Cape Cod Girls

Cape Cod Girls

by | Mar 12, 2017

Songs of the Sea & Fo’castle

South Australia

(aka Cape Cod Girls)

The American Folk Experience

Cape Cod Girls

by John Fitzsimmons | The American Folk Experience

~Traditional 

Cape Cod girls ain’t got no combs;
Heave away, haul away!
They comb their hair with cod fish bones.
We’re bound for south Australia!

Heave her up me bully, bully boys.
Heave her up and don’t ye make no noise,

Cape Cod cats ain’t got no tails,
Lost them all in southeast gales.

Cape Cod kids ain’t got no sleds,
They slide down down dunes on codfish heads.

Cape Cod ladies don’t have no frills,
Skinny and light as codfish gills.

Cape Cod folks don’t have no ills,
Cape Cod doctors feed ’em Codfish pills.

If you have any more information to share about this song or helpful links, please post as a comment. Thanks for stopping by the site! ~John Fitz

I am indebted to the many friends who share my love of traditional songs and to the many scholars whose works are too many to include here. I am also incredibly grateful to the collector’s curators and collators of Wikipedia, Mudcat.org, MainlyNorfolk.info, and TheContemplator.com for their wise, thorough and informative contributions to the study of folk music. 

I share this scholarly research on my site with humility, thanks, and gratitude. Please cite sources accordingly with your own research. If you have any research or sites you would like to share on this site, please post in the comment box.  

Thanks!

Source: Wikipedia

Edit links

"Rolling King" redirects here; not to be confused with Rollin King.

"South Australia" (Roud 325) is a sea shanty and folk song, also known under such titles as "Rolling King" and "Bound for South Australia". As an original worksong it was sung in a variety of trades, including being used by the wool and later the wheat traders who worked the clipper ships between Australian ports and London. In adapted form, it is now a very popular song among folk music performers that is recorded by many artists and is present in many of today's song books.

History as a shanty

Information on the age, spread, and practical use of the shanty is relatively sparse. However, the evidence at hand does not suggest there is anything particularly or locally "Australian" about the song, contrary to how it has become popularly envisioned since the late 20th century.

It was first noted by sea music author L.A. Smith, who collected it "from a coloured seaman at the [Sailors'] 'Home'" in London and published it in her 1888 collection, The Music of the Waters.[1]

The shanty is not mentioned again until the 1900s (decade). Patterson (1900) mentions a heaving chanty titled "Bound to Western Australia,"[2] and the veteran African-American sailor James H. Williams mentioned the song in a 1909 article.[3][4]

In the 1930s or 1940s, at Sailors' Snug Harbor, New York, shanty collector William Main Doerflinger recorded veteran sailor William Laurie of Greenock, Scotland, who began a career in sailing ships in the late 1870s. The one verse sung by Laurie was published, with tune, in Doerflinger's 1951 book.[5]

This shanty is not attested in writing again until Lydia Parrish's study of the music tradition of Georgia Sea Islanders, published in 1942.[6]

In 1946, J.T. Hatfield shared his recollections of a much earlier, 1886 voyage as a passenger traveling from Pensacola to Nice. During this voyage, Hatfield had noted the shanties sung by the crew, who were all black men from Jamaica. This version, which includes both tune and text, includes the unusual phrase, "Hooray! You're a lanky!", which may have been a mishearing by Hatfield.

Another remembered version comes in F.P. Harlow's Chanteying Aboard American Ships (1962), in which the author recalls shanties sung aboard the ship Akbar on a trip from Massachusetts to Melbourne, Australia in 1876. A crew mate "Dave" is said to have taught this to the crew while pumping at the windlass.[7] As no references to the song put it any earlier than the mid-1870s, it may well be that the song was new at the time.

Work function and lyrical variations

Smith said it was a capstan chanty, as evidenced by the refrain which indicates, "Heave away! Heave away!" Parrish found that stevedores hauling heavy timber used the song with the chorus, "Haul away, I’m a rollin' king."

Lyrics

Like most shanties of this type, "South Australia" was sung to a flexible combination of customary verses, floating verses from within the general chanty repertoire, and verses improvised in the moment or particular to individual singers. The song was of indefinite length, and created by supplying solo verses to a two-part refrain followed by a grand chorus. The following is a sample after Stan Hugill:

(solo) Oh South Australia is me home[8]
(chorus) Heave away! Heave away!
(solo) South Australia is me home
(chorus) An' we're bound for South Australia.

Heave away, heave away
Oh heave away, you rolling king,
We're bound for South Australia

Solo verse couplets documented to have been sung to "South Australia" include the following from sailors of the 19th century.

I see my wife standing on the quay
The tears do start as she waves to me.

I'll tell you the truth and I'll tell you no lie;
If I don't love that girl I hope I may die.

And now I'm bound for a foreign strand,
With a bottle of whisky in my hand.

I'll drink a glass to the foreign shore
And one to the girl that I adore.[1]

In the 1940s, "South Australia" became popular as a camp song.[9] And by the second decade of the 20th century, it had been adopted by several college glee clubs.[10]

A slightly different version of the song was published by Doerflinger in 1951.[5] English folk revival singer A.L. Lloyd recorded the song, without citing a source, on the 1957 album Blow Boys Blow. He used Doerflinger's melody and the phrase "hear me sing," which are unique to that collection, which Lloyd used for other shanties he performed.

The Clancy Brothers recorded the song in 1962, in a version similar to A.L. Lloyd's. Patrick Clancy, one of the Clancy Brothers, had edited Lloyd's Blow Boys Blow album, which was released by Tradition Records, a label that Clancy managed.[11] The Clancy Brothers rendered Lloyd's phrase "lollop around Cape Horn" as the unintelligible "wallop around Cape Horn." The Clancy Brothers' version is the most common one sung by folk music and shanty performers. The song has been recorded many times in both traditional and modern arrangements.

A traditional Morris dance of the same name is performed to the tune, from the style of Adderbury.[12][13]

Traditional recordings

Modern versions

References

  1. ^ a b Smith, Laura Alexandrine. The Music of the Waters. London: Kegan, Paul, Trench & Co.
  2. ^ Patterson, J.E. "Sailors' Work Songs." _Good Words_ 41(28) (June 1900): 391–397.
  3. ^ Williams, James H. "The Sailors' 'Chanties'." The Independent (8 July 1909):76-83.
  4. ^ Hatfield, James Taft. "Some Nineteenth Century Shanties." Journal of American Folklore 59(232): 108–113.
  5. ^ a b Doerflinger, William Main. Shantymen and Shantyboys: Songs of the Sailor and Lumberman. Macmillan: New York.
  6. ^ Parrish, Lydia. Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands. New York: Creative Age Press.
  7. ^ Harlow, Frederick Pease. Chanteying Aboard American Ships. Barre, Mass.: Barre Publishing Co., 1962
  8. ^ Hugill, collected by Stan (1994). Shanties from the seven seas : shipboard work-songs and songs used as work-songs from the great days of sail (New U.S. ed.). Mystic, Conn.: Mystic Seaport Museum. ISBN 0-913372-70-6.
  9. ^ Unknown. "The A.C.A. Meet of 1892." Forest and Stream 39(10) (8 September 1892). Pg. 212.
  10. ^ Associated Harvard Clubs. _Book of Songs_. Chicago: Lakeside Press, 1916.
  11. ^ Guida, Nick. "Blow Boys Blow - Songs of Sea 1957 - Tradition TLP 1026 LP - Sleeve Notes". Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem website. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  12. ^ "The Maroon Bells Morris Dancers' Repertoire -- Morris Dancing in Colorado". www.maroonbellsmorris.org. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  13. ^ Sparroworks (12 May 2016), Fenstanton Morris - May 2016 - South Australia (Adderbury), archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 5 April 2019
  14. ^ Guida, Nick. "The Boys Won't Leave The Girls Alone - 1962 - Columbia CL 1909 LP (mono) - Sleeve Notes". Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem website. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  15. ^ "Wiggles, The". Tvmem.com. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  16. ^ "Here comes a song / The Wiggles. [sound recording]". Trove. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  17. ^ "South Australia". Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  18. ^ "Johnny Collins With Dave Webber, Pete Watkinson". Discogs. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  19. ^ South Australia (28 September 2019). "Bounding Main". Bounding Main. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Australia_(song)

Source: Mainly Norfolk

South Australia

[ Roud 325 ; Ballad Index Doe071 ; trad.]

Contrary to the jolly nature of shanties like this, shipboard life in the early days was miserable indeed.

Laura Smith collected a version of this classic shanty from sailors in Tyneside and printed it in her The Music of the Waters in 1888. A.L. Lloyd recorded it in 1958 for his Wattle album Across the Western Plains (verses 1-5 and 7-8). This track was reissued in 1960 on his Topic LP Outback Ballads and included in 2008 on his Fellside anthology Ten Thousand Miles Away He also sang it with Ewan MacColl joining in on chorus on their 1957 album Blow Boys Blow (verses 1-3 and 5-7). And Trevor Lucas recorded South Australia for his second Australian solo album of 1966, Overlander.

A.L. Lloyd commented in the Across the Western Plains sleeve notes:

In the days of sail, South Australia was a familiar going-away song, sung as the men trudged round the capstan to heave up the heavy anchor. Some say the song originated on wool-clippers, others say it was first heard on the emigrant ships. There is no special evidence to support either belief; it was sung just as readily aboard Western Ocean ships as in those of the Australian run. Laura Smith, a remarkable Victorian Lady, obtained a 14-stanza version of South Australia from a coloured seaman in the Sailors’ Home at Newcastle-on-Tyne, in the early 1880’s. The song’s first appearance in print was in Miss Smith’s Music of the Waters. Later, it was often used as a forebitter, sung off-watch, merely for fun, with any instrumentalist joining in. It is recorded in this latter-day form. The present version was learnt from an old sailing-ship sailor, Ted Howard of Barry, in South Wales. Ted told how he and a number of shellbacks were gathered round the bed of a former shipmate. The dying man remarked: “Blimey, I think I’m slipping my cable. Strike up South Australia, lads, and let me go happy.”

Louis Killen—who was chanteyman, deckhand and ship’s carpenter on the Hudson River sloop Clearwater during her trip from her builder’s yard in Maine to her home port of New York—sang South Australia in 1970 on his South Street Seaport Museum album 50 South to 50 South. He noted in the liner notes:

A capstan or pump chantey. In the Clearwater it was used as a hand-over-hand halyard chantey, with the crew hauling on the mains’l halyard during the chanteyman’s solo parts as well as on the chorus parts.

The Ripley Wayfarers sang South Australia in 1972 on their Traditional Sound Recordings album Five Wells.

Stan Hugill sang South Australia in 1980 on the Folkways album Sea Music of Many Lands: The Pacific Heritage. This video shows him at the International Shanty Festival in Workum in 1990:

Johnny Collins with Dave Webber and Pete Watkinson sang South Australia in 1996 on their album Shanties & Songs of the Sea.

Jon Boden sang South Australia as the November 6, 2010 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day.

Port Isaac’s Fisherman’s Friends sang South Australia at the Cambridge Folk Festival 2011.

Lyrics

A.L. Lloyd sings South Australia Trevor Lucas sings South Australia
In South Australia I was born,
Well, heave away, haul away,
In South Australia round Cape Horn
We’re bound for South Australia.		 In South Australia I was born,
Heave away, haul away,
In South Australia round Cape Horn
For we’re bound for South Australia.
Chorus (after each verse):
Haul away, you rolling king,
Well, heave away, haul away,
Haul away, oh hear me sing,
We’re bound for South Australia.
Chorus (after each verse):
Heave away, you rolling king,
Heave away, haul away,
Heave away, oh hear me sing,
For we’re bound for South Australia.
As I walked out one morning fair,
‘t was there I met Miss Nancy Blair.		  
There ain’t but one thing grieves my mind,
To leave Miss Nancy Blair’s behind.		 There only one thing grieves me mind,
That’s leaving Nancy Blair’s behind.
O when I sail across the sea,
My girl says she’d be true to me.		  
I rung her all night, I rung her all day,
I rung her before we sailed away.		 I rung her all night and I rung her all day,
Well, I rung her and tell we sailed away.
I shook her up, I shook her down,
I shook her round and round and round.		  
Oh, when we wallop around Cape Horn,
You’ll wish to God you’d never been born.		  
I wish I was on Australia strand,
With a glass of whiskey in my hand.		 I wish I was on Australian shores,
With a bottle of whiskey in me paw.

Acknowledgements

Lyrics copied from Mark Gregory’s Australian Folk Songs and adapted to the actual singing of A.L. Lloyd and Trevor Lucas. Thanks to Immie for an assential correction.

See also the Mudcat Café discussions What the hell’s a ‘Rolling King’? and South Australia.

Here’s a fun version by an old friend, Dan Zanes…

 

Here is a rocking version by The Pogues…

Performances, Workshops, Resources & Recordings

The American Folk Experience is dedicated to collecting and curating the most enduring songs from our musical heritage.  Every performance and workshop is a celebration and exploration of the timeless songs and stories that have shaped and formed the musical history of America. John Fitzsimmons has been singing and performing these gems of the past for the past forty years, and he brings a folksy warmth, humor and massive repertoire of songs to any occasion. 

Festivals & Celebrations

Coffeehouses

School Assemblies

Library Presentations

Songwriting Workshops

Artist in Residence

House Concerts

Pub Singing

Irish & Celtic Performances

Poetry Readings

Campfires

Music Lessons

Senior Centers

Voiceovers & Recording

““Beneath the friendly charisma is the heart of a purist gently leading us from the songs of our lives to the timeless traditional songs he knows so well…”

 

Globe Magazine

Join Fitz

at The Colonial Inn

“The Nobel Laureate of New England Pub Music…”

Scott Alaric

Adventures in the Modern Folk Underground

On the Green, in Concord, MA Every Thursday Night for over thirty years…

“A Song Singing, Word Slinging, Story Swapping, Ballad Mongering, Folksinger, Teacher, & Poet…”

Theo Rogue

Songcatcher Rag

Fitz’s Recordings

& Writings

Songs, poems, essays, reflections and ramblings of a folksinger, traveler, teacher, poet and thinker…

Download for free from the iTunes Bookstore

Now Available on iTunes!

“A Master of Folk…”

The Boston Globe

Fitz’s now classic recording of original songs and poetry…

Download from the iTunes Music Store

Now Available on iTunes!

“A Masterful weaver of song whose deep, resonant voice rivals the best of his genre…”

Spirit of Change Magazine

“2003: Best Children’s Music Recording of the Year…”

Boston Parent's Paper

Fitz & The Salty Dawgs Amazing music, good times and good friends…

Listen here

TheCraftedWord.org

Writing help

when you need it…

More Links…

  • You’ll never go wrong checking out Mudcat.org 

Performances, Workshops,
Resources & Recordings

The American Folk Experience is dedicated to collecting and curating the most enduring songs from our musical heritage.  Every performance and workshop is a celebration and exploration of the timeless songs and stories that have shaped and formed the musical history of America. John Fitzsimmons has been singing and performing these gems of the past for the past forty years, and he brings a folksy warmth, humor and massive repertoire of songs to any occasion. 

Festivals & Celebrations
Coffeehouses
School Assemblies
Library Presentations
Songwriting Workshops
Artist in Residence
House Concerts
Pub Singing
Irish & Celtic Performances
Poetry Readings
Campfires
Music Lessons
Senior Centers
Voiceovers & Recording

““Beneath the friendly charisma is the heart of a purist gently leading us from the songs of our lives to the timeless traditional songs he knows so well…”

 

Globe Magazine

Join Fitz
at The Colonial Inn

“The Nobel Laureate of New England Pub Music…”

Scott Alaric

Adventures in the Modern Folk Underground

On the Green, in Concord, MA
Every Thursday Night
for over thirty years…

“A Song Singing, Word Slinging, Story Swapping,
Ballad Mongering, Folksinger, Teacher, & Poet…”

Theo Rogue

Songcatcher Rag

Contact Fitz!

Fitz’s Recordings

& Writings

Songs, poems, essays, reflections and ramblings of a folksinger, traveler, teacher, poet and thinker…

Download for free from the iTunes Bookstore

Now Available on iTunes!

“A Master of Folk…”

The Boston Globe

Fitz’s now classic recording of original songs and poetry…

Download from the iTunes Music Store

Now Available on iTunes!

“A Masterful weaver of song whose deep, resonant voice rivals the best of his genre…”

Spirit of Change Magazine

Campfire: The Greatest Camp Songs of all Time

“2003: Best Children’s Music Recording of the Year…”

Boston Parent's Paper

Fitz & The Salty Dawgs
Amazing music, good times and good friends…

Listen here

TheCraftedWord.org

Writing help

when you need it…

“When the eyes rest on the soul…that’s Fitzy…”

Lenny Megliola

WEEI Radio

The Blathering of Teachers

by | March 4, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities  as you do at conclusions. ~Benjamin Franklin             Maybe we are born more to ignore than to listen. I understand too well how easy it is to ignore the blatherings of teachers. I was a master of it once myself, so why...
Read More

Redefining Literacy

by | August 8, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

 My life is the poem I could have writ, But I could not both live and utter it ~Henry David Thoreau    The common man goes to an orchard to taste the fruit. The rich man man learns how to plant his own orchard. The poet, however,  grows an even better fruit and gives...
Read More

Weeds

by | August 8, 2014 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

  Somewhere locked in this choke of weeds spread like a mangy carpet is the hardened vine of Pipo’s Concord Grape he planted in an eager spring three years ago. Gasping for air and sun and water perhaps it has found some way to hide from my flailing hoe and the...
Read More

The Street I Never Go Down

by | November 18, 2017 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

As is often the case, I sit here with good intent to write my end-of-term comments--a dry litany of repeated phrases dulled by. obligation--and find myself instead writing poetry, the stuff I would rather share with my students who already know that I care dearly...
Read More

Crows & Swallows Release

by | October 21, 2017 | Journal | 0 Comments

There is seldom a red-carpet celebration when a book of poetry is released, so I will keep this a quiet and humble affair. My newest book of poetry, “Crows & Swallows” is now on iBooks, so fresh you can almost smell the ink. My business model is unchanged: It is a...
Read More

China Journal: Part Three

by | July 30, 2015 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

III My teachers could have ridden with Jesse James For all the time they stole from me... ~Richard Brautigan, Trout Fishing in America      Today it was a temple built into the mountainside west of West Lake. Mr. Toe drove us out there. In most ways I just follow Rob...
Read More

Thanksgiving

by | July 30, 2014 | Poetry | 0 Comments

I am surprised sometimesby the suddenness of November:beauty abruptly shedto a common nakedness--grasses deadenedby hoarfrost,persistent memoriesof people I’ve lost.It is left to those of us dressed in the hard barky skin of experienceto insist on a decorumthat rises...
Read More

When the same thing happens again

by | October 7, 2017 | Crows and Swallows, Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

I wonder if God is testing me, giving Me some affable warning Or, perhaps, a more Stern rebuke, replaying A foolish mistake, Rehashing and reminding me Of a harsher possibility. It is only a small 10 mm wrench tightening A loose bolt on the throttle body, slipping...
Read More

Why Trump Is Not Flipping Me Out

by | March 18, 2016 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

I wonder why Trump is not flipping me out? I wonder if there is some bigoted, ignorant and right-wing element that lurks inside this folk-singing, poem writing, neo-socialist shell of mine. Maybe it is not that hard for me to make the empathetic reach to feel at least...
Read More

I have been here before

by | September 9, 2017 | Crows and Swallows, Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

Trying to pull a final day Back into the night, execute Some stay of time, Some way to wrap The fabric of Summer Around the balky, frame of Fall, sloughing My skin, unable to stop This reptilian ecdysis— This hideous morphing Into respectability. My students, tame As...
Read More

A Perfect Mirror

by | February 11, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

Do not mistake the finger pointing at the moon for the moon itself~BuddhaLast night you were so lucky. You didn't have to worry about your grumpy, tired teacher going through hours of journals ands doling out poor grades for what I am sure qualifies for good efforts...
Read More

Me & God

by | April 9, 2018 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

        I am not done with God, nor God with me. I remain obsessed with the notion of the unmoved mover who set the pattern of creation into its initial motion. I stubbornly try to trace my existence back to some infinite beginning—so much so that I loathe the...
Read More

To a teacher

by | November 14, 2019 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

This shift from fall to winterIs the cruelest month:Long days and nightsIn a blather of responsibility’s I hoist from a murky holeAnd sort and siftOn a messy desk. I pity my students who trembleMy red pen of vengeance;Who wait with fetid thoughtsFreighted by what they...
Read More

The Three River’s Anthology eBook

by | March 25, 2026 | Journal | 0 Comments

A writer without an audience is like an egg without a yolk ~fitz If you'd like to download my book of collected works, simply click the download button and you have a free book of my ramblings, songs, poems, essays, and stories. Enjoy! (I hope)      ...
Read More

In Reply To Einstein

by | July 14, 2014 | Poetry, Raccoon | 0 Comments

*God casts the die, not the dice. ~Alfred Einstein I am cold down the neck, turtling my head to showers of ice that fall dancing and skidding on skins of crusted snow. I hold my breath when I step, inflating hopes of a weightlessness, and so be undetected
to the play...
Read More

Joshua Sawyer Podcast

by | November 11, 2017 | Fitz Podcasts, Journal | 0 Comments

Read More

How To Be Human

by | July 24, 2015 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

Mark Twain once wrote that it is good to be a good person, but it is better to tell people how to be good--"and a damn sight easier!" So much of my life is lived in response to the moment and not in a practiced and cultivated wisdom. I sat here this morning looking...
Read More

The Inn

by | December 17, 2015 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

        I realized that in all my years of writing and journal keeping, I seldom, if ever, write about "The Inn," which is and has been, the biggest and most enduring constant in my life for the past thirty plus years. Every Thursday night I load up my car, truck, bus...
Read More

Dallas: 7/7/2016

by | July 8, 2016 | Journal | 0 Comments

I woke up this morning almost too fearful to read the news. I stayed up late into the night just watching for the breaking stories and updates. Now, I am simplyconfused about how to act. I feel incredibly small and pointless, unsure of where I stand and how to move...
Read More

No Dad To Come Home To

by | August 12, 2014 | Dawghouse, Songs | 0 Comments

Rain’s falling outside of Boston—
Thank God I’m not working tonight.
I’ve got six of my own,
And a stepdaughter at home,
And a momma keeping things right.
I wonder if they’re at the table
With their puzzles, their papers and pens?
When I get off the highway
And pull in that driveway,
Will they run to the window again?

Read More

Practicing What I Preach

by | April 10, 2014 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

It is not where you go. It is how you go. ~Fitz Is there any value in coming to the page this late at night after three hours of singing in a pub, just because I said I would? I expect you to go to the empty page and pry tired and stubborn thoughts and lay them on the...
Read More

The Night Music

by | November 26, 2013 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

The house is quiet earlier than usual. I can hear Margaret playing her guitar and singing in her bedroom—door closed as she would have it, but still beautiful to hear. It reminds me of Kaleigh when she was younger singing her heart out, as if the world didn't really...
Read More

The Value of a Classic

by | November 24, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

“Classic' - a book which people praise and don't read.” ~Mark Twain A note to my 8th grade class:      All of you are supposedly reading a classic book, but what Twain says is true: few of us go thirsty to the well and willingly read the greatest works of literature...
Read More

Make Something out of Something

by | February 26, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

It's hard to make chicken salad out of chicken manure      Dirty hands are a good sign, so hopefully, you got some mental mud on your hands and created some content to work with today.  To a starving man, any food is good food--unless it...
Read More

QuickWin Casino: Fast‑Fire Play para el Ganador Consciente del Móvil

by | March 25, 2026 | Journal | 0 Comments

Quick Wins en Movimiento: Por qué las Sesiones Cortas Dominan el DíaEn la era de la gratificación instantánea, muchos jugadores desean una experiencia de juego que encaje en una pausa para el café o un viaje en tren. QuickWin Casino ha adaptado su plataforma para...
Read More

Guns, Me, and Rural America

by | February 27, 2018 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

     Sometimes I start writing without knowing where I stand—unsure of even where I stand. I have to trust some innate wisdom or audacity will cull through the bullshit we are all heir to in what Hamlet laments is “this earthly coil” we are forced to face when we wake...
Read More

You Are All a Bunch of Punks

by | February 3, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

Poetry without form is like tennis without a net. ~Robert Frost       Free verse poetry is not, as many assume, poetry without rules. It is a measured and thoughtful crafting of an idea into lines, spaces, and breaks intentionally and willfully crafted to heighten and...
Read More

Joshua Sawyer

by | August 11, 2014 | Fires in the Belly, Poetry | 0 Comments

I doubt I’d ever have taken this road
had I known how fallen it really was
to disrepair: driving comically,
skirting ruts and high boulders, grimacing
at every bang on the oil pan.
I tell you it’s the old road to Wendell —
that they don’t make them like this anymore.

Read More

Searching for an Alibi

by | August 12, 2014 | Fires in the Belly, Songs | 0 Comments

Here I am out on the road again
and it feels longer than it was back then;
when I was younger, man, it saw me through—
now it don’t do
what I want it to—

Too ra loo ra loo ra lady I—
I’m just out searching for an alibi
Too ra loo ra loo ra lady I
I’m just out searching for an alibi.

Read More

A Hard Sell

by | November 13, 2013 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

     As a teacher, I am tired of the word blog, probably because the word “blogging” is incredibly limiting and myopic, especially for someone whose teaching is centered around an online curriculum with blogs front and center on my academic table. I sat through a...
Read More

Rolling Down to Old Maui

Rolling Down to Old Maui

by | Mar 12, 2017

Songs of the Sea & Focastle

Rolling down to Old Maui

The American Folk Experience

Rolling down to Old Maui

by John Fitzsimmons | The American Folk Experience

~Traditional 
Once more we sail with a favoring gale
A-bounding o’er the main
And soon the hills of the tropic clime
Will be in view again
Six sluggish months have passed away
Since from your shores sailed we
But now we’re bound from the Arctic ground
Rolling down to old Maui

Rolling down to old Maui, my boys
Rolling down to old Maui
But now we’re bound from the Arctic ground
Rolling down to old Maui

We will heave our lead where old Diamond Head
Looms up on old Oahu
Our masts and rigging are covered with ice
Our decks are filled with snow
The hoary head of the Sea Gull Isles
That decks the Arctic Sea
Are many and many leagues astern
Since we steered for old Maui

Oh welcome the seas and the fragrant breeze
Laden with odors rare
And the pretty maids in the sunny glades
Who are gentle, kind and fair
And their pretty eyes even now look out
Hoping some day to see
Our snow-white sails before the gales
Rolling down to old Maui

Once more we sail with a favoring gale
Toward our distant home
Our mainmast sprung, we’re almost done
Still we ride the ocean’s foam
Our stun’s’ls booms are carried away
What care we for that sound
A living gale is after us
Hurrah, we’re homeward bound

If you have any more information to share about this song or helpful links, please post as a comment. Thanks for stopping by the site! ~John Fitz

I am indebted to the many friends who share my love of traditional songs and to the many scholars whose works are too many to include here. I am also incredibly grateful to the collector’s curators and collators of Wikipedia, Mudcat.org, MainlyNorfolk.info, and TheContemplator.com for their wise, thorough and informative contributions to the study of folk music. 

I share this scholarly research on my site with humility, thanks, and gratitude. Please cite sources accordingly with your own research. If you have any research or sites you would like to share on this site, please post in the comment box.  

Thanks!

 

Source: Wikipedia

Edit links

"Rolling Down to Old Maui" (or Mohee) (Roud 2005) is a traditional sea song. It expresses the anticipation of the crew of a whaling vessel of its return to Maui after a season of whaling in the Kamchatka Sea.[1]

Origin

Although the words have been found in records going back to the mid 19th century, there is some dispute about the accuracy and provenance of the melody. The words of "Rolling Down to Old Mohee" have been found in a copybook of a sailor called George Piper, who was on a whaling ship between 1866 and 1872.[2] Similar lyrics were recorded by Joanna Colcord in her collection Roll and Go, Songs of American Sailormen in 1924, where she stated that the melody had been forgotten.[3] She included additional details in the 1938 edition of her book, titled simply Songs of American Sailormen.[4]

Other references point to a version recorded in the journal of the whaling ship Atkins Adams from 1855.[5]

The tune most commonly associated with the song in modern recordings resembles that of the popular 18th-century song "Miller of Dee" but it is unknown what tune was actually associated with the words historically, as only the words were preserved.[citation needed]

Lyrics

It's a damn tough life full of toil and strife
We whalermen undergo.
And we don't give a damn when the day is done/gale has stopped
How hard the winds did blow.
'cause we're homeward bound from the Arctic ground/tis a grand ol' sound
With a good ship, taut and free
And we won't give a damn when we drink our rum
With the girls of Old Maui.

(Chorus)
Rolling down to Old Maui, me boys
Rolling down to Old Maui
We're homeward bound from the Arctic ground
Rolling down to Old Maui.

Once more we sail with a northerly gale
Towards our island home.
Our mainmast sprung, our whaling done,
And we ain't got far to roam.
Six hellish months have passed away
On the cold Kamchatka Sea,
But now we're bound from the Arctic ground
Rolling down to Old Maui.

Chorus

Once more we sail with a northerly gale
Through the ice and wind and rain.
Them coconut fronds, them tropical lands
We soon shall see again.
Our stu'n's'l bones/booms is carried away
What care we for that sound?
A living gale is after us,
Thank God we're homeward bound.

Chorus

How soft the breeze through the island trees,
Now the ice is far astern.
Them native maids, them tropical glades
Is a-waiting our return.
Even now their big brown eyes look out
Hoping some fine day to see
Our baggy sails runnin' 'fore the gales
Rolling down to old Maui.

Chorus

We'll heave the lead where old Diamond Head
Looms up on old Wahu.
Our masts and yards are sheathed with ice
And our decks are hid from view.
The horrid ice of the sea-caked isles
That deck the Arctic sea
Are miles behind in the frozen wind
Since we steered for Old Maui.

Chorus

(The following verse is seen in some collections and performances of the song, but is not universal:)
And now we're anchored in the bay
With the Kanakas all around
With chants and soft aloha oes
They greet us homeward bound.
And now ashore we'll have good fun
We'll paint them beaches red
Awaking in the arms of a wahine
With a big fat aching head.

Chorus

Versions

As it is a folk song, it has been performed and recorded by several singers and bands including The Dreadnoughts, David Coffin, Kimber's Men, Todd Rundgren, Don Sineti, Stan Rogers, The Longest Johns, Seán Dagher and Jon Boden. Its melody has also been used, in its entirety as well as in part, as the basis for many other folk songs and song parodies, such as "The Light-Ship" by Leslie Fish and "Falling Down on New Jersey" by Mitchell Burnside-Clapp.

Canadian folk singer Brian Robertson has recorded an alternate version entitled "Old Maui (from the Whales' Point of View)" on his album Saltchuck Serenade.[6] Oli Steadman included it on his song collection "365 Days Of Folk".[7]

"Rolling Down to Old Maui" was recorded by the American quintet Bounding Main and release on their 2005 album Maiden Voyage.[8]

References

  1. ^ Whales, Ice, and Men (Bockstoce, 1995, p. 45).
  2. ^ James Revell Carr (2014). Hawaiian Music in Motion: Mariners, Missionaries, and Minstrels. Music in American Life. Urbana, Ill.; Chicago: University of Illinois Press. pp. 81–. ISBN 978-0-252-09652-5. OCLC 894511210.
  3. ^ Colcord, Joanna C. (1924). Roll and Go, Songs of American Sailormen. Indianapolis, IN: The Bobbs-Merrill Company. pp. 106–108. OCLC 19934915.
  4. ^ Colcord, Joanna C. (1938). Songs of American Sailormen (2nd ed.). New York: W. W. Norton. pp. 197–200. OCLC 946498851.
  5. ^ Huntington, Gale (1970). Songs the Whalemen Sang (2nd ed.). New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 9780486221694.
  6. ^ "Maui Whales". 21 June 2016 – via www.youtube.com.
  7. ^ "365 Days Of Folk: Song List". Retrieved 24 January 2026.
  8. ^ Rolling Down to Old Maui (28 September 2019). "Bounding Main". Bounding Main. Retrieved 2024-02-29.

Further reading

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Down_to_Old_Maui

Rolling Down to Old Maui

[ Roud 2005 ; Ballad Index SWMS027 ; trad.]

This is a song about the ca. 1850 Kamchatka bowhead whale and Pacific sperm whale fishing. Gale Huntington in his book Songs the Whalemen Sang gives a version called Rolling Down to Old Mohee from a journal made aboard the Atkins Adams in 1858.

A.L. Lloyd, Trevor Lucas and Martyn Wyndham-Read sang two verses of Rolling Down to Old Maui on their album Leviathan! Ballads and Songs of the Whaling Trade. Lloyd commented in the album’s sleeve notes:

Maui is one of the Hawaiian islands. In the fifties and sixties, the Pacific whalers used to meet there, or in nearby Oahu, twice a year. In March they fitted out for the summer season in the Arctic, when they fished the bowhead grounds off Kamchatka and the Gulf on Anadyr. In November, when they were back again, to fit out for sperm-whaling in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Southern Seas. Hence this song, bidding farewell to the bitter North, and looking forward with a smile to the languors of the South.

Jeff Warner sang Rolling Down to Old Maui in 1976 on the Collector LP Steady As She Goes: Songs and Chanteys from the Days of Commercial Sail. The liner notes commented:

Stan Hugill of Liverpool says that as early as 1820 Maui, one of the Hawaiian Islands (then the Sandwich Islands), was considered “home” by the Yankee sailors who hunted the northern grounds or the Bering Straits for right and bowhead whales. This is an off-watch song, as distinct from a working song, of whalemen longing for the women and weather of better latitudes.

Stan Rogers sang Rolling Down to Old Maui in April 1979 live at The Groaning Board, Toronto. This concert was released in the same year on his albumBetween the Breaks… Live!. He commented in the liner notes:

Emily Friedman introduced this song to me in her hotel room at the Mariposa Folk Festival in 1978, and I’ve loved it ever since. It may very well be my favourite chorus song.

Jolly Jack recorded Rolling Down to Old Maui in 1983 as title track for their eponymous Fellside album. This was also included in 1999 on the same-named Fellside anthology CD Rolling Down to Old Maui. Paul Adams commented in the liner notes:

Our title track comes from Songs The Whalemen Sang by New Englander, Gale Huntington. Many young men working on the American whaling ships kept personal journals in which the recorded the voyage, made sketches, notes and copied their favourite songs. The words of this song were taken from such a journal made aboard the Atkins Adams in 1858. The noble tune is from Chantying Aboard American Ships by F.P. Harlow. Maui is one of the Hawaiian Islands and was a meeting place for whalers… something to look forward to between trips. A “homeward bound” feeling prevails after the arctic hunting season but it was likely that they were merely calling at Maui for “fitting out” for the further half year in the southern oceans.

Roy Harris sang Rolling Down to Old Maui in 1985 on his Fellside album Utter Simplicity.

John Spiers and Jon Boden recorded Old Maui in 2005 for their album Songs and again in 2010/11 for their CD The Works. Jon Boden also sang it as the August 23, 2010 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day. They commented in their former CD’s liner notes:

A well known rowdy sea-song. This version comes from Songs the Whalemen Sang by Gale Huntington and is taken from the log-book of the American ship Atkins Adams from the year 1858. This is a rather sentimental and self-consciously literary version of the song, presumably collected before the aural tradition had had time to work its rough magic. Normally this would be “A Bad Thing” but we rather like it this way.

This video shows them at the Gosport and Fareham Festival on the Easter weekend in 2008:

Lyrics

Rolling Down to Old Mohee from the journal of the Atkins Adams, 1858

Once more we are waft by the northern gales bounding over the main
And now the hills of the tropic isles we soon shall see again
Five sluggish moons have waxed and waned since from the shore sailed we
𝄆 Now we are bound from the Arctic ground, rolling down to old Mohee 𝄇

Through many a blow of frost and snow and bitter squalls of hail
Our spars were bent and our canvas rent as we braved the northern gale
The horrid isles of ice cut tiles that deck the Arctic sea
𝄆 Are many, many leagues astern as we sail to old Mohee 𝄇

Through many a gale of snow and hail our good ship bore away
And in the midst of the moonbeam’s kiss we slept in St. Lawrence Bay
And many a day we whiled away in the bold Kamchatka Sea
𝄆 And we’ll think of that as we laugh and chat with the girls of old Mohee 𝄇

An ample share of toil and care we whalemen undergo
But when it’s over what care we how the bitter blast may blow
We are homeward bound that joyful sound and yet it may not be
𝄆 But we’ll think of that as we laugh and chat with the girls of old Mohee 𝄇

A.L. Lloyd, Trevor Lucas and Martyn Wyndham-Read sing Rolling Down to Old Maui

It’s an ample share of toil and care we whaleman undergo,
Through many a blow of frost and hail and bitter squalls of snow,
The horrid isles of ice cut tiles that deck the Polar sea.
But now we’re bound from the Arctic ground, rolling down to old Maui.

Once more we’re blown by the northern gales, and bounding o’er the main;
And the green hills of them tropical isles we soon shall see again.
Oh, it’s many a day we toiled away in that cold Kamchatka Sea,
And we’ll think of that as we laugh and chat with the girls of old Maui.

Jeff Warner sings Rolling Down to Old Maui

It’s a damn tough life full of toil and strife we whalemen undergo,
We don’t give a damn when the gale is done how hard the winds did blow.
We’re homeward bound, ’tis a grand ol’ sound with a good ship taut and free,
We don’t give a damn when we drink our rum with the girls of old Maui.

Chorus (after each verse):
Rolling down to old Maui, me boys
Rolling down to old Maui
We’re homeward bound from the Arctic ground
Rolling down to old Maui

Once more we sail with a Northerly gale through the ice, and wind, and rain,
And them coconut fronds and them tropical lands we soon shall see again.
Six hellish months have passed away in the cold Kamchatka sea
But now we’re bound from the Arctic ground rolling down to old Maui.

Once more we sail with the Northerly gale towards our Island home,
Our mainmast sprung and our whaling done and we ain’t got far to roam.
Our stans’l booms is carried away, what care we for that sound,
A living gale is after us, thank God we’re homeward bound

How soft the breeze from the island trees now the ice is far astern,
And them native maids and them island glades is awaiting our return.
Even now their big, black eyes look out hoping some fine day to see,
Our baggy sails running ‘fore the gales rolling down to old Maui.

Spiers & Boden sing Rolling Down to Old Maui

Once more we are waft by the northern gales a-bounding over the main
And soon the hills of the tropic isles we all shall see again;
Five sluggish moons have waxed and waned since from the shore sailed we
And now we are bound from the Arctic ground, rolling down to old Maui.

Through many a gale of frost and hail our big ship bore away
And in the midst of a moonbeam’s kiss we slept at St. Lawrence Bay;
And many is the day we whiled away on the bold Kamchatka Sea
But now we are bound from the Arctic ground, rolling down to old Maui.

Chorus (after each verse):
Rolling down to old Maui, me boys
Rolling down to old Maui
We’re homeward bound from the Arctic ground
Rolling down to old Maui

Through many a blow of frost and snow and bitter squalls of hail
Our spars were bent and our canvas rent as we braved the northern gale.
The cruel isles of ice-capped tiles that deck the Arctic sea
Are many, many leagues astern as we sail to old Maui.

An ample share of toil and care we whalemen undergo,
But when it’s over, what care we how the bitter the blast may blow?
We’re homeward bound, that joyful sound across the Arctic sea,
We’re homeward bound from the Arctic ground, rolling down to old Maui.

Acknowledgements and Links

A.L. Lloyd’s lyrics were taken from the Leviathan! sleeve notes.

See also the Mudcat Café track Lyr Req: Rollin’ Down to Old Maui.

One of the best versions by Stan Rogers and crew…

 

Another great version by Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag…

 

https://youtu.be/cAWRwdeonR0

The American Folk Experience is dedicated to collecting and curating the most enduring songs from our musical heritage.  Every performance and workshop is a celebration and exploration of the timeless songs and stories that have shaped and formed the musical history of America. John Fitzsimmons has been singing and performing these gems of the past for the past forty years, and he brings a folksy warmth, humor and massive repertoire of songs to any occasion. 

Festivals & Celebrations

Coffeehouses

School Assemblies

Library Presentations

Songwriting Workshops

Artist in Residence

House Concerts

Pub Singing

Irish & Celtic Performances

Poetry Readings

Campfires

Music Lessons

Senior Centers

Voiceovers & Recording

““Beneath the friendly charisma is the heart of a purist gently leading us from the songs of our lives to the timeless traditional songs he knows so well…”

 

Globe Magazine

Join Fitz at The Colonial Inn

“The Nobel Laureate of New England Pub Music…”

Scott Alaric

Adventures in the Modern Folk Underground

On the Green, in Concord, MA Every Thursday Night for over thirty years…

“A Song Singing, Word Slinging, Story Swapping, Ballad Mongering, Folksinger, Teacher, & Poet…”

Theo Rogue

Songcatcher Rag

Fitz’s Recordings

& Writings

Songs, poems, essays, reflections and ramblings of a folksinger, traveler, teacher, poet and thinker…

Download for free from the iTunes Bookstore

Now Available on iTunes!

“A Master of Folk…”

The Boston Globe

Fitz’s now classic recording of original songs and poetry…

Download from the iTunes Music Store

Now Available on iTunes!

“A Masterful weaver of song whose deep, resonant voice rivals the best of his genre…”

Spirit of Change Magazine

“2003: Best Children’s Music Recording of the Year…”

Boston Parent's Paper

Fitz & The Salty Dawgs Amazing music, good times and good friends…

Listen here

TheCraftedWord.org

Writing help

when you need it…

“When the eyes rest on the soul…that’s Fitzy…”

Lenny Megliola

WEEI Radio

Your Haiku…

by | March 25, 2026 | Journal | 0 Comments

I have had a go0d read so far reading your haiku. I have a couple of thoughts... I never quite know how to teach how to use specific imagery.  When I say "specific" maybe I "real." I--and every reader--wants to "see" what you are seeing. avoid anything generic that...
Read More

If you don’t stand, you cower…

by | July 19, 2019 | Journal | 0 Comments

     Maybe it is time to be less forgiving. I have rarely agreed with our president, but I held on to the shreds of truth that shore up his arguments: we can’t welcome every immigrant who makes it to our border; we cannot bow to the audacity of corrupt governments in...
Read More

Why Trump Is Not Flipping Me Out

by | March 18, 2016 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

I wonder why Trump is not flipping me out? I wonder if there is some bigoted, ignorant and right-wing element that lurks inside this folk-singing, poem writing, neo-socialist shell of mine. Maybe it is not that hard for me to make the empathetic reach to feel at least...
Read More

Out of the Forge: April 13, 2017

by | April 23, 2017 | Journal, Out of the Forge, Songs, The American Folk Experience | 0 Comments

In my forty years or so of actively singing and playing folk music and writing songs, I have played together with a remarkably narrow list of musical partners: Rogue, Wally and Barry with camp songs and Hatrack and Seth with literally everything. These last few years...
Read More

Weekend Custody

by | August 21, 2014 | Out of the Forge, Songs | 0 Comments

Jesse calls up this morning—
“You can come downstairs now;
You see the grapefruit bowl?
Well, I fixed it all;
I fixed everything for you.”

Everything’s for you…

“Let me help you make the coffee,
Momma says you drink it too.
I can’t reach the stove,
But I can pour it, though—
What’s it like living alone?”

Read More

Make Something out of Something

by | February 26, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

It's hard to make chicken salad out of chicken manure      Dirty hands are a good sign, so hopefully, you got some mental mud on your hands and created some content to work with today.  To a starving man, any food is good food--unless it...
Read More

A Late Night Metacognition

by | April 13, 2014 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after ~Henry David Thoreau           When you need something done, find a busy person to help you get it done. My mother loved repeating that to me all the way to her dying day,...
Read More

Don’t Let Go of Your Soul

by | August 11, 2014 | Fires in the Belly, Songs | 0 Comments

Sometimes yeah.
Sometimes no.
Sometimes it’s somehow somewhere in between.
Sometimes it’s somewhere that no one has been–
no, nobody, nowhere, no nothing can end.
So don’t you let go and hope you’ll find it again.
Don’t you ever let go–

Read More

Metamorphoses

by | March 25, 2026 | Journal | 0 Comments

Read More

I have been here before

by | September 9, 2017 | Crows and Swallows, Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

Trying to pull a final day Back into the night, execute Some stay of time, Some way to wrap The fabric of Summer Around the balky, frame of Fall, sloughing My skin, unable to stop This reptilian ecdysis— This hideous morphing Into respectability. My students, tame As...
Read More

Rainmaker

by | August 28, 2014 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

I loved the rain last night. Last week, in a bow to reality, I reclaimed my gardens and made them into yard. Four of my kids got poison ivy in the process and I (and more "they") got an extra ten feet of width to add to the soccer field--for really that is about the...
Read More

Wrenching Day

by | July 13, 2017 | Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

It has certainly been a long time since wisdom ruled the day. I did get up and run in the rain, and now I am preparing to do some “wrenching” on my motorcycle. I am trying to temper my eagerness to ride with my desire to get everything “right” on the bike--without...
Read More

The Inn

by | December 17, 2015 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

        I realized that in all my years of writing and journal keeping, I seldom, if ever, write about "The Inn," which is and has been, the biggest and most enduring constant in my life for the past thirty plus years. Every Thursday night I load up my car, truck, bus...
Read More

The End Is the Beginning

by | September 2, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

For the past twenty years this night has always been a bittersweet moment. I have never been hobbled by boredom or a lack of "things I love to do," so whatever supposed free time I have is rewarding in whatever I choose to do. The flip side is that I am teacher, and I...
Read More

Going Google?

by | July 1, 2014 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

When you find yourself in the majority, it's time to join the minority ~Mark Twain I have to admit, Google is pretty impressive. The whole set of features that are offered to the public and to educators for free is pretty astounding: email, document creation and...
Read More

The Small Potato

by | October 17, 2014 | Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

Maybe there is a God. I just came home and sat down in the kitchen to grade some papers and input some grades, but the internet is buggy and slow, and I thought, "maybe this is the message" that I am trading my soul for work. I even remember myself  pontificating in...
Read More

Redefining Literacy

by | August 8, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

 My life is the poem I could have writ, But I could not both live and utter it ~Henry David Thoreau    The common man goes to an orchard to taste the fruit. The rich man man learns how to plant his own orchard. The poet, however,  grows an even better fruit and gives...
Read More

A Priori

by | May 24, 2016 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

How do I know what I know? The sharp angles of this simple cottage perfected  in every board sawn, shingle split and beam hewn into place goes together placed, splined, slid together, bound more by intuition than knowing.
Read More

New Ways

by | February 21, 2017 | Journal | 0 Comments

Time for a change. Feeling it in a lot of ways. After months of steady workouts, I’ve been finding too many convenient ways to let the day slip by. Still feel better than I have in years, but the days seem to have got the best of me. Excuses, procrastination and...
Read More

A Hard Sell

by | November 13, 2013 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

     As a teacher, I am tired of the word blog, probably because the word “blogging” is incredibly limiting and myopic, especially for someone whose teaching is centered around an online curriculum with blogs front and center on my academic table. I sat through a...
Read More

The Night Music

by | November 26, 2013 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

The house is quiet earlier than usual. I can hear Margaret playing her guitar and singing in her bedroom—door closed as she would have it, but still beautiful to hear. It reminds me of Kaleigh when she was younger singing her heart out, as if the world didn't really...
Read More

Essex Bay

by | August 12, 2014 | Fires in the Belly, Songs | 0 Comments

This house makes funny noises
When the wind begins to blow.
I should have held on and never let you go.
The wind blew loose the drainpipe.
You can hear the melting snow.
I’ll fix it in the morning when I go.
I’ll fix it in the morning when I go.

Read More

Waiting for a Poem

by | August 8, 2014 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

  It’s not like a poem to come curl by my feet on this morning too beautiful to describe, though I am looking and listening and waiting: A rooster crows above the low hum of morning traffic; the trash truck spills air from brakes and rattles empties into bins; my...
Read More

Frumzi Casino – Quick‑Hit Slots and Live Games for Fast‑Paced Players

by | March 25, 2026 | Journal | 0 Comments

When you’re looking for a bite‑size gaming experience that still packs a punch, Frumzi is the go‑to destination. The site offers more than 6,500 titles from top providers such as Pragmatic Play, Evolution Gaming, and Quickspin, and it’s optimized for both desktop and...
Read More

The Old Tote Road

by | July 25, 2019 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

I clabber down the old tote road towards the red pine forest, leaning on my staff, skirting boulder-strewn ruts and small gullies carved out by two days of heavy rain. It is only a mile or so from our cabin, still, my wife makes me wear a pouch with an iPhone and an...
Read More

Ghetto of Your Eye

by | August 12, 2014 | Fires in the Belly, Songs | 0 Comments

I wrote this song back in the winter of 1989, in the dining car of a steam driven train, somewhere along the Trans-Siberian railway, after meeting a group of Russian soldiers fresh from battle in Afghanistan—that poor country that has been a battleground for way too long.

We stare together hours the snow whipped Russian plain—
rolling in the ghetto of your eye.
We share a quart of vodka
and some cold meat on the train—
you know too much to even wonder why;
I see it in the ghetto of your eye.

Read More

Close Your Eyes and See

by | April 9, 2016 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

      A lot of things in life fall short of the mark, but thoughtfulness has never let me down. For some forty years I have faithfully kept journals of the wanderings of my mind—most of which is lost in some way or another, but the effect hangs on like a sailor...
Read More

Welcome

by | August 12, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

I, on my side, require of every writer, first or last, a simple and sincere account of his own life, and not merely what he has heard of other men's lives; some such account as he would send to his kindred from a distant land... ~Henry David Thoreau, Walden I’ve...
Read More

The Enigma

by | August 11, 2014 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

Black Pond is not as deepas it is dark, dammedsome century agobetween ledges of granite and an outcropping of leaning fir, huckleberry, and white pine. For years I have paddled and trolled;swam, fished, sailed and sometimessimply tread water in the night trying to...
Read More

The Inn

by | November 21, 2013 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

Every Thursday, for some thirty years, I have been spending this same time each week wrapping up the loose ends of the day before heading down to the inn to play to whomever and whatever shows up. Tonight looks like a fun night: Maroghini will be with me for his last...
Read More

HighFly Casino – Quick Spin & Win Experience

by | March 25, 2026 | Journal | 0 Comments

1. The Pulse of a HighFly SessionHighFly bursts onto the scene like a burst of neon lights—fast, bright, and impossible to ignore. The feeling starts the moment you hit the login button, where the interface is slick and ready for instant play.For the typical...
Read More

Chicken Road: Quick‑Hit Crash Game for Rapid Wins and Short Sessions

by | March 25, 2026 | Journal | 0 Comments

1. The Allure of Chicken RoadChicken Road has taken the online casino world by storm with its quirky premise—helping a plucky bird navigate a perilous street while chasing a golden egg prize. Players love the game’s bright, cartoonish visuals and the fact that every...
Read More

Guns, Me, and Rural America

by | February 27, 2018 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

     Sometimes I start writing without knowing where I stand—unsure of even where I stand. I have to trust some innate wisdom or audacity will cull through the bullshit we are all heir to in what Hamlet laments is “this earthly coil” we are forced to face when we wake...
Read More

Life Ain’t Hard; Its Just a Waterfall

by | August 12, 2014 | Fires in the Belly, Songs | 0 Comments

You say, hey,
who are you to say that you’re the one
to go telling me just where I’m coming from.
You can have your cake
but don’t frost me ‘til I’m done.
I can’t be fixed and I can’t afford to stall;
because life ain’t hard it’s just a waterfall.

Read More

Creating a Digital Workflow in the Classroom

by | September 6, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

One Teacher’s Solution To Everything  Years of teaching woodshop at my school has reinforced in me the utility of developing a workflow that works best for the project at hand using the tools and equipment already in the shop. The same can be said of my other life as...
Read More

Last of the Boys

by | August 12, 2014 | Fires in the Belly, Songs | 0 Comments

Come on over here
and I’ll buy the next round:
cold beer and some shooters
for the boys on the town;
Darby ain’t drinkin’
so let’s live it up
‘cause he’ll drive us all home
in his company truck

Jesus Christ, Jimmy,
man you say that you’re well;
I say we drive into Boston
and stir up some hell;
put a cap on the weekend,
a stitch in the night,
watch the Pats play on Sunday
and the welterweight fight.

That’s all she wrote boys,
there ain’t any more;
that’s why we’re standing here;
that’s what it’s for.
That’s why we all go on working all day
busting our ass for short pay:
~Hey…

Read More

Shane

by | August 12, 2014 | Fires in the Belly, Songs | 0 Comments

It’s been too long feeling sorry for myself.
It’s been too long with my life up on the shelf.
Sometimes wish that I was Shane—
shoot Jack Palance, and disappear again;
don’t have no one
don’t want no one
don’t miss no one:
living lonely with a saddle and a gun.

Read More

A Perfect Mirror

by | February 11, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

Do not mistake the finger pointing at the moon for the moon itself~BuddhaLast night you were so lucky. You didn't have to worry about your grumpy, tired teacher going through hours of journals ands doling out poor grades for what I am sure qualifies for good efforts...
Read More

In the unfolding chores

by | July 7, 2017 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

The day sometimes slip away from me, a huge pine half-bucked in the backyard, the kids old tree fort cut into slabs, a ton of coal waiting to be moved in a train of buckets to the bin. Sipping cold water on the back deck I hear Emma rustling for soccer cleats and...
Read More

Kampuchea

by | July 14, 2014 | Poetry, Raccoon | 0 Comments

I stutter for normality across the river from black men fishing for kibbers and horned pout. Barefoot children rounded bellies curled navels stalk the turtle sunning on a log. lonely in the field grass lonely on the curbstones I stutter for normality. Not a mother...
Read More

Contact John Fitzsimmons...and thanks!

Rolling Home

Rolling Home

by | Mar 11, 2017

Songs of the Sea

Rolling Home to Old New England

by John Fitzsimmons | The American Folk Experience

~Traditional 

Call all hands to man the capstan
See the cable running clear
Heave away and with a will, boys
For new England we will steer

Rolling home, rolling home
Rolling home across the sea
Rolling home to old New England
Rolling home dear land to thee

Fare you well, you Spanish maidens
It is time to say adieu
Happy times we’ve spent together
Happy times we’ve spent with you

“Round Cape Horn one frosty morning
And our sails were full of snow
Clear your sheets and sway your halyards
Swing her out and let her go

Up aloft amid the rigging
Blows a wild and rushing gale
Like a monsoon in the springtime
Filling out each well known sail

And the waves we leave behind us
Seem to murmur as they flow
There’s a hearty welcome waiting
In the land to which you go

Many thousand miles behind us
Many thousand miles before
Ocean lifts her winds to bring us
To that well remembered shore

Performances, Workshops,
Resources & Recordings

The American Folk Experience is dedicated to collecting and curating the most enduring songs from our musical heritage.  Every performance and workshop is a celebration and exploration of the timeless songs and stories that have shaped and formed the musical history of America. John Fitzsimmons has been singing and performing these gems of the past for the past forty years, and he brings a folksy warmth, humor and massive repertoire of songs to any occasion. 

Festivals & Celebrations
Coffeehouses
School Assemblies
Library Presentations
Songwriting Workshops
Artist in Residence
House Concerts
Pub Singing
Irish & Celtic Performances
Poetry Readings
Campfires
Music Lessons
Senior Centers
Voiceovers & Recording

““Beneath the friendly charisma is the heart of a purist gently leading us from the songs of our lives to the timeless traditional songs he knows so well…”

 

Globe Magazine

Join Fitz
at The Colonial Inn

“The Nobel Laureate of New England Pub Music…”

Scott Alaric

Adventures in the Modern Folk Underground

On the Green, in Concord, MA
Every Thursday Night
for over thirty years…

 

“A Song Singing, Word Slinging, Story Swapping,
Ballad Mongering, Folksinger, Teacher, & Poet…”

Theo Rogue

Songcatcher Rag

Contact Fitz!

Fitz’s Recordings

& Writings

Songs, poems, essays, reflections and ramblings of a folksinger, traveler, teacher, poet and thinker…

Download for free from the iTunes Bookstore

Now Available on iTunes!

“A Master of Folk…”

The Boston Globe

Fitz’s now classic recording of original songs and poetry…

Download from the iTunes Music Store

Now Available on iTunes!

“A Masterful weaver of song whose deep, resonant voice rivals the best of his genre…”

Spirit of Change Magazine

Campfire: The Greatest Camp Songs of all Time

 

“2003: Best Children’s Music Recording of the Year…”

Boston Parent's Paper

Fitz & The Salty Dawgs
Amazing music, good times and good friends…

Listen here

“When the eyes rest on the soul…that’s Fitzy…”

Lenny Megliola

WEEI Radio

TheCraftedWord.org

Writing help

when you need it…

Fitz’s Journal

Thoughts on Common Days

The Three River’s Anthology eBook

Mar 25, 2026

A writer without an audience is like an egg without a yolk ~fitz If you'd like to download my book of collected works, simply click the download button and you have a free book of my ramblings, songs, poems, essays, and stories. Enjoy! (I hope)      ...

read more

Your Haiku…

Mar 25, 2026

I have had a go0d read so far reading your haiku. I have a couple of thoughts... I never quite know how to teach how to use specific imagery.  When I say "specific" maybe I "real." I--and every reader--wants to "see" what you are seeing. avoid anything generic that...

read more

Sloop John B

Sloop John B

by | Mar 11, 2017

Songs of the Sea & Fo’castle

The Sloop John B

The American Folk Experience

The Sloop John B

by John Fitzsimmons | The American Folk Experience

~Traditional 

We came on the sloop John B
My grandfather and me
‘Round Nassau town we did roam.
Drinking all night,
Had many a fight.
Oh, I feel so broke up, I wanna go home.

So hoist up the John B. sails,
And scrub down all of the rails
Send for the captain ashore, take me back home.
I want to go home,
Oh, take me back home.
I feel so broke up:
I want to go home.

The first mate he got drunk, –
He broke open my trunk
Poor seasick me all over the foam,
Oceans are grand,
Just give me the land
I feel so broke up, I wanna go home. 

Our cook he got the fits –
He ate up all of my grits
Then he took and ate up all of my corn.
A terrible trip –
On a terrible ship, oh yea
I feel so broke up, I wanna go home. 

If you have any more information to share about this song or helpful links, please post as a comment. Thanks for stopping by the site! ~John Fitz

I am indebted to the many friends who share my love of traditional songs and to the many scholars whose works are too many to include here. I am also incredibly grateful to the collector’s curators and collators of Wikipedia, Mudcat.org, MainlyNorfolk.info, and TheContemplator.com for their wise, thorough and informative contributions to the study of folk music. 

I share this scholarly research on my site with humility, thanks, and gratitude. Please cite sources accordingly with your own research. If you have any research or sites you would like to share on this site, please post in the comment box.  

Thanks!

 

Source: Wikipedia

Edit links
The John B. Sails
Traditional song
Nassau Harbor after 1877, Albert Bierstadt, de Young Museum, San Francisco
Other name
  • I Want to Go Home
  • Wreck of the John B.
  • Sloop John B
  • Hoist Up The John B Sails
StyleFolk
LanguageEnglish
Published1916

"Sloop John B" (Roud 15634, originally published as "The John B. Sails") is a Bahamian folk song from Nassau. A transcription was published in 1916 by Richard Le Gallienne, and Carl Sandburg included a version in his The American Songbag in 1927. There have been many recordings of the song since the early 1950s, with variant titles including "I Want to Go Home" and "Wreck of the John B".

In 1966, American rock band the Beach Boys recorded a folk rock adaptation that was produced and arranged by Brian Wilson and released as the second single from their album Pet Sounds. The record peaked at number three in the U.S., number two in the UK, and topped the charts in several other countries. It was innovative for containing an elaborate a cappella vocal section not found in other pop music of the era, and it remains one of the group's biggest hits.[1]

In 2011, the Beach Boys' version of "Sloop John B" was ranked number 276 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[2]

Earliest publications

"The John B. Sails" was transcribed by Richard Le Gallienne, with five verses and the chorus published in his article "Coral Islands and Mangrove-Trees" in the December 1916 issue of Harper’s Monthly Magazine.[3] Gallienne published the first two verses and chorus in his 1917 novel Pieces of Eight.[4] The lyrics describe a disastrous voyage on a sloop, with the vessel plagued by drunkenness and arrests and a pig eating the narrator's food.

Carl Sandburg included the first three verses and chorus of "The John B. Sails" in his 1927 collection The American Songbag. He states that he collected it from John T. McCutcheon, a political cartoonist from Chicago. McCutcheon told him:

"The John B. Sails" (3:25)
Banjo/vocal performance of the song.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Time and usage have given this song almost the dignity of a national anthem around Nassau. The weathered ribs of the historic craft lie imbedded in the sand at Governor's Harbor, whence an expedition, especially sent up for the purpose in 1926, extracted a knee of horseflesh and a ring-bolt. These relics are now preserved and built into the Watch Tower, designed by Mr. Howard Shaw and built on our southern coast a couple of points east by north of the star Canopus.

The Beach Boys version

"Sloop John B"
U.S. picture sleeve
Single by the Beach Boys
from the album Pet Sounds
B-side"You're So Good to Me"
ReleasedMarch 21, 1966
RecordedJuly 12 – December 29, 1965 (1965-07-12 – 1965-12-29)
StudioUnited Western, Hollywood
Genre
Length2:59
LabelCapitol
SongwritersTraditional, arranged by Brian Wilson
ProducerBrian Wilson
The Beach Boys singles chronology
"Barbara Ann"
(1965) 		"Sloop John B"
(1966) 		"Wouldn't It Be Nice"
(1966)
Music video
"Sloop John B" on YouTube
Audio sample

Arrangement

The Kingston Trio's 1958 recording of "The John B. Sails" was recorded under the title "The Wreck of the John B."[9] It was the direct influence on the Beach Boys' version. The Beach Boys' Al Jardine was a keen folk music fan, and he suggested to Brian Wilson that the Beach Boys should record the song. As Jardine explains:

Brian was at the piano. I asked him if I could sit down and show him something. I laid out the chord pattern for 'Sloop John B.' I said, 'Remember this song?' I played it. He said, 'I'm not a big fan of the Kingston Trio.' He wasn't into folk music. But I didn't give up on the idea. So what I did was to sit down and play it for him in the Beach Boys idiom. I figured if I gave it to him in the right light, he might end up believing in it. So I modified the chord changes so it would be a little more interesting. The original song is basically a three-chord song, and I knew that wouldn't fly.

Jardine updated the chord progression by having the subdominant (D♭ major) move to its relative minor (B♭ minor) before returning to the tonic (A♭ major), thus altering a portion of the song's progression from IV — I to IV — ii — I. This device is heard immediately after the lyric "into a fight" and "leave me alone".

So I put some minor changes in there, and it stretched out the possibilities from a vocal point of view. Anyway, I played it, walked away from the piano and we went back to work. The very next day, I got a phone call to come down to the studio. Brian played the song for me, and I was blown away. The idea stage to the completed track took less than 24 hours.[10]

Wilson elected to change some lyrics: "this is the worst trip since I've been born" to "this is the worst trip I've ever been on", "I feel so break up" to "I feel so broke up", and "broke up the people's trunk" to "broke in the captain's trunk". The first lyric change has been suggested by some to be a subtle nod to the 1960s psychedelia subculture.[2][11][12]

Recording

The instrumental section of the song was recorded on July 12, 1965, at United Western Recorders, Hollywood, California, the session being engineered by Chuck Britz and produced by Brian Wilson. The master take of the instrumental backing took fourteen takes to achieve. Wilson's arrangement blended rock and marching band instrumentation with the use of flutes, glockenspiel, bass saxophone, bass, guitar, and drums.[13]

The vocal tracks were recorded over two sessions. The first was recorded on December 22, 1965, at Western Recorders, produced by Wilson. The second, on December 29, added a new lead vocal and Billy Strange's 12-string electric guitar part. Jardine explained that Wilson "lined us up one at a time to try out for the lead vocal. I had naturally assumed I would sing the lead, since I had brought in the arrangement. It was like interviewing for a job. Pretty funny. He didn't like any of us. My vocal had a much more mellow approach because I was bringing it from the folk idiom. For the radio, we needed a more rock approach. Wilson and Mike [Love] ended up singing it."[14] On the final recording, Brian Wilson sang the first and third verses and Mike Love sang the second.

Kent Hartman, in his book The Wrecking Crew, described Billy Strange's contribution to the song. Brian Wilson called Strange into the studio one Sunday, played him the rough recording, and told him he needed an electric twelve-string guitar solo in the middle of the track. When Strange replied that he did not own a twelve string, Wilson responded by calling Glenn Wallichs, the head of Capitol Records and owner of Wallichs Music City. A Fender Electric XII and Twin Reverb amplifier were quickly delivered (despite the shop they were ordered from being closed on Sundays), and Strange recorded the guitar part in one take. Wilson then gave Strange $2,000 to cover the cost of the equipment.[15]

Single release

A music video set to "Sloop John B" was filmed for the UK's Top of the Pops, directed by newly employed band publicist Derek Taylor. It was filmed at Brian's Laurel Way home with Dennis Wilson acting as cameraman.[16]

The single, backed with the song "You're So Good to Me", was released on March 21, 1966 in the US and on April 15, 1966 in the UK. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart on April 2, and peaked at No. 3 on May 7, remaining on the chart, in total, for 11 weeks. It charted highly throughout the world, remaining as one of the Beach Boys' most popular and memorable hits. It was No. 1 in Germany, Austria, and Norway—all for five weeks each—as well as Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, South Africa, and New Zealand. It placed No. 2 in the UK, Ireland (where it remains the group's highest-charting single), Canada, and in Record World. It was the fastest Beach Boys seller to date, moving more than half a million copies in less than two weeks after release.[17] It had a three-week stay at number 1 in the Netherlands, making it the "Hit of the Year".[18]

Cash Box described the single as a "topflight adaptation" that treats "the folk oldie in a rhythmic, effectively-building warm-hearted rousing style."[19] Record World said that "The Beach Boys have taken a tune from the folk books and given it an intriguing rock backing."[20]

Other releases

In 1968, the recording's instrumental was released on Stack-O-Tracks. Along with sessions highlights, the box set The Pet Sounds Sessions includes two alternate takes, one with Carl Wilson singing lead on the first verse, and one with Brian singing all parts.[citation needed]

From around 2008, the tune was used in Ulster and Scotland for the controversial Famine Song.

In 2012, Al Jardine released his own version as a bonus track on the reissue of his solo album A Postcard from California.

In 2011, the song was sung by Fisherman's Friends at Cambridge Folk Festival.[21] and released on Suck'em and Sea.[22] It was featured in the compilation album Cambridge Folk Festival 2011 [23] In 2016, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Pet Sounds, Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, and Brian Wilson’s touring band performed “Sloop John B” live at Capitol Studios.[24]

In 2021, another UK based group, Isle 'Ave A Shanty sang the song at the 2021 Harwich Sea Shanty Festival and included the song on their 2022 debut album Swinging the Lamp.[25][26]

Personnel

Per archivists John Brode, Will Crerar, Joshilyn Hoisington and Craig Slowinski.[27][28]

The Beach Boys

Additional musicians and production staff

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[29] Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Chart history

Sylvie Vartan version (in French)

"Mister John B"
Single by Sylvie Vartan
LanguageFrench
B-side"La chanson"
ReleasedJuly 1966
RecordedSummer 1966
GenrePop
Length2:45
LabelRCA Victor
SongwritersTraditional, Brian Wilson, Giles Thibaut, Georges Aber, Eddie Vartan
Sylvie Vartan singles chronology
"ll y a 2 filles en moi"
(1966) 		"Mister John B"
(1966) 		"Ballade pour un sourire"
(1966)

In 1966, the song was adapted into French by Giles Thibaut, Georges Aber, and Eddie Vartan as "Mister John B" and performed by Vartan's sister Sylvie and released as a single in July 1966 as a non-album single, based on the Beach Boys version from earlier that year.[46] The song had on-and-off chart success from mid-to-late 1966 on the French Belgian charts, peaking at Number 35 on the French Belgian charts on November 19, 1966.[47] Vartan would go on to re-record the song for her 2013 album "Sylvie In Nashville" but failed to chart unlike the former version.[48][49]

Charts

Chart (1966) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) 35[47]

List of recordings

All versions titled "Sloop John B", except where noted.

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

  • 2022 - Isle 'Ave a Shanty - Swinging the Lamp album.[60]

References

  1. ^ Moskowitz, David V., ed. (2015). The 100 Greatest Bands of All Time: A Guide to the Legends Who Rocked the World. ABC-CLIO. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-4408-0340-6. Archived from the original on February 22, 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time". Rolling Stone. April 7, 2011.
  3. ^ Richard Le Gallienne (December 1916). "Coral Islands and Mangrove-Trees". Harper's Monthly Magazine. 134 (799): 82–83.
  4. ^ Le Gallienne, Pieces of Eight, p. 30
  5. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Great Moments in Folk Rock: Lists of Aunthor Favorites". www.richieunterberger.com. Retrieved 2011-01-26.
  6. ^ Scullati, Gene (September 1968). "Villains and Heroes: In Defense of the Beach Boys". Jazz & Pop. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  7. ^ Perlmutter, Adam (May 9, 2016). "'Sloop John B' Has Seen a Sea Change Throughout the Years". Acoustic Guitar.
  8. ^ "Before TikTok Inspired a Rising Tide for Sea Shanties, the Beach Boys Charted One of Their Own". 16 January 2021.
  9. ^ Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 18 - Blowin' in the Wind: Pop discovers folk music. [Part 1]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries.
  10. ^ The Pet Sounds Sessions: "The Making Of Pet Sounds" booklet, pg. 25-26
  11. ^ Matthew, Jacobs (April 16, 2013). "LSD's 70th Anniversary: 10 Rock Lyrics From The 1960s That Pay Homage To Acid". Huffington Post.
  12. ^ Mojo Staff (April 24, 2015). "The Beach Boys' 50 Greatest Songs". MOJO.
  13. ^ Granata, Charles L. (2003). Wouldn't it Be Nice: Brian Wilson and the Making of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. Chicago Review Press. p. 149. ISBN 978-1-55652-507-0.
  14. ^ The Pet Sounds Sessions: "The Making Of Pet Sounds" booklet, pg. 26
  15. ^ Hartman, Kent (2012). The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Best Kept Secret. Thomas Dunne. pp. 149–151. ISBN 9780312619749. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  16. ^ *Badman, Keith (2004). The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band, on Stage and in the Studio. Backbeat Books. pp. 130–31. ISBN 978-0-87930-818-6.
  17. ^ Murrels, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Disks. Barrie & Jenkins. ISBN 978-0214205125.
  18. ^ "The Beach Boys – Sloop John B". Single Top 100. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
  19. ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. March 26, 1966. p. 18. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  20. ^ "Single Picks of the Week" (PDF). Record World. March 26, 1966. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  21. ^ "Fisherman's Friends". www.setlist.fm. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  22. ^ "Sloop John B". www.last.fm. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  23. ^ "Cambridge Folk Festival". www.propermusic.com. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  24. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Brian Wilson & Al Jardine - Sloop John B (Official Video)". YouTube. 10 June 2016.
  25. ^ Monger, Garry (2022). "The Port of Wisbech". The Fens (51): 20.
  26. ^ "Swinging the Lamp". www.isleaveashanty. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  27. ^ "Sloop John B". beachboyssessions.com. Austin Heller. Retrieved February 10, 2026.
  28. ^ Slowinski, Craig. "Pet Sounds LP". beachboysarchives.com. Endless Summer Quarterly. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
  29. ^ "British single certifications – Beach Boys – Sloop John B". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved December 13, 2024. Select singles in the Formats field. Type Sloop John B Beach Boys in the "Search:" field.
  30. ^ "The Beach Boys – Sloop John B" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  31. ^ "The Beach Boys – Sloop John B" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  32. ^ "The Beach Boys – Sloop John B" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  33. ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - May 16, 1966" (PDF).
  34. ^ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. p. 96. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  35. ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. To see the peak chart position, click 'TITEL VON', followed by the artist's name.
  36. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Sloop John B". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  37. ^ "The Beach Boys – Sloop John B" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  38. ^ "The Beach Boys – Sloop John B". VG-lista.
  39. ^ "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  40. ^ "The Official Charts Company - God Only Knows by The Beach Boys Search". The Official Charts Company. 4 April 2014.
  41. ^ "The Beach Boys Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  42. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, May 14, 1966". Archived from the original on May 30, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  43. ^ The 100 Best-Selling Singles of 1966
  44. ^ Musicoutfitters.com
  45. ^ "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 24, 1966". Archived from the original on February 17, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  46. ^ "EP 60 – Site officiel de Sylvie Vartan" (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-21.
  47. ^ a b "Sylvie Vartan - Mister John B. - ultratop.be". www.ultratop.be. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
  48. ^ "Albums 2010 – Site officiel de Sylvie Vartan" (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-21.
  49. ^ "Sylvie Vartan - Mr John B. [2013] - ultratop.be". www.ultratop.be. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
  50. ^ Martin, Michel (May 9, 2012). "Major US Folk Music Archive Makes Online Debut". NPR.org. NPR. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  51. ^ "Original versions of (The Wreck of the) John B by the Weavers | SecondHandSongs". SecondHandSongs.
  52. ^ "Lonnie Donegan". The Official Charts Company.
  53. ^ "Jimmie Rodgers". Billboard.
  54. ^ "CHUM Hit Parade - September 12, 1960".
  55. ^ "RPM Magazine - May 16, 1966 - page 5" (PDF).
  56. ^ "Discogs Raymond Harper / The Vibrators (2) With Bobby Aitken's Carib Beats – Amour / John B". Discogs. 1966.
  57. ^ "Discogs The Vibrators (2) / Raymond Harper & The Carib Beats – Sloop John B / Amour". Discogs. 1966.
  58. ^ "History of the Original Boy Band". www.londonwelshmvc.org. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  59. ^ "Suck'em and Sea". www.last.fm. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  60. ^ "Isle 'Ave a Shanty". www.elyfolkfestival.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_John_B._Sails

ERROR: This url does not meet the site security guidelines.

Johnny Cash sings The Sloop John B…

The now classic version by The Beach Boys…

 

Performances, Workshops, Resources & Recordings

The American Folk Experience is dedicated to collecting and curating the most enduring songs from our musical heritage.  Every performance and workshop is a celebration and exploration of the timeless songs and stories that have shaped and formed the musical history of America. John Fitzsimmons has been singing and performing these gems of the past for the past forty years, and he brings a folksy warmth, humor and massive repertoire of songs to any occasion. 

Festivals & Celebrations

Coffeehouses

School Assemblies

Library Presentations

Songwriting Workshops

Artist in Residence

House Concerts

Pub Singing

Irish & Celtic Performances

Poetry Readings

Campfires

Music Lessons

Senior Centers

Voiceovers & Recording

 

““Beneath the friendly charisma is the heart of a purist gently leading us from the songs of our lives to the timeless traditional songs he knows so well…”

 

Globe Magazine

Join Fitz at The Colonial Inn

“The Nobel Laureate of New England Pub Music…”

Scott Alaric

Adventures in the Modern Folk Underground

On the Green, in Concord, MA Every Thursday Night for over thirty years…

“A Song Singing, Word Slinging, Story Swapping, Ballad Mongering, Folksinger, Teacher, & Poet…”

Theo Rogue

Songcatcher Rag

Fitz’s Recordings

& Writings

Songs, poems, essays, reflections and ramblings of a folksinger, traveler, teacher, poet and thinker…

Download for free from the iTunes Bookstore

Now Available on iTunes!

“A Master of Folk…”

The Boston Globe

Fitz’s now classic recording of original songs and poetry…

Download from the iTunes Music Store

Now Available on iTunes!

“A Masterful weaver of song whose deep, resonant voice rivals the best of his genre…”

Spirit of Change Magazine

“2003: Best Children’s Music Recording of the Year…”

Boston Parent's Paper

Fitz & The Salty Dawgs Amazing music, good times and good friends…

Listen here

TheCraftedWord.org

Writing help

when you need it…

“When the eyes rest on the soul…that’s Fitzy…”

Lenny Megliola

WEEI Radio

The Next Time Around

by | April 16, 2016 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

        I wonder what the years have really taught me about writing and music. I have gotten so used to preaching and teaching that I am a bit looped by the thought of writing—as in how I wrote before (or how I will claim I wrote) before settling into this somewhat...
Read More

Many Miles To Go

by | August 12, 2014 | Fires in the Belly, Songs | 0 Comments

I see it in your eyes
and in the ways you try to smile;
in the ways you whisper—I don’t know—
and put it all off for a while;
then you keep on keeping on
in the only way you know:
you’re scared of where you’re going
and who’ll catch you down below.

Read More

The March Snow

by | March 11, 2018 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

An early March snow brought down all these branches Cracking and crashing throughout a long night, Piling them impatiently in the yard Like jacksticks in a child’s messy room. The stepladder I used to rake the ridge Stands like an awkward sculpture draped in white...
Read More

Molting

by | July 10, 2014 | Poetry, Raccoon | 0 Comments

I am always molting; leaving my hollowed skin in awkward places, scaring people and making them jump. They touch me and think I’m real; then laugh and say things like “What a riot.” I’m tired of this changing of skins. I’d rather stumble on myself and be fooled; and...
Read More

The Snow

by | July 13, 2014 | Poetry, Raccoon | 0 Comments

has dropped a seamlessness before the plows and children can patch it back to a jagged and arbitrary quilting putting borders to design and impulse. I imagine myself falling everywhere softly, whispering, I am here, and I am here.
Read More

When the same thing happens again

by | October 7, 2017 | Crows and Swallows, Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

I wonder if God is testing me, giving Me some affable warning Or, perhaps, a more Stern rebuke, replaying A foolish mistake, Rehashing and reminding me Of a harsher possibility. It is only a small 10 mm wrench tightening A loose bolt on the throttle body, slipping...
Read More

The Late and Lazy Teacher

by | May 1, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

I guess this is a good thing. I showed up five minutes late for class, and my classroom was empty. I walked the hallways of the school and could not find any of them. I sheepishly asked the assistant headmaster if he "happened to see a class of wandering boys?"No, he...
Read More

Mum…

by | May 8, 2016 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

Very jealous today of all the folks I see spending time with their respective moms--and sad for those who can't and for those whose wives were taken from their families too early in life... This is my remmebrance of my "mum" who died several years ago.       I ran...
Read More

The Mystery in the Cradle

by | December 25, 2013 | Journal | 0 Comments

This picture is from Christmas eleven years ago when Tommy was only two weeks old, and now all of them—and Gio and Pipo--are playing charades or some such game in the dining room, shouting and laughing at each other's miscues and fortifying another enduring memory...
Read More

In the unfolding chores

by | July 7, 2017 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

The day sometimes slip away from me, a huge pine half-bucked in the backyard, the kids old tree fort cut into slabs, a ton of coal waiting to be moved in a train of buckets to the bin. Sipping cold water on the back deck I hear Emma rustling for soccer cleats and...
Read More

Ring of Fire: The Power of Simplicity

by | March 28, 2017 | Journal, Songs, Teaching, The American Folk Experience | 0 Comments

In fifth grade my mother finally let me go to the Concord Music store and buy a "45" single.  I bought Johnny Cash’s version of “Ring of Fire” written by his future wife June Carter and Merle Kilgore, a noted country songwriter of his day. There was no doubt in my...
Read More

Dealing with Ether

by | August 12, 2014 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

Trying to only see what is in front of me my eyes are continually drawn away from this page and the work left to be done— my labored words etched and scratched away like fleeting mosaics in dry sand. I need a windowless cell to work the alchemy that shapes the...
Read More

The Three River’s Anthology eBook

by | March 25, 2026 | Journal | 0 Comments

A writer without an audience is like an egg without a yolk ~fitz If you'd like to download my book of collected works, simply click the download button and you have a free book of my ramblings, songs, poems, essays, and stories. Enjoy! (I hope)      ...
Read More

Finally…

by | December 10, 2013 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

Just closed the lid, so to speak, on what seems to be weeks of school-related paperwork. I am excited to go to my classes tomorrow with only those classes on my mind--not the letters home to parents, the secondary school recs, the grades and comments to homeroom...
Read More

Weekend Custody

by | August 21, 2014 | Out of the Forge, Songs | 0 Comments

Jesse calls up this morning—
“You can come downstairs now;
You see the grapefruit bowl?
Well, I fixed it all;
I fixed everything for you.”

Everything’s for you…

“Let me help you make the coffee,
Momma says you drink it too.
I can’t reach the stove,
But I can pour it, though—
What’s it like living alone?”

Read More

A Redemptive Moment

by | November 15, 2013 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

I see the clock ticking towards 7:00. The kids are deep in their weekday world of homework, juggling soccer balls around the house, watching TV, but I am in my “got to rally” and get to the inn mode that happens very Thursday. Tonight I am tired. I’ll admit it, but...
Read More

Yesterday did not become a poem

by | July 9, 2017 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

Nothing became something else; No thoughts filled my head With wonder or wisdom. Listless sky. Jumbled frames. Fleeting images: Chattering squirrels, Distant rumbling Of rush hour traffic. Today I am more determined, But all that is left Is the promise Of tomorrow.
Read More

HighFly Casino – Quick Spin & Win Experience

by | March 25, 2026 | Journal | 0 Comments

1. The Pulse of a HighFly SessionHighFly bursts onto the scene like a burst of neon lights—fast, bright, and impossible to ignore. The feeling starts the moment you hit the login button, where the interface is slick and ready for instant play.For the typical...
Read More

China Journal: Part Three

by | July 30, 2015 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

III My teachers could have ridden with Jesse James For all the time they stole from me... ~Richard Brautigan, Trout Fishing in America      Today it was a temple built into the mountainside west of West Lake. Mr. Toe drove us out there. In most ways I just follow Rob...
Read More

How do I know

by | July 8, 2017 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

what I know? The sharp angles of this simple cottage perfected in every board sawn, shingle split and beam hewn into place goes together placed, splined, slid together, bound more by intuition than knowing.
Read More

The Enigma

by | August 11, 2014 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

Black Pond is not as deepas it is dark, dammedsome century agobetween ledges of granite and an outcropping of leaning fir, huckleberry, and white pine. For years I have paddled and trolled;swam, fished, sailed and sometimessimply tread water in the night trying to...
Read More

Capospin: Thrilling Quick‑Play Slots and Games for Fast‑Track Wins

by | March 25, 2026 | Journal | 0 Comments

1. Quick‑Game Fever at CapospinCapospin has carved a niche for players who crave the rush of a spin or a hand, all within a few minutes. The platform’s interface is streamlined so that a newcomer can navigate from the welcome screen to their first bet without a...
Read More

Writing Iambic Dimeter Poetry

by | February 19, 2018 | Journal, Poetry, Teaching | 0 Comments

I am sitting here realizing how hard it is to ask you--a bunch of fifteen-year-old boys--to write iambic dimeter poetry, a form of poetry that is more or less ignored nowadays. I (literally) played around for a couple of hours penning these poems, which are at least...
Read More

Busy…

by | September 17, 2014 | Journal | 0 Comments

The start of the school year, and I have literally spent every free moment working on what is ostensibly pretty cool stuff, methinks...but it is work in every sense of the word, so I do miss those long summer mornings when  could literally write to my heart and heads...
Read More

A Hard Sell

by | November 13, 2013 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

     As a teacher, I am tired of the word blog, probably because the word “blogging” is incredibly limiting and myopic, especially for someone whose teaching is centered around an online curriculum with blogs front and center on my academic table. I sat through a...
Read More

Grandma’s Words

by | April 24, 2018 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

In the beginning was the word... ~Genesis       We do not live in Grandma’s world of words, and neither did grandma live in her grandma’s world of words and on and on and so on in a downwards devolution through untold millennia. From primal grunts, whistles and...
Read More

Dallas: 7/7/2016

by | July 8, 2016 | Journal | 0 Comments

I woke up this morning almost too fearful to read the news. I stayed up late into the night just watching for the breaking stories and updates. Now, I am simplyconfused about how to act. I feel incredibly small and pointless, unsure of where I stand and how to move...
Read More

Zenmo Yang Ni

by | August 12, 2014 | Fires in the Belly, Songs | 0 Comments

I lost the time I hardly knew you,
half-assed calling:
“How you doing?
Laughing at my hanging hay field;
I never knew the time
that tomorrow’d bring,
until it brung to me.

Yuan lai jui shuo: “Zenmoyang ni?”
Xianzai chang shu: “Dou hai keyi”;
Xiexie nimen, dou hen shang ni.
Xiwang wo men dou hen leyi
Dou hen leyi

Read More

Eighteen Years

by | August 24, 2014 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

At midnight I hear the cuckoo clock chiming from it’s perch in a cluttered kitchen locked in cadence with the tower bell gonging this old mill town at midnight to a deeper sleep, like a call to prayer reminding me that this new day, starting in the dark of a hallowed...
Read More

In Reply To Einstein

by | July 14, 2014 | Poetry, Raccoon | 0 Comments

*God casts the die, not the dice. ~Alfred Einstein I am cold down the neck, turtling my head to showers of ice that fall dancing and skidding on skins of crusted snow. I hold my breath when I step, inflating hopes of a weightlessness, and so be undetected
to the play...
Read More

Make Something out of Something

by | February 26, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

It's hard to make chicken salad out of chicken manure      Dirty hands are a good sign, so hopefully, you got some mental mud on your hands and created some content to work with today.  To a starving man, any food is good food--unless it...
Read More

The Tide

by | August 31, 2014 | Poetry | 0 Comments

They are building a world and the plastic is fading: Margaret and Eddie's buckets are split, pouring out the warm Atlantic as they race along the tidal flat, filling pools connected by frantically dug canals. Tommy squats naked and screams in guttural joy at the...
Read More

The End Is the Beginning

by | September 2, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

For the past twenty years this night has always been a bittersweet moment. I have never been hobbled by boredom or a lack of "things I love to do," so whatever supposed free time I have is rewarding in whatever I choose to do. The flip side is that I am teacher, and I...
Read More

The Litter in Concord

by | July 12, 2016 | Journal | 0 Comments

I have been following a Facebook thread about the movement in my beloved hometown of Concord to ban plastic water bottles, plastic bags and styrofoam cups. I am trying to discern whether or not my initial responses are pure and true and not simply reactionary and...
Read More

Concord

by | July 14, 2014 | Poetry, Raccoon | 0 Comments

The people, the music filledness of rush hour traffic skirting puddles work crews packing in laughswearingmudyellowed slickers lighting candle bombs. My sadness the euphoric detachment. I love this town. It breathes me.
Read More

All You Need is Love

by | November 16, 2013 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

    The day grew warm today, as did my mood. I did a couple of shows at my school’s diversity day. It was good to see girls there and the obvious racial differences. It was comforting to see a sea of color with a smattering of white instead of the other way around. My...
Read More

Superman

by | August 12, 2014 | Dawghouse, Songs | 0 Comments

There’s a little blonde boy in a superman cape
Racing around the back yard;
Sayin’, “Daddy don’t you know I can fly to the moon;
I’m gonna bring you back some stars.
And after that I’m gonna save the world”
Cause I’m superman today.”
I scoop that boy right into my arms,
And this is what I say:

You don’t need a cape to be a hero
You’ve got all the special powers that you need
Your smile’s enough to save the world from evil
And you’ll always be superman to me

Read More

QuickWin Casino: Fast‑Fire Play para el Ganador Consciente del Móvil

by | March 25, 2026 | Journal | 0 Comments

Quick Wins en Movimiento: Por qué las Sesiones Cortas Dominan el DíaEn la era de la gratificación instantánea, muchos jugadores desean una experiencia de juego que encaje en una pausa para el café o un viaje en tren. QuickWin Casino ha adaptado su plataforma para...
Read More

Goathouse

by | May 23, 2014 | Poetry, Raccoon | 0 Comments

Goat house In reaching for the scythe I’m reminded of the whetstone and the few quick strokes by which it was tested-- the hardness of hot August; the burning of ticks off dog backs. It’s winter now in this garage made barn, and the animals seem only curious that I’d...
Read More

Auto Draft

by | March 25, 2026 | Journal | 0 Comments

Read More

Contact John Fitzsimmons...and thanks!

The Flying Cloud

The Flying Cloud

by | Mar 11, 2017

Songs of the Sea & Fo’castle

The Flying Cloud

The American Folk Experience

The Flying Cloud

by John Fitzsimmons | The American Folk Experience

~Traditional

My name is William Hollander, as you will understand
I was born in the County of Waterford, in Erin’s lovely land,
When I was young and in my prime, a beauty on me shone,
And my parents doted upon me, I being their only son.

My father bound me to a trade in Waterford’s fair town,
He bound me to a cooper there by the name of William Brown.
I served my master faithfully for seven long years or more
Till I shipped aboard The Ocean Queen belonging to Tramore.

And soon we reached Bermuda’s isle where I met with Captain Moore,
The commander of the Flying Cloud from out of Baltimore,
He asked me if I’d ship with him on a slaving voyage to go,
To the burning shores of Africa, where the sugar cane does grow.

It was after some weeks of sailing we arrived off Africa’s shore,
Five hundred of them poor slaves, me boys, from their native land we bore.
We marched them up upon a plank and stowed them down below,
Scarce eighteen inches to a man was all they had to go.

Then the plague and the fever came on board, swapped half of them away.
We dragged their bodies up on deck and hove them in the sea,
It was better for the rest of them if they had died below
Than to work beneath the cruel planters in Cuba for evermore.

For it was after some stormy weather, boys, we arrived off Cuba shore
And we sold them to the planters there to be slaves for evermore,
For the rice and coffee seed to sow beneath the brilliant sun
And to lead a lone and wretched life till their career was run.

Well it’s now our money is all spent, we must go to sea again,
When Captain Moore comes on the deck and says unto us men,
“There’s gold and silver to be had if with me you’ll remain,
We’ll hoist the pirate flag aloft and scour the Spanish Main.”

We all agreed but three young men who were told us then to land.
Two of them were Boston boys, the other from New Foundland,
But I wish to God I joined those men and went with them on shore
Than to lead a wild and reckless life serving under a Captain Moore.

The Flying Cloud was a Yankee ship, five hundred tons or more,
She could outsail any clipper ship hailing out of Baltimore,
With her canvas white as the driven snow and on it there’s no specks,
And forty men and fourteen guns she carried below her decks.

For we sacked and plundered many a ship down upon the Spanish Main,
Caused many a widow and orphan in sorrow to remain.
To the crews we gave no quarter but gave them watery graves,
For the saying of our captain was: “Dead men will tell no tales.”

And pursued we were by many a ship, by frigates and liners too,
Till at last, the British man-o-war, the Dungeness, hove in view,
She fired a shot across our bows as we sailed before the wind,
Till a chain-shot cut our mainmast down and we fell far behind.

How our crew they beat to quarters as they ranged up alongside,
Soon across our quarter-deck there ran a crimson tide.
We fought till Captain Moore was killed and fifteen of our men,
till a bombshell set our ship on fire, we had to surrender then.

So it’s now to Newgate we were brought, bound down in iron chains,
For the sinking and the plundering of ships on the Spanish Main.
The judge he found us guilty, we were condemned to die.
Oh young men, a warning by me take, lead not such a life as I.

So it’s fare you well, old Waterford and the girl I do adore,
I’ll never kiss your cheek again, I’ll squeeze your hand no more,
Oh whiskey and bad company first made a wretch of me,
Oh young men, a warning by me take and shun all piracy.

If you have any more information to share about this song or helpful links, please post as a comment. Thanks for stopping by the site! ~John Fitz

I am indebted to the many friends who share my love of traditional songs and to the many scholars whose works are too many to include here. I am also incredibly grateful to the collector’s curators and collators of Wikipedia, Mudcat.org, MainlyNorfolk.info, and TheContemplator.com for their wise, thorough and informative contributions to the study of folk music. 

I share this scholarly research on my site with humility, thanks, and gratitude. Please cite sources accordingly with your own research. If you have any research or sites you would like to share on this site, please post in the comment box.  

Thanks!

 

Source: Mainly Norfolk

The Flying Cloud

[ Roud 1802 ; Laws K28 ; G/D 1:44 ; Ballad Index LK28 ; trad.]

Ewan MacColl sang The Flying Cloud in 1956 on his and A.L. Lloyd’s Topic LP The Singing Sailor; this track was also included six years later on their American LP on the Stinson label, Haul on the Bowlin’ and in 2004 on the anthology CD Sailors’ Songs & Sea Shanties.

Louis Killen recorded The Flying Cloud in 1965 for his Topic album Ballads & Broadsides. This recording was also included in 1993 on the Topic compilation CD Blow the Man Down. Angela Carter commented in the liner notes of Killen’s album:

There was nothing of the rakish, jolly, romantic pirate of pantomime and nursery lore about the real lives of the brutal criminals of the high seas who flourished in the early nineteenth century and before. Despite its beautiful name, The Flying Cloud was such a pirate vessel, if not in reality—for no records has come to light of a pirate ship called The Flying Cloud—then in the imagination of scores of traditional singers. This harsh and violent ballad, cast in the form of a confession from the gallows, depicts the worst of piracy on the Atlantic and the Caribbean in the early 1800s, when piracy and the slave trade often went hand in bloody had. Doerflinger (Shantymen and Shantyboys, New York, 1951) suggests the ballad-makers were originally inspired by a pamphlet, The Dying Declaration of Nicholas Fernandez, the purported confession of a notorious pirate on the eve of his execution in 1829—curiously enough, published as a temperance tract. The song is widely known in North America as well as in Britain. In Nova Scotia, the collector Elizabeth Greenleaf observed the tremendous emotional impact it made on audiences at singing gatherings in the nineteen twenties. At one time, it was an especial favourite with landlubbers in Canadian lumber camps. Most versions are broadly similar in text and tune.

Louis Killen recorded The Flying Cloud for a second time in 1995 for his CD Sailors, Ships & Chanteys. He also sang it in 2004 at the 25th Annual Sea Music Festival at Mystic Seaport. He commented on the first of these albums:

Perhaps more well known in New England than in Old England, this confession ballad was a test piece among singers on the Grand Banks schooners. If you couldn’t sing this ballad to the satisfaction of the crew you wouldn’t be considered a “singer”.

Roy Bailey learned The Flying Cloud from The Singing Island, edited by Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl, and sang it in 1976 on his album New Bell Wake.

Dave Burland sang Edward Hollander (The Flying Cloud) in 1979 on his album You Can’t Fool the Fat Man.

John Roberts and Tony Barrand sang The Flying Cloud in 2000 on their CD Across the Western Ocean: Songs of the North Atlantic Sailing Packets. They commented in their liner notes:

The legend of the “Flying Dutchman” is a common one in many European countries, and its story has been used in novel, melodrama, opera and movie. In the most common British version, Vanderdecken, a Dutch sea captain, angered by continually adverse winds, swears a blasphemous oath (“by all the devils”) that he will double the Cape of Good Hope if it takes him till Doomsday. For this profanity he is condemned by God or Devil (it is never clear which) to his self-appointed fate. His ghost ship is rarely seen, and then only in stormy seas, beating in against the wind under full sail and bad luck to the ship which sights her. This latter ship, itself often becalmed, is sometimes entrusted with letters addressed to people long dead.

Although in the British melodramas the curse is absolute, in other versions Vanderdecken is allowed on shore every seven years, in hopes of breaking his curse by wooing a lady who will be faithful to him unto death. In Wagner’s opera, for example, he manages to achieve this salvation.

In the German legend the protagonist, von Falkenberg, is condemned to sail the North Sea in a ship with no helm or steersman, playing dice with the Devil for his soul. According to Sir Walter Scott, the “Flying Dutchman” was a bullion ship aboard of which a murder was committed. The plague subsequently broke out among the crew, and all ports were closed to the ill-fated craft.

The only recent printed source for the song seems to be Doerflinger, who obtained his set from Richard Maitland, then retired at Sailor’s Snug Harbor, New York. Broadside variants are to be found in the Harvard Library. A song of the “Flying Dutchman” was sung on the stage in New York, and printed in several early songsters there. Our version comes from a singer in a folk club in Manchester, and is generally similar to Doerflinger’s.

Chris Foster sang The Flying Cloud in 2003 on his Tradition Bearers CD Traces.

Martin Simpson sang The Flying Cloud in 2005 on his Topic CD Kind Letters. He commented in his liner notes:

I learned these songs in many cases from a number of different sources. I first heard The Flying Cloud sung at Scunthorpe Folk Club in the late ’60s. Roy Bailey’ excellent […] record […] provided me with the basic text and Martin Carthy furnished further versions from his library which I assembled [into] this version. The song is truly the equal of a blockbuster movie. Roy points out that the unfortunate Arthur Hollandene is to die for crimes against commerce and property and his expressed regret for this part in slaving does not seem to be shared by the authorities.

Jim Moray sang The Flying Cloud in 2016 on his CD Upcetera. He commented in his sleeve notes:

I learned this from Chris Foster’s recording on his CD Traces, and the version on Ballads & Broadsides by Lou Killen. So much conflicting emotion is wrapped up in just 14 verses.

Lyrics

Louis Killen sings The Flying Cloud

My name is William Hollander, as you will understand
I was born in the County of Waterford, in Erin’s lovely land,
When I was young and in my prime, a beauty on me shone,
And my parents doted upon me, I being their only son.

My father bound me to a trade in Waterford’s fair town,
He bound me to a cooper there by the name of William Brown.
I served my master faithfully for seven long years or more
Till I shipped aboard The Ocean Queen belonging to Tramore.

And soon we reached Bermuda’s isle where I met with Captain Moore,
The commander of the Flying Cloud from out of Baltimore,
He asked me if I’d ship with him on a slaving voyage to go,
To the burning shores of Africa, where the sugar cane does grow.

It was after some weeks of sailing we arrived off Africa’s shore,
Five hundred of them poor slaves, me boys, from their native land we bore.
We marched them up upon a plank and stowed them down below,
Scarce eighteen inches to a man was all they had to go.

Then the plague and the fever came on board, swapped half of them away.
We dragged their bodies up on deck and hove them in the sea,
It was better for the rest of them if they had died below
Than to work beneath the cruel planters in Cuba for evermore.

For it was after some stormy weather, boys, we arrived off Cuba shore
And we sold them to the planters there to be slaves for evermore,
For the rice and coffee seed to sow beneath the brilliant sun
And to lead a lone and wretched life till their career was run.

Well it’s now our money is all spent, we must go to sea again,
When Captain Moore comes on the deck and says unto us men,
“There’s gold and silver to be had if with me you’ll remain,
We’ll hoist the pirate flag aloft and scour the Spanish Main.”

We all agreed but three young men who were told us then to land.
Two of them were Boston boys, the other from New Foundland,
But I wish to God I joined those men and went with them on shore
Than to lead a wild and reckless life serving under a Captain Moore.

The Flying Cloud was a Yankee ship, five hundred tons or more,
She could outsail any clipper ship hailing out of Baltimore,
With her canvas white as the driven snow and on it there’s no specks,
And forty men and fourteen guns she carried below her decks.

For we sacked and plundered many a ship down upon the Spanish Main,
Caused many a widow and orphan in sorrow to remain.
To the crews we gave no quarter but gave them watery graves,
For the saying of our captain was: “Dead men will tell no tales.”

And pursued we were by many a ship, by frigates and liners too,
Till at last, the British man-o-war, the Dungeness, hove in view,
She fired a shot across our bows as we sailed before the wind,
Till a chain-shot cut our mainmast down and we fell far behind.

How our crew they beat to quarters as they ranged up alongside,
Soon across our quarter-deck there ran a crimson tide.
We fought till Captain Moore was killed and fifteen of our men,
till a bombshell set our ship on fire, we had to surrender then.

So it’s now to Newgate we were brought, bound down in iron chains,
For the sinking and the plundering of ships on the Spanish Main.
The judge he found us guilty, we were condemned to die.
Oh young men, a warning by me take, lead not such a life as I.

So it’s fare you well, old Waterford and the girl I do adore,
I’ll never kiss your cheek again, I’ll squeeze your hand no more,
Oh whiskey and bad company first made a wretch of me,
Oh young men, a warning by me take and shun all piracy.

John Roberts and Tony Barrand sings The Flying Cloud

‘Twas on a dark and cheerless night to the southern of the Cape,
When from a strong nor’wester we had just made our escape,
Like an infant in its cradle, all hands lay fast asleep,
And peacefully we sailed along in the bosom of the deep.

Just then the watchman gave a shout of terror and of fear,
As if he had just gazed upon some sudden danger near,
The sea all round was cloud and foam, and just upon our lee,
We saw the Flying Dutchman come a-bounding o’er the sea.

“Take in our lofty canvas, lads,” the watchful master cried,
“For in our ship’s company some sudden danger lies,
For every man who rounds the Cape, although he knows no fear,
He knows that there is danger when Vanderdecken ‘s near.”

Pity poor Vanderdecken, forever is his doom,
The seas around that stormy Cape will be his living tomb,
He’s doomed to ride the ocean for ever and a day,
And he tries in vain his oath to keep by entering Table Bay.

All hands to the rail, our gallant crew, as the ghost ship bore to sea,
Our hearts were filled with awe and fear, as she passed along our lee,
The helmsman was likewise entranced, and as all hands sighed relief,
With rending crash and mortal force our vessel struck a reef.

Links

See also the Mudcat Café thread Origins: The Flying Cloud.

Ewan McColl sings “The Flying Cloud”…

Performances, Workshops, Resources & Recordings

The American Folk Experience is dedicated to collecting and curating the most enduring songs from our musical heritage.  Every performance and workshop is a celebration and exploration of the timeless songs and stories that have shaped and formed the musical history of America. John Fitzsimmons has been singing and performing these gems of the past for the past forty years, and he brings a folksy warmth, humor and massive repertoire of songs to any occasion. 

Festivals & Celebrations

Coffeehouses

School Assemblies

Library Presentations

Songwriting Workshops

Artist in Residence

House Concerts

Pub Singing

Irish & Celtic Performances

Poetry Readings

Campfires

Music Lessons

Senior Centers

Voiceovers & Recording

““Beneath the friendly charisma is the heart of a purist gently leading us from the songs of our lives to the timeless traditional songs he knows so well…”

 

Globe Magazine

Join Fitz at The Colonial Inn

“The Nobel Laureate of New England Pub Music…”

Scott Alaric

Adventures in the Modern Folk Underground

On the Green, in Concord, MA Every Thursday Night for over thirty years…

“A Song Singing, Word Slinging, Story Swapping, Ballad Mongering, Folksinger, Teacher, & Poet…”

Theo Rogue

Songcatcher Rag

Fitz’s Recordings

& Writings

Songs, poems, essays, reflections and ramblings of a folksinger, traveler, teacher, poet and thinker…

Download for free from the iTunes Bookstore

Now Available on iTunes!

“A Master of Folk…”

The Boston Globe

Fitz’s now classic recording of original songs and poetry…

Download from the iTunes Music Store

Now Available on iTunes!

“A Masterful weaver of song whose deep, resonant voice rivals the best of his genre…”

Spirit of Change Magazine

“2003: Best Children’s Music Recording of the Year…”

Boston Parent's Paper

Fitz & The Salty Dawgs Amazing music, good times and good friends…

Listen here

TheCraftedWord.org

Writing help

when you need it…

“When the eyes rest on the soul…that’s Fitzy…”

Lenny Megliola

WEEI Radio

How To Be Human

by | July 24, 2015 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

Mark Twain once wrote that it is good to be a good person, but it is better to tell people how to be good--"and a damn sight easier!" So much of my life is lived in response to the moment and not in a practiced and cultivated wisdom. I sat here this morning looking...
Read More

The Three River’s Anthology eBook

by | March 25, 2026 | Journal | 0 Comments

A writer without an audience is like an egg without a yolk ~fitz If you'd like to download my book of collected works, simply click the download button and you have a free book of my ramblings, songs, poems, essays, and stories. Enjoy! (I hope)      ...
Read More

The Nagging Thing

by | November 19, 2015 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

Not many more nights like this, warm enough to sit outside on the back porch. The kids and Denise long asleep. Usually, during the school year, this is my "time" to catch up on schoolwork--grading, posting the assignments for the week and playing the general catchup...
Read More

Capospin: Thrilling Quick‑Play Slots and Games for Fast‑Track Wins

by | March 25, 2026 | Journal | 0 Comments

1. Quick‑Game Fever at CapospinCapospin has carved a niche for players who crave the rush of a spin or a hand, all within a few minutes. The platform’s interface is streamlined so that a newcomer can navigate from the welcome screen to their first bet without a...
Read More

The Queer Folk

by | April 18, 2016 | Journal, Songs | 0 Comments

True to my words of earlier this week, I finished this song last night, and at the time, I liked it--but in the clear light of day, too much of it seems forced, especially the rhymes. But that is part of the process. I think I am almost there. Let me get my saw and...
Read More

A Redemptive Moment

by | November 15, 2013 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

I see the clock ticking towards 7:00. The kids are deep in their weekday world of homework, juggling soccer balls around the house, watching TV, but I am in my “got to rally” and get to the inn mode that happens very Thursday. Tonight I am tired. I’ll admit it, but...
Read More

Concord

by | July 14, 2014 | Poetry, Raccoon | 0 Comments

The people, the music filledness of rush hour traffic skirting puddles work crews packing in laughswearingmudyellowed slickers lighting candle bombs. My sadness the euphoric detachment. I love this town. It breathes me.
Read More

Wisdom

by | May 13, 2016 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

Wisdom starts in non-action… The doing and non-doing are the equal balance. Without the luxury of contemplation there would not be a prioritizing of need versus want. Wisdom balances physical reality… Wisdom does not shuffle tasks out of view but finds a way to...
Read More

New Ways

by | February 21, 2017 | Journal | 0 Comments

Time for a change. Feeling it in a lot of ways. After months of steady workouts, I’ve been finding too many convenient ways to let the day slip by. Still feel better than I have in years, but the days seem to have got the best of me. Excuses, procrastination and...
Read More

Out of the Forge: March 30, 2017

by | March 31, 2017 | Journal, Out of the Forge | 0 Comments

Every Thursday Night at The Colonial Inn On the Green, in Concord, Massachusetts This is my first attempt at trying to record a night at the inn, so please forgive my engineering errors as a producer. I simply used the Bose Tonematch into Garageband and called it good...
Read More

Weeds

by | August 8, 2014 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

  Somewhere locked in this choke of weeds spread like a mangy carpet is the hardened vine of Pipo’s Concord Grape he planted in an eager spring three years ago. Gasping for air and sun and water perhaps it has found some way to hide from my flailing hoe and the...
Read More

When the same thing happens again

by | October 7, 2017 | Crows and Swallows, Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

I wonder if God is testing me, giving Me some affable warning Or, perhaps, a more Stern rebuke, replaying A foolish mistake, Rehashing and reminding me Of a harsher possibility. It is only a small 10 mm wrench tightening A loose bolt on the throttle body, slipping...
Read More

Grandma’s Words

by | April 24, 2018 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

In the beginning was the word... ~Genesis       We do not live in Grandma’s world of words, and neither did grandma live in her grandma’s world of words and on and on and so on in a downwards devolution through untold millennia. From primal grunts, whistles and...
Read More

A Perfect Mirror

by | February 11, 2014 | Essays, Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

Do not mistake the finger pointing at the moon for the moon itself~BuddhaLast night you were so lucky. You didn't have to worry about your grumpy, tired teacher going through hours of journals ands doling out poor grades for what I am sure qualifies for good efforts...
Read More

All You Need is Love

by | November 16, 2013 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

    The day grew warm today, as did my mood. I did a couple of shows at my school’s diversity day. It was good to see girls there and the obvious racial differences. It was comforting to see a sea of color with a smattering of white instead of the other way around. My...
Read More

Chicken Road: Quick‑Hit Crash Game for Rapid Wins and Short Sessions

by | March 25, 2026 | Journal | 0 Comments

1. The Allure of Chicken RoadChicken Road has taken the online casino world by storm with its quirky premise—helping a plucky bird navigate a perilous street while chasing a golden egg prize. Players love the game’s bright, cartoonish visuals and the fact that every...
Read More

Wrenching Day

by | July 13, 2017 | Journal, Teaching | 0 Comments

It has certainly been a long time since wisdom ruled the day. I did get up and run in the rain, and now I am preparing to do some “wrenching” on my motorcycle. I am trying to temper my eagerness to ride with my desire to get everything “right” on the bike--without...
Read More

Another Wednesday

by | April 20, 2016 | Journal | 0 Comments

        It is a good night for meatballs. The same meal we have cooked every Wednesday night for thirteen years and counting. Tonight is a beautiful and warm night of vacation week, so more than likely we will have a big crowd joining us—but we never know who. The...
Read More

Dealing with Ether

by | August 12, 2014 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

Trying to only see what is in front of me my eyes are continually drawn away from this page and the work left to be done— my labored words etched and scratched away like fleeting mosaics in dry sand. I need a windowless cell to work the alchemy that shapes the...
Read More

Goathouse

by | May 23, 2014 | Poetry, Raccoon | 0 Comments

Goat house In reaching for the scythe I’m reminded of the whetstone and the few quick strokes by which it was tested-- the hardness of hot August; the burning of ticks off dog backs. It’s winter now in this garage made barn, and the animals seem only curious that I’d...
Read More

Going Google?

by | July 1, 2014 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

When you find yourself in the majority, it's time to join the minority ~Mark Twain I have to admit, Google is pretty impressive. The whole set of features that are offered to the public and to educators for free is pretty astounding: email, document creation and...
Read More

Hugo Casino Review: Quick Play Slots & Instant Wins

by | March 25, 2026 | Journal | 0 Comments

For the adrenaline‑hungry gambler who wants to hit the jackpot in a matter of minutes, Hugo Casino offers a playground built on speed and excitement. This review dives into the heart of high‑intensity gameplay, showing how you can maximize those brief bursts of...
Read More

Waiting for a Poem

by | August 8, 2014 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

  It’s not like a poem to come curl by my feet on this morning too beautiful to describe, though I am looking and listening and waiting: A rooster crows above the low hum of morning traffic; the trash truck spills air from brakes and rattles empties into bins; my...
Read More

Diesel Lullaby

by | July 5, 2019 | Journal | 0 Comments

I've been spending a lot of time lately writing sketches of songs—some more complete than others. I have found that it takes time for a song to evolve into its final form, so what I have posted here is more the end of the beginning, not the end. Denise gave me the...
Read More

Calvary

by | August 23, 2014 | Out of the Forge, Songs | 0 Comments

It seems like it ain’t been a long time,
But I’m damn pleased your coming by again.
It’s been a while since we sat down and rambled
About this and that and why and who and then
You said that you had to get a move on,
Move on and leave a space behind.
So I spent a while hitting all those old roads:
Old friends and kicking down the wine.

Read More

Trawler

by | August 12, 2014 | Fires in the Belly, Songs | 0 Comments

Leave the fog stillness
of a cold harbor town;
cup our hands
in the warm diesel sound—
leave while the children
are calmed in their dreams
by light buoys calling:
“Don’t play around me.”

Read More

Opinie o kasynie online Vavada w roku 2026

by | December 29, 2023 | Journal | 0 Comments

Opinie na temat kasyna online Vavada w roku 2026 Opinie o kasynie online Vavada w roku 2026 Decydując się na rozrywkę w wirtualnym świecie gier, warto zwrócić uwagę na Vavada. Ta platforma przyciąga entuzjastów hazardu z wielu powodów. Wysoka jakość gier oraz...
Read More

There is in an easiness

by | June 8, 2018 | Journal | 0 Comments

When I begin to think of myself. My girded shell squeezing Oysters in a jar; My oily viscera Jammed and joggled Into impossible places. My pancreas Is never where it should be; My esophagus cut cleanly Swirls in a diaspora. My tongue is a trapped In a tangle of...
Read More

Writing Iambic Dimeter Poetry

by | February 19, 2018 | Journal, Poetry, Teaching | 0 Comments

I am sitting here realizing how hard it is to ask you--a bunch of fifteen-year-old boys--to write iambic dimeter poetry, a form of poetry that is more or less ignored nowadays. I (literally) played around for a couple of hours penning these poems, which are at least...
Read More

Somewhere North of Bangor

by | August 12, 2014 | Fires in the Belly, Songs | 0 Comments

Somewhere north of Bangor
on the run from Tennessee.
Lost in back scrub paper land
in section TR-3.
It’s hit him he’s an outlaw
a Georgia cracker’s son,
who killed a man in Nashville
with his daddies favorite gun.
It’s hit him with the loneliness
of wondering where you are
on a long ago railway
stretched between two stars.

Read More

A New Hearth

by | December 7, 2013 | Journal | 0 Comments

It has been a long time since I wrote a simple old "this is what I am going to do today" post. So this is what I am going to do today: [and trust me, it will have nothing--absolutely nothing--to do with school work:)] Before the true winter settles in, I am going to...
Read More

Marriage & Magnanimity

by | September 6, 2015 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

If we want to have the freedom to marry whom we want to marry, why is it so important that the state (government) recognise that marriage? Is it simply the expediency of dispensing the entitlements of a marriage certificate: tax benefits, employment benefits, or the...
Read More

Raccoon Welcome

by | July 12, 2014 | Poetry, Raccoon | 0 Comments

Welcome
Read More

Chicken Road: Quick‑Hit Crash Game voor Snelle Winsten

by | March 25, 2026 | Journal | 0 Comments

De nieuwste crash‑stijl sensatie, Chicken Road, laat je grote multipliers najagen in minuten—geen lange marathon nodig. De kern van het spel draait om een dappere kip die probeert over een drukke weg te steken terwijl jij beslist wanneer je uitbetaalt voordat hij...
Read More

The Tide

by | August 31, 2014 | Poetry | 0 Comments

They are building a world and the plastic is fading: Margaret and Eddie's buckets are split, pouring out the warm Atlantic as they race along the tidal flat, filling pools connected by frantically dug canals. Tommy squats naked and screams in guttural joy at the...
Read More

If you don’t stand, you cower…

by | July 19, 2019 | Journal | 0 Comments

     Maybe it is time to be less forgiving. I have rarely agreed with our president, but I held on to the shreds of truth that shore up his arguments: we can’t welcome every immigrant who makes it to our border; we cannot bow to the audacity of corrupt governments in...
Read More

Joshua Sawyer

by | August 11, 2014 | Fires in the Belly, Poetry | 0 Comments

I doubt I’d ever have taken this road
had I known how fallen it really was
to disrepair: driving comically,
skirting ruts and high boulders, grimacing
at every bang on the oil pan.
I tell you it’s the old road to Wendell —
that they don’t make them like this anymore.

Read More

Many Miles To Go

by | August 12, 2014 | Fires in the Belly, Songs | 0 Comments

I see it in your eyes
and in the ways you try to smile;
in the ways you whisper—I don’t know—
and put it all off for a while;
then you keep on keeping on
in the only way you know:
you’re scared of where you’re going
and who’ll catch you down below.

Read More

Zenmo Yang Ni

by | August 12, 2014 | Fires in the Belly, Songs | 0 Comments

I lost the time I hardly knew you,
half-assed calling:
“How you doing?
Laughing at my hanging hay field;
I never knew the time
that tomorrow’d bring,
until it brung to me.

Yuan lai jui shuo: “Zenmoyang ni?”
Xianzai chang shu: “Dou hai keyi”;
Xiexie nimen, dou hen shang ni.
Xiwang wo men dou hen leyi
Dou hen leyi

Read More

The Litter in Concord

by | July 12, 2016 | Journal | 0 Comments

I have been following a Facebook thread about the movement in my beloved hometown of Concord to ban plastic water bottles, plastic bags and styrofoam cups. I am trying to discern whether or not my initial responses are pure and true and not simply reactionary and...
Read More

Contact John Fitzsimmons...and thanks!