Folk-Legacy Records C-106, 1985

  6. Rude Girls
    Rude Awakening, Flying Fish Records FF 90424, 1987

  7. William Pint and Felicia Dale
    Port of Dreams, Self Released Record #IEZ 734-CD, 1991

  8. Sally Barker and the Rhythm
    Beating the Drum, Hypertension HYCD 200 124, 1992

  9. Three Sheets to the Wind
    Grace Under Pressure, Canal Records 264, 1994

  10. Rich Lerner
    Trails and Bridges, Rockduster Records #103095-A, 1995

  11. John Kirkpatrick
    Song Links, Fellside Records FECD176D, 2003

  12. Martyn Wyndham-Read
    Song Links, Fellside Records FECD176D, 2003

  13. Jenny Gall
    Cantara, Elidor Records JG1806, 2006

  14. In the Pink
    Feel A Lot Better, 2006

 

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australian traditional songs . . . a selection by mark gregory