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The Maid On The Shore (collected by Barry Taylor)
See also: The Maid On The Shore (Stan Rogers)
And also: The Maid On The Shore O (collected by Peacock)

There was once a young captain who followed the sea,
Let the winds blow high or blow low!
"Oh, I shall die, I shall die," the young captain did cry,
"If I don't get that maid on the shore;
Oh, if I don't get that maid on the shore!"

The young captain had jewels and a purse full of gold,
Let the winds blow high or blow low!
And all his gold he would gladly give to this fair maid,
If she'd take a sail out to sea;
Oh, if she'd take a sail out to sea.

So, by subtle persuasions he led her aboard,
Let the winds blow high or blow low!
Then haunting tunes she did sing, and she sang them so long,
That she soothed the bold sailors to sleep;
Oh, yes! She soothed the bold sailors to sleep.

All his jewels she took and his purse full of gold,
Let the winds blow high or blow low!
Bravely she took his broadsword to make herself an oar,
And she paddled away from the ship;
Oh, yes! She paddled away from the ship.

"Oh, were my men so mad, Oh, were my men so drunk?"
Let the winds blow high or blow low!
Why did they let her go free with her beauty so fair?
On the beach now she sits all alone;
Oh, on the beach now she sits all alone.

"Your men were not so mad, your men were not so drunk."
Let the winds blow high or blow low!
When you were all fast asleep, I left you on the deck,
I'm a maiden again on the shore;
Oh, I'm a maiden again on the shore."

####.... Variant of British broadside ballads, The Maid On The Shore, The Fair Maid By The Sea Shore, and The Sea Captain [Laws K27] American Balladry From British Broadsides (G. Malcolm Laws, 1957). First published as an 1859 entry in the journal from the whaling schooner, Ocean Rover, out of Nantucket, MA ....####

This variant was collected by Barry Taylor and published on-line in his Great Canadian Tunebook.

A variant was collected in 1958 from Mrs. Thomas Walters of Rocky Harbour, NL, by Ken Peacock and published as The Maid On The Shore O in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 1, pp.296-297, by The National Museum Of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.

A variant was recorded as The Maid On The Shore by Stan Rogers (For The Family, ©1996 Gadfly Records).

See more songs by Stan Rogers.

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