The Merry Willow Tree

Sara Grey: On Autumn Harvest ah007: Old Songs & Bothy Ballads: Grand to Be a Working Man. Recorded at the Fife Traditional Singing Festival May 2008.

A version of the Golden Vanity (Child #286) from Ollie Gilbert from Timbo Arkansas. The ballad is still widely found in tradition under a variety of names including Golden Willow Tree, The Sweet Trinity (Randolph, Vol. I, #38), The Lowlands Low (Brown, Vol. II, #47), The Sweet Trinity (Belden, p. 97), The Sweet Kumadee.

1: O there was a little ship that sailed upon the sea,
And the name of the ship was the Merry Willow Tree;
As she sails upon the low and lonesome low,
Sails upon the lonesome sea.

2: It hadn't been out but a week, two or three,
When she came alongside the British robbery;
As she sailed upon the low and lonesome low,
Sailed upon the lonesome sea.

3: Up spoke the captain, a-wringing of his hands,
Crying, "Oh my God!" and it's "What shall we do?
To sink her in the low and lonesome low;
Sink her in the lonesome sea?"

4: "O Captain, oh captain, what would you give to me,
If I were to sink that British robbery?
As she sails upon the low and lonesome low,
Sails upon the lonesome sea?"

5: "O I will give you money, I'll give you a fee,
And my youngest daughter and you shall married be;
If you sink her in the low and lonesome low,
Sink her to the bottom of this lonesome sea.

6: He turned overboard and away swam he,
Till he come alongside the British robbery;
As she sailed upon the low and lonesome low,
Sailed upon the lonesome sea.

7: Well, out of his pocket an instrument he drew,
And he bored nine holes for to let the water through;
As she sailed upon the low and lonesome low,
Sailed upon the lonesome sea.

8: O some had hats and some had caps,
And they tried awful hard for to stop those water's gaps;
As she sailed upon the low and lonesome low,
Sailed upon the lonesome sea.

9: He turned on his breast and back swam he,
Till he come alongside the Merry Willow Tree;
As she sailed upon the low and lonesome low,
Sailed upon the lonesome sea.

10: "O Captain, oh captain, be good as your word,
Will you please take this drowning man on board?
I'm sinking in the low and lonesome low,
Sinking in the lonesome sea."

11: "O I'll not give you money, nor give you a fee,
And nor youngest daughter nor you shall married be;
I will sink you in the low and lonesome low,
I will sink you to the bottom of this lonesome sea."

12: "If it wasn't for your daughter, you being such a man,
I would do unto you what I done unto them;
I would sink you in the low, and lonesome low,
I'd sink you in the bottom of this lonesome sea."

13: So he turned on his breast and down sank he,
"Fare well, fare well to the Merry Willow Tree;
I'm sinking in the low, and lonesome low,
I'm sinking to the bottom of this lonesome sea."