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It was down in yonder meadow for pleasure I did stray,
And there I saw a young sailor embracing a lady gay.
He said, "My charming Susan, I'm going to leave the shore,
To cross the briny ocean in a British man-o'-war."
Now Susan fell a-weeping, "Oh sailor lad," said she,
"How can you be so foolish as to throw yourself away?
When I'm the age of twenty-one I will receive my store,
So change your inclination from a British man-o'-war."
"Oh, Susan, lovely Susan, my time has come at last,
The British flag is insulted, old England must act fast;
And we'll be crowned with laurels just like some jolly tar,
To face the wars of China in a British man-o'-war."
"Oh Willie, lovely Willie, don't face these broad Chinese,
For they will prove as treacherous, as any Portuguese;
All by some sword or dagger you will receive a scar,
Jolly sailor, do not venture in a British man-o'-war."
"Oh Susan, lovely Susan, my time has come at last,
We will go to yonder public house and drink a parting glass,
My ship mates they are waiting to row me from the shore,
To cross the briny ocean in a British man-o'-war."
Willie took his handkerchief and tore it fair in two,
"Here's one half of this till I return, the other I'll keep for you;
When billows they surround me and cannons loudly roar,
I'll fight for England's glory in a British man-o'-war."
A few more words were spoken when these lovers let go their hands,
The sailors gently manned their oars and quickly rowed from land,
And Willie waved his handkerchief till they were far from shore,
"Farewell Susn, better a sailor in a British man-o'-war."
This variant was collected in 1952 from Harry Curtis of Joe Batt's Arm, NL, by Ken Peacock and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 1, p.181, by the National Museum of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
Kenneth Peacock noted that the events referred to in this ballad possibly go back to the years following 1838 when Britain seized the island of Hong Kong, which became a Crown Colony in 1841. In a variant called On Board Of A Man-Of-War which appears in Kidson's Traditional Tunes, Susan dresses in sailor's clothes and goes with Willie to sea where she is wounded fighting the Chinese. This Newfoundland variant, with its broken token theme, is quite different.
A variant was sung by the Kenny Family from Kitchuses, NL, and recorded as British Man-O'-War.
