Wild Rover

I’ve been a wild rover for many’s the year
And I’ve spent all me money on whiskey and beer
But now I’m returning with gold in great store
And I never will play the wild rover no more

[CHORUS]

And it’s no, nay, never
No, nay never no more
Will I play the wild rover
No never no more

I went to an alehouse I used to frequent
I told the landlady my money was spent
I ask her for credit, she answered me nay
Such a custom as yours I can have any day

[CHORUS]

I brought from me pocket ten sovereigns bright
And the landlady’s eyes opened wide with delight
She said:’I have whiskeys and wines of the best
And the words that you told me were only in jest’

[CHORUS]

I’ll go home to my parents, confess what I’ve done
And I’ll ask them to pardon their prodigal son
And when they’ve caressed me, as oft times before
I never will play the wild rover no more

[CHORUS] X 2

Go Lassie Go

Oh, the summertime is coming
And the trees are sweetly blooming
And the wild mountain thyme
Grows around the blooming heather

[CHORUS]

Will you go, lassie, go?
And we’ll all go together
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather
Will you go, lassie, go?

I will build my love a bower
By yon clear and crystal fountain
And on it, I will pile
All the flowers of the mountain

[CHORUS]

If my true love, he won’t have me
I will surely find another
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather

Tell Me Ma

ORIGIN

“I’ll Tell Me Ma” (also called “The Wind”) is a traditional children’s song. It was collected in various parts of the United Kingdom in the 19th century and again appears in collections from shortly after the turn of the 20th century. In Ireland, especially within Ulster, the chorus usually refers to Belfast city and is known colloquially as “The Belle of Belfast City”, although it is also adapted to other Irish cities, such as Dublin. Other versions refer to the “Golden City” or “London City”.

[CHORUS]

I’ll tell me ma, when I get home
The boys won’t leave the girls alone
Pulled me hair, and stole my comb
But that’s alright, till I go home.

Sea Shanties

Historians have traced examples of what might be called sea shanties back to at least the 16th century. However, the songs as we know them really flourished during the 19th century on board large sailing ships.

“A lot of people assume that these songs was naval, but it was predominantly merchant ships where these songs were sung,” says historian Kate Jamieson. “That’s why you have so many songs about whaling for instance.”

Old Maui

ORIGINS

“Rolling Down to Old Maui” (or Mohee) 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. 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.

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

Roll the Old Chariot Along

ORIGINS

A capstan shanty also known as A Drop of Nelson’s Blood, and variously claimed as a parody of a Salvation Army hymn or an African-American spiritual. “Nelson’s blood” is rum, a nod to the return of his body to England preserved in a barrel of spirits.

CHORUS

And we’ll roll the old chariot along

We’ll roll the old chariot along

We’ll roll the old chariot along

And we’ll all hang on behind

The Wellerman

ORIGINS

Known as “Soon May the Wellerman Come” as well as “Wellerman” or “The Wellerman,” the sea shanty from New Zealand dates back to 1860. The title of the song is a reference to supply ships owned by the Weller brothers, who were some of the earliest European settlers of the Otago region of New Zealand.

CHORUS

Soon may the Wellerman come

To bring us sugar and tea and rum

One day, when the tonguing is done

We’ll take our leave and go