The Golden VanityThere was a ship that sailed all on the lowland sea
And the name of the ship was the Golden Vanity And we feared she would be taken by the Spanish enemy As she sailed upon the lowland, lowland, lowland Sailed upon the lowland sea. Then up spoke our cabinboy and boldly out spoke he And he said to our captain "What will you give to me If I swim along the side of the Spanish enemy And I sink her in the lowland sea?" "Oh I will give you silver and I will give you gold And my own fair daughter your bonny bride shall be If you'll swim along the side of the Spanish enemy And you'll sink her in the lowland, lowland, lowland Sink her in the lowland sea. Then the boy he made him ready and overboard sprang he And he swam to the side of the Spanish enemy With his brace and auger in her side he bored holes three And sank he her in the lowland sea. Then quickly he swam back to the cheering of the crew But the captain would not heed him, his promise he did rue And he scorned his poor entreatings when loudly he did sue And left him in the lowland,lowland, lowland Left him in the lowland sea. Then the boy he turned round and he swam to the port side And up to his messmates full bitterly he cried "O messmates, draw me up, for I'm drifting with the tide And I'm sinking in the lowland, lowland, lowland Sinking in the lowland sea." Then his messmates drew him up, but on the deck he died And they stitched him in a hammock which was so fair and white And they low'red him overboard, and he drifted with the tide And he sank into the lowland, lowland, lowland Sank into the lowland sea. There was a ship that sailed all on the lowland sea And the name of the ship was the Golden Vanity And we feared she would be taken by the Spanish enemy As she sailed upon the lowland, lowland, lowland Sailed upon the lowland sea. As she sailed upon the lowland, lowland, lowland Sailed upon the lowland sea. Comment Form is loading comments...
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John Fitz
balladmonger 1. noun: a seller of ballads, esp on broadsheets. 2. Noun: a writer of mediocre poetry. History & Synopsis"The Sweet Trinity", also known as "The Golden Vanity" or "The Golden Willow Tree", is Child Ballad 286. The first surviving version, about 1635, was "Sir Walter Raleigh Sailing In The Lowlands (Shewing how the famous Ship called the Sweet Trinity was taken by a false Gally & how it was again restored by the craft of a little Sea-boy, who sunk the Gally".
A captain of a ship (the Sweet Trinity or Golden Vanity or Golden Willow Tree of the title) laments the danger it is in; Sir Walter Raleigh complains that it was captured by a galley, but the more common complaint is that it is in danger from another ship, which may be French, Turkish, Spanish, or (especially in American variants) British. A cabin boy offers to solve the problem. The captain promises him rich rewards, which vary enormously between versions. The boy swims to the enemy ship, bores holes in its hull, and sinks it. He swims back. Usually, the captain declares he will not take him up, let alone reward him; in some variants, he extorts the rescue and reward by sinking, or threatening to sink, his ship as well, but usually, he drowns (sometimes after saying he would sink the ship if it weren't for the crew). Occasionally, the crew rescue him, but he dies on the deck. In the variant with Raleigh, Raleigh is willing to keep some of his promises, but not to marry him to his daughter, and the cabin boy scorns him. In the New England version recorded byJohn Roberts (see below), he sinks both ships but is rescued by another one, thus explaining how the story could have been passed on. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sweet_Trinity |