The Mermaid

Versions and variations of this shanty exist in ports all around the UK, it is believed to date from around the 1600s. In all versions, the mermaid is a portent of doom, signifying shipwreck - bad news for all the Greenock and Port boys on board, who knowing their imminent fate, spend a few moments considering what is important to them...

This version was recorded by Shelagh McKay.

Twas a Friday morn when we set sail
And our ship not far from the land
When the Captain did spy a fair pretty maid
With a comb and a glass in her hand

Oh the ocean waves may roar 

And the stormy winds may blow
While we jolly sailors go skipping to the tops
And the landlubbers lying down below, below, below

And the landlubbers lying down below

And up spake the Captain of our gallant ship
And a well spoken man was he

I have married me a wife in Greenock town
And tonight she a widow will be
Will be, will be,
An tonight she a widow will be

Then up spake the cook or our gallant ship

And a fat old cook was he

I care much more for my kettles and my pots

Than I do for the depths of the sea, the sea, the sea

Than I do for the depths of the sea

Then up spake the boy of our gallant ship
And a well spoken laddie was he
I've a father and mother in Port Glasgow town
But tonight they childless will be, will be
But tonight they childless will be

Oh the moon shines bright and the stars

For my mammy she’ll be looking for me

She may look, she may weep, she may look to the deep

She may look to the bottom of the sea, the sea, the sea

She may look to the bottom of the sea

Then three times around went our gallant ship
And Three times around went she
Then three times around went our gallant ship
And she sank to the depths of the sea
The sea, the sea
And she sank to the depths of the sea