Faithful Sailor Boy (Collected by MacEdward Leach)

It's on a cold and frosty night, the snow lay on the ground,
A sailor boy stood on the quay, the ship was outward bound;
His true love standing by his side shed many a bitter tear,
And as he clasped her to his breast, he whispered in her ear.

So, it's good-bye, my own true love, for this parting gives me pain,
I'll be your hope, your guiding star, when I return again;
My thoughts will be on you, fair maid, when storms are raging high,
So, farewell, love, remember me, I'm your faithful sailor boy.

'Twas in that gale the ship set sail, the lass was standing by,
She watched the vessel out of sight, the tears stood in her eyes;
She prayed to Him in heaven above to guide him on his way,
The last three parting words that night re-echoed all next day.

Then, it's good-bye, my own true love, for this parting gives me pain,
I'll be your hope, your guiding star, when I return again;
My thoughts will be on you, fair maid, when storms are raging high,
So, farewell, love, remember me, I'm your faithful sailor boy.

I'm sad to say that ship returned without her sailor boy,
For he had died while on the sea, the flag being half-mast high;
And when his shipmates came onshore and told that he was dead,
The letter that they gave to her those last lines that they said.

Then, it's good-bye, my own true love, for on earth we'll meet no more,
I hope we'll meet some other day on that eternal shore;
My thoughts will be on you, fair maid, when storms are raging high,
So, farewell, my own true love, the faithful sailor boy.

####.... Author unknown. Variant of 19th century British and Irish broadside ballads [Laws K13] American Balladry From British Broadsides (G. Malcolm Laws, 1957). Also a variant of a 19th century British broadside ballad, The Sailor Boy, published by the Poet's Box (Dundee) probably between 1880 and 1900, and archived at The Word On The Street - National Library Of Scotland, shelfmark: L.C.Fol.70(64a) ....####

Collected in 1950 from Ernest Poole [b.1881] of Cape Ray, NL, and published in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada © 2004 Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA).

Additional variants were collected in 1951 from Mrs. T. Ghaney of Fermeuse, NL, and Thomas Williams of St. Vincent's, NL, and also published in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada © 2004 Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA).

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