Chapter XIII: Appendix: The Gaberlunyie-Man (2)

This ballad had a remarkable popularity in the seventeenth century, as is evinced by the numerous cases of its being cited which Chappell has collected, Popular Music, p. 67 f.[100]

As to the history of the transactions set forth in the ballad, I am not aware that anything has been added to the account given by Carew in his Survey of Cornwall, 1602, p. 135, which Ritson has quoted in the second edition of his Ancient Songs, II, 57, an account which is likely to have been taken from the ballad, with the specification from tradition that Nicholl was “son to a widow near Foy.”

“Moreover, the prowess of one Nicholas, son to a widow near Foy, is descanted upon in an old three-man’s song, namely, how he fought bravely at sea with John Dory (a Genowey, as I conjecture), set forth by John, the French king, and, after much bloodshed on both sides, took, and slew him, in revenge of the great ravine and cruelty which he had fore committed upon the Englishmen’s goods and bodies.” (Page 316 of the edition of 1813.)

The king in the ballad would be John II, the Good, who was taken prisoner at Poitiers, and died in 1364. No John Doria is mentioned as being in his service.

1
As it fell on a holy-day,
And vpon an holy-tide-a,
Iohn Dory bought him an ambling nag,
To Paris for to ride-a.

2
And when John Dory to Paris was come,
A little before the gate-a,
John Dory was fitted, the porter was witted
To let him in thereat-a.

3
The first man that John Dory did meet
Was good king John of France-a;
John Dory could well of his courtesie,
But fell downe in a trance-a.

4
‘A pardon, a pardon, my liege and my king,
For my merie men and for me-a,
And all the churles in merie England,
I’le bring them all bound to thee-a.’

5
And Nicholl was then a Cornish man,
A little beside Bohide-a,
And he mande forth a good blacke barke,
With fiftie good oares on a side-a.

6
‘Run vp, my boy, vnto the maine top,
And looke what thou canst spie-a:’
‘Who ho! who ho! a goodly ship I do see,
I trow it be John Dory[-a.’]

7
They hoist their sailes, both top and top,
The meisseine and all was tride-a,
And euery man stood to his lot,
What euer should betide-a.

8
The roring cannons then were plide,
And dub-a-dub went the drumme-a;
The braying trumpets lowde they cride
To courage both all and some-a.

9
The grappling-hooks were brought at length,
The browne bill and the sword-a,
John Dory at length, for all his strength,
Was clapt fast vnder board-a.

FOOTNOTES:

[100] The song “I cannot eat but little meat,” introduced into Gammer Gurton’s Needle, which was acted in 1566, was sung to ‘John Dory,’ says Mr Chappell, as above; but there is nothing to show that this was the original tune.

285

THE GEORGE ALOE AND THE SWEEPSTAKE

=a.= Percy Papers, “from an ancient black-letter copy in Ballard’s collection.”

=b.= Rawlinson, 566, fol. 183, 4^o.

=c.= Roxburghe, III, 204, in Ebsworth, Roxburghe Ballads, VI, 408.

March 19, 1611, there were entered to Richard Jones, “Captayne Jenninges his songe, whiche he made in the Marshalsey,” etc., and “the second parte of the George Aloo and the Swiftestake, beinge both ballades:” Arber, III, 456. The second part of the George Aloo must needs mean a second ballad, not the printers’ second half (which begins in =c= at the stanza here numbered 14). In ‘The Two Noble Kinsmen,’ printed in 1634, and perhaps earlier, the Jailer’s Daughter sings the two following stanzas (Dyce, XI, 386):

The George Alow came from the south,
From the coast of Barbary-a,
And there he met with brave gallants of war,
By one, by two, by three-a.

Well haild, well haild, you jolly gallants,
And whither now are you bound-a?
Oh, let me have your company
Till [I] come to the sound-a.

These verses, whether accurately reported or not, certainly seem to belong to another ballad. Whether they are from the first part or the second part, we have no means of assuring ourselves. It is to be observed that in the ballad before us the George Aloe and the Sweepstake are sailing _for_ Safee, and in the other case the George Aloe is coming _from_ the south, from the coast of Barbary, so that the adventure, whatever it was, may have occurred in the homeward voyage; but the circumstance is not decisive.[101]

The George Aloe and the Sweepstake, merchantmen, are bound for Safee. The George Aloe anchors, the Sweepstake keeps on, is taken by a French rover, and her crew thrown overboard. The George Aloe hears of this, and sets out to take the Frenchman. Her second shot carries away the enemy’s mainmast; the Frenchmen cry for mercy. The English ask what they did with the crew of the Sweepstake; the Frenchmen confess that they threw them into the sea. Such mercy as you shewed such mercy shall you have, say the English, and deal with the French accordingly.

‘Aboard,’ 6^2, 16^2, I suppose to mean alongside. ‘Amain,’ 7^1, 16^1, is strike (sails) in sign of surrender. The French use the word derived from their own language; the English say, strike. ‘Gallant’ Englishmen in 7^1, after ‘English dogs’ in 6^1, is unlikely courtesy, and is not found in 16^1.

‘The Swepstacke’ is a king’s ship in 1545, and ‘The Sweepstakes’ apparently again in 1666: Historical MSS Commission, 12th Report, Appendix, Part VII, pp. 8, 45.

1
The George Aloe and the Sweepstakes too,
With hey, with ho, for and a nony no
They were two merchant-men, a sailing for Safee.
And along the course of Barbary

2
[The George Aloe to anchor came,
But the jolly Sweepstake kept on her way.]

3
They had not sayled leagues two or three
Before they spyed a sail upon the sea.

4
‘O hail, O hail, you lusty gallants,
From whence is your good ship, and whither is she bound?’

5
‘O we are some merchant-men, sailing for Safee:’
‘And we be French rebels, a roving on the sea.

6
‘O hail, O hail, you English dogs, [hail!]’
‘The[n] come aboard, you French dogs, and strike down your sail!’

7
‘Amain, amain, you gallant Englishmen!’
‘Come, you French swades, and strike down your sails!’

8
They laid us aboard on the starboard side,
And they overthrew us into the sea so wide.

9
When tidings to the George Aloe came
That the jolly Sweepstakes by a Frenchman was tane,

10
‘To top, to top, thou little ship-boy,
And see if this French man-of-war thou canst descry.’

11
‘A sail, a sail, under your lee,
Yea, and another under her bough.’

12
‘Weigh anchor, weigh anchor, O jolly boatswain,
We will take this Frenchman if we can.’

13
We had not sailed leagues two or three
But we met the French man-of-war upon the sea.

14
‘All hail, all hail, you lusty gallants,
Of whence is your fair ship, and whither is she bound?’

15
‘O we are merchant-men, and bound for Safee;’
‘And we are Frenchmen, roving upon the sea.

16
‘Amain, amain, you English dogs!’
‘Come aboard, you French rogues, and strike your sails!’

17
The first good shot the George Aloe shot,
It made the Frenchmen’s hearts sore afraid.

18
The second shot the George Aloe did afford,
He struck the main-mast over the board.

19
‘Have mercy, have mercy, you brave English[men].’
‘O what have you done with our brethren on [shore]?’
As they sail[ed].

20
‘We laid them aboard on the starboard side,
And we threw them into the sea so wide.’

21
‘Such mercy as you have shewed unto them,
Even the like mercy shall you have again.’

22
We laid them aboard on the larboard side,
And we threw them into the sea so wide.

23
Lord, how it grieved our hearts full sore
To see the drowned Frenchmen float along the shore!

24
Now, gallant seamen all, adieu,
With hey, with ho, for and a nony no
This is the last news that I can write to you.
To England’s coast from Barbary

* * * * *

=a.= The Seamans only Delight: Shewing the brave fight between the George Aloe, the Sweepstakes, and certain French Men at sea. Tune, The Sailor’s Joy, etc. (_No printers given in the transcript._)

=b.= The Saylors only Delight: Shewing the brave fight between the George-Aloe, the Sweepstake, and certain Frenchmen at sea. To the tune of The Saylors Joy. London, Printed for F. Coles, T. Vere and J. [Wright] (_torn_). 1655-80, Chappell.

=c.= The Sailors onely Delight: Shewing the brave fight between George-Aloe, the Sweep-stakes, and certain French-men at sea. To the tune of The Saylor’s Joy. Printed for F. Coles, J. Wright, Tho. Vere, and W. Gilbertson. The earliest known ballad by the four together is dated 1655, Chappell. (See No 273, Appendix, III, =b=.)

=a.=

1, 24. _Burden^1._ anony.

1. _Burden^2._ course _should probably be_ coast.

2. _Wanting; supplied from_ =b=, =c=.

4^1. O hail, oh.

5^1, 6^1, 15^1. Oh.

10^2. Frenchman of war.

13^2. French Men of War.

17^2. French Mens.

19. _Ends torn away. Percy gives, after_ english, =A=, _which may be the first half of an_ =M=; _after_ on, fl, _which may possibly be a wrong reading of_ sh. Shore _is not what we should expect. Defects supplied from_ =b=, =c=.

23^2. French Men.

=b.=

1. _Burden^1._ a nony. _Burden^2._ alongst the cost.

1^1, 9^2. Sweepstake.

1^2. O they were marchant men and bound.

3^2. But they met with a Frenchman of war upon.

4^1. All hayl, all hayl.

4^2. Of whence is your fair ship, whether are you bound.

5^1. We are Englishmen and bound.

5^2. Of whence is your fair ship, or whether are you bound.

6. _Wanting._

7^2. swads.

10^2. Frenchman.

11^1. our lee.

11^2. under her obey.

13^2. Frenchman.

14^2. is it.

15^2. I, and we are Frenchmen and war.

16^2. strike down.

17^2. He made: heart.

18^2. strook.

19^1. brave Englishmen.

19^2. brethen on shore.

_Burden^2._ As they sayled into Barbary.

23^1. greives.

23^2. swim along.

=c.=

4^2. or whither.

7^1. Englishman.

7^2. sayle.

14^2. whither are you.

16^2. rogue.

17^2. hearts.

18^2. struck their.

19^2. brethren on shore. _Burden^2._ sayled in.

21^2. Then the. _Variations otherwise as in_ =b=.

FOOTNOTES:

[101] There is an entry, July 31, 1590, of A Ditty of the fight upon the seas the fourth of June last in the Straits of Gibraltar between the George and the Thomas Bonaventure and eight galleys with three frigates (Arber, II, 557), but it is likely that there were Georges many, and only one George Aloe.

Mr Ebsworth has pointed out that a ballad called The Sailor’s Joy, the name of the tune to which ‘The George Aloe and the Sweepstake’ was to be sung, was entered in the Stationers’ Registers, January 14, 1595: Arber, II, 669.

286

THE SWEET TRINITY (THE GOLDEN VANITY)

=A.= ‘Sir Walter Raleigh sailing in the Low-lands,’ etc., Pepys Ballads, IV, 196, No 189 (1682-85).

=B. a.= ‘The Goulden Vanitie,’ Logan’s Pedlar’s Pack, p. 42; Mrs Gordon’s Memoir of John Wilson, II, 317. =b.= As sung by Mr G. Du Maurier, sent me by J. R. Lowell, =c.= ‘The French Galley,’ Motherwell’s MS., p. 420. =d.= Communicated by Mrs Moncrieff, of London, Ontario. =e.= ‘The Lowlands Low,’ Findlay MSS, I, 161. =f.= Sharpe’s Ballad Book, 1880, p. 160, notes of Sir Walter Scott.

=C. a.= ‘Golden Vanity, or, The Low Lands Low,’ Pitts, Seven Dials, in Logan’s Pedlar’s Pack, p. 45; Ebsworth, Roxburghe Ballads, VI, 419. =b.= ‘The Lowlands Low,’ Long, Dictionary of the Isle of Wight Dialect, p. 145. =c.= ‘Low in the Lowlands Low,’ Christie, I, 238. =d.= ‘The Golden Vanity,’ Baring-Gould and Sheppard,’Songs of the West,’ No 64. =e.= ‘The French Gallio,’ ‘The French Gallolee,’ Buchan MSS, II, 390, 414. =f.= ‘The Turkish Galley,’ Motherwell’s MS., p. 392, and Note-Book, p. 50. =g.= ‘The Lowlands Low,’ Macmath MS., p. 80.

=A= also in Euing, No 334, Crawford, No 1073, Huth, II, No 134; all by the same printer, 1682-85.

Motherwell enters the first stanza of another copy of ‘The Turkish Galley’ in his Note-Book, p. 10, and refers to three copies more, besides =B d=, at p. 51.

There is a retouched copy of =C= in English County Songs, Lucy E. Broadwood and J. A. Fuller Maitland, p. 182.

=B=, =C=, are probably traditional variations of the broadside =A=. The conclusion of the broadside is sufficiently inadequate to impel almost any singer to attempt an improvement, and a rather more effective catastrophe is the only signal difference besides names. It is, however, not quite impossible that the ultimate source of the traditional copies may be as old as the broadside.

=A.= ‘The Sweet Trinity,’ a ship built by Sir Walter Raleigh, has been taken by a galley of a nationality not specified. The master of some English ship asks what seaman will take the galley and redeem The Sweet Trinity. A ship-boy asks what the reward shall be; the reward shall be gold and fee, and the master’s eldest daughter. The ship-boy, who is possessed of an auger which bores fifteen holes at once, swims to the galley, sinks her, and releases The Sweet Trinity; then swims back to his ship and demands his pay. The master will give gold and fee, but not his daughter to wife. The ship-boy says, Farewell, since you are not so good as your word.

=B.= No ship has been taken by an enemy. The Golden Vanity, Golden Victorie, =e=, falls in with a French galley, which a cabin-boy undertakes to sink for a reward. The reward is to be, =a=, =b=, an estate in the North Country; =c=, half the captain’s lands in the South Country, meat and fee, and the captain’s eldest daughter; =e=, gold and fee, and the captain’s daughter. The boy is rolled up in a bull-skin and thrown over the deck-board (a corruption, see =C=). He takes out an instrument, and bores thirty holes at twice, =a=; a gimlet, and bores sixty holes and thrice, =b=; he struck her with an instrument, bored thirty holes at twice, =c=; threescore holes he scuttled in a trice, =d=; struck her wi an auger, thirty three and thrice, =e=. After sinking the galley he calls to the Golden Vanity to throw him a rope, take him on board, and be as good as their word, all which is refused. He threatens to serve them as he has the galley, =a=, =b=, =d=; they take him up and prove better than their word, =a=, =d=, or as good, =b=. (Of =f= very little was remembered by Scott, and the ballad was besides confounded with ‘The George Aloe.’[102])

=C.= The distinguishing feature is that the boy dies after he is taken up from the water, and is sewed up in a cow’s hide and thrown overboard, ‘to go down with the tide.’ The Golden Vanity, =a-d=, The Gold Pinnatree, =e=, The Golden Trinitie, =g=, is in danger from a Turkish galleon, =a=, =f=, =g=, a Spanish, =b=, =c= (pirate Targalley), =d=, French, =e=. The captain of the English ship promises the cabin-boy gold, fee, and daughter, if he will sink the enemy. The boy has, and uses, an auger, to bore two holes at twice, =a=, that bores twenty holes in twice, =b=, to bore two holes at once, =c=; a case of instruments, ca’s fifty holes and drives them a’ at once, =e=; an instrument, and bores nine holes in her water-sluice, =f=; an auger fitted for the use, and bores in her bottom a watery sluice, =g=. The master will not take him on board, will kill him, shoot him, sink him, =a-d=; will not keep his bargain, ‘for as you’ve done to her, so would you do to me,’ =e= (compare the threat in =B= 13). The boy is taken up by his mess-mates and dies on the deck, =a=, =c=, =d=; is sewed in a cow-hide and thrown overboard, =a=, =c-g=; in =b= sinks from exhaustion and drowns.

A

Pepys Ballads, IV, 196, No 189.

1
Sir Walter Rawleigh has built a ship,
In the Neatherlands
Sir Walter Rawleigh has built a ship,
In the Neather-lands
And it is called The Sweet Trinity,
And was taken by the false gallaly.
Sailing in the Low-lands

2
‘Is there never a seaman bold
In the Neather-lands
Is there never a seaman bold
In the Neather-lands
That will go take this false gallaly,
And to redeem The Sweet Trinity?’
Sailing, etc.

3
Then spoke the little ship-boy;
In the Neather-lands
Then spoke the little ship-boy;
In the Neather-lands
‘Master, master, what will you give me
And I will take this false gallaly,
And release The Sweet Trinity?’
Sailing, etc.

4
‘I’ll give thee gold, and I’le give thee fee,
In the Neather-lands
I’ll give thee gold and I’le give thee fee,
In the Neather-lands
And my eldest daughter thy wife shall be.’
Sailing, etc.

5
He set his breast, and away he did swim,
Until he came to the false gallaly.

6
He had an augor fit for the [n]once,
The which will bore fifteen good holes at once.

7
Some ware at cards, and some at dice,
Until the salt water flashd in their eyes.

8
Some cut their hats, and some cut their caps,
For to stop the salt-water gaps.

9
He set his breast, and away did swim,
Until he came to his own ship again.

10
‘I have done the work I promised to do,
For I have sunk the false gallaly,
And released The Sweet Trinity.

11
‘You promised me gold, and you promised me fee,
Your eldest daughter my wife she must be.’

12
‘You shall have gold, and you shall have fee,
But my eldest daughter your wife shall never be.’
For sailing, etc.

13
‘Then fare you well, you cozening lord,
Seeing you are not so good as your word.’
For sailing, etc.

14
And thus I shall conclude my song,
Of the sailing in the Low-lands
Wishing all happiness to all seamen both old and young.
In their sailing in the Low-lands

B

=a.= Logan’s Pedlar’s Pack, p. 42, as sung about 1840 by Mr P. S. Fraser, of Edinburgh, and obtained by him orally. =b.= As sung by Mr George Du Maurier to Mr J. R. Lowell, 1884. =c.= Motherwell’s MS., p. 420; from Mr John Cleland, marble-cutter, Glasgow, who had it of Mr Forrester, Stirling. =d.= Communicated by Mrs Moncrieff, as taught to a relative of hers by an old Scottish lady about 1830. =e.= Findlay MSS, I, 161, “from Strang, Divinity Student, 1868.” =f.= Sharpe’s Ballad Book, 1880, p. 160, note by Sir Walter Scott.

1
There was a gallant ship, and a gallant ship was she
Eck iddle du, and the Lowlands low
And she was called The Goulden Vanitie.
As she sailed to the Lowlands low

2
She had not sailed a league, a league but only three,
Eck, etc.
When she came up with a French gallee.
As she sailed, etc.

3
Out spoke the little cabin-boy, out spoke he;
‘What will you give me if I sink that French gallee?’
As ye sail, etc.

4
Out spoke the captain, out spoke he;
‘We’ll gie ye an estate in the North Countrie.’
As we sail, etc.

5
‘Then row me up ticht in a black bull’s skin,
And throw me oer deck-buird, sink I or swim.’
As ye sail, etc.

6
So they’ve rowed him up ticht in a black bull’s skin,
And have thrown him oer deck-buird, sink he or soom.
As they sail, etc.

7
About, and about, and about went he,
Until he cam up with the French gallee.
As they sailed, etc.

8
O some were playing cards, and some were playing dice,
When he took out an instrument, bored thirty holes at twice.
As they sailed, etc.

9
Then some they ran with cloaks, and some they ran with caps,
To try if they could stap the saut-water draps.
As they sailed, etc.

10
About, and about, and about went he,
Until he cam back to The Goulden Vanitie.
As they sailed, etc.

11
‘Now throw me oer a rope and pu me up on buird,
And prove unto me as guid as your word.’
As ye sail, etc.

12
‘We’ll no throw you oer a rope, nor pu you up on buird,
Nor prove unto you as guid as our word.’
As we sail, etc.

13
Out spoke the little cabin-boy, out spoke he;
Then hang me, I’ll sink ye as I sunk the French gallee.
As ye sail, etc.

14
But they’ve thrown him oer a rope, and have pu’d him up on buird,
And have proved unto him far better than their word.
As they sailed, etc.

C

=a.= Stall-copy, Pitts, Seven Dials, Logan’s Pedlar’s Pack, p. 45. =b.= Long’s Dictionary of the Isle of Wight Dialect, p. 145. =c.= Christie, Traditional Ballad Airs, I, 238, compounded from the recitation of an old woman of Buckie, Banffshire, and a chap-book copy. =d.= Baring-Gould and Sheppard, Songs of the West, No 64,