Pyrate Love Songs?

[Desert Pyrate]

I was thinking about pyratical love songs, and t'be honest, I couldn't think of many. The only one that really comes to mind is The Water Is Wide, especially the James Taylor version. Of course, Mari Mac is also pyratical, and I *guess* it could be considered a love song... Any thoughts?

[Nigel]

Pyrates of the Coast does a stirring rendition of The Water Is Wide. I absolutely love that song. Spitfire, you sing the song beautifully! It is difficult to play along, I gets all sniffly every time she sings it.

P.S. to me crewe - I worked up a killer solo for the song. (But you can't prove it in a court of law.) It was just too easy - the song is so beautiful the solo just wrote itself.

Unfortunately, DP, the majority of pirate songs were aimed more t'wards the plundering aspects of th' trade.

Mebbe we should start a new tradition, eh? Anyone got any words fer a pirate love song? Bring 'em on!!!

[Trapper]

Actually, "The Female Smuggler" is a good example of a pirate love song. She ends up with the very commodore that finally captures her. Chris Roe of the chantey group, "Broadside" does a stirring rendition of this song:

The Female Smuggler

O come list a while, and you shall hear,

By the rolling sea lived a maiden fair.

Her father had followed the smuggling trade,

Like a war-like hero.

Like a warlike hero that never was afraid.

Now, in sailor's clothing young Jane did go,

Dressed like a sailor from top to toe

Her aged father was the only care

O this female smuggler.

Of this female smuggler who never did despair.

With her pistols loaded she went aboard.

And by her side hung a glittering sword,

In her belt two daggers; well armed for war

Was this female smuggler,

Was this female smuggler, who never feared a scar.

Now they had not sail-ed far from the land,

When a strange sail brought them to a stand.

'These are sea robbers,' this maid did cry,

'But the female smuggler,

But the female smuggler will conquer or will die.

Alongside, then, this strange vessel came.

Cheer up,' cried Jane, 'we will board the same;

We'll run all chances to rise or fall,'

Cried this female smuggler,

Cried this female smuggler, who never feared a ball.

Now they killed those pirates and took their store,

And soon returned to old Eng-a-land's shore.

With a keg of brandy she walked along,

Did this female smuggler,

Did this female smuggler, and sweetly sang a song.

Now they were followed by the blockade,

Who in irons strong did put this fair maid.

But when they brought her for to be ter-ied,

This young female smuggler,

This young female smuggler stood dress-ed like a bride.

Their commodore against her appeared,

And for her life she did greatly fear.

When he did find to his great surprise

'Twas a female smuggler,

'Twas a female smuggler had fought him in disguise.

He to the judge and the jury said,

'I cannot prosecute this maid,

Pardon for her on my knees I crave,

For this female smuggler,

For this female smuggler so valiant and so brave.'

Then this commodore to her father went,

To gain her hand he asked his consent.

His consent he gained, so the commodore

And the female smuggler,

And the female smuggler are one for evermore.

Fair winds and fair music,

Trapper

[Ida Dunnitt]

Well there are some fine lines there- sometimes ye thinks they be singin about a woman, and often it turns out to be about the ship, or often a song talks a bout the love for the ladies, but not love. But with that in mind, ye got:

Haul Away Joe

Itches in Me Britches

The Handsome Cabin Boy

Spanish Ladies

Eliza Lee

Morning Glory

A hundred years ago

[Trapper]

An' the followin' as well:

Farewell me lovely Nancy

Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy

Sail Away (a great song by Mary Benson)

John's Gone to Hilo

Shallow Brown

Shenandoah

an' many many more.

Trapper

[Olaf Grumby]

This song ain't excatly piratical but similar characters they just happen to be on land.

Loreena McKennit

"The Highwayman"

Sorry don't have the lyrics with me. I can get them if ye want.

[Nigel]

This song ain't excatly piratical but similar characters they just happen to be on land.

Loreena McKennit

     "The Highwayman"

Sorry don't have the lyrics with me.  I can get them if ye want.

Well, ye'll just have t'git them so's we can take a gander at 'em, mate!

[Scarlet Jenny]

Loreena McKennit

"The Highwayman"

Sorry don't have the lyrics with me. I can get them if ye want.

The lyrics to this song are the words to the poem of the same title, written by Alfred Noyes, minus the 4th stanza in part one.

This poem captivated me when I read it in school, and the song is a great version! Thrilling, romantic, and sad! I highly recommend checking out McKennit's version!

The Highwayman

By Alfred Noyes

Part One

I

The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,

The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,

The road was a ribbon of moonlight, over the purple moor,

And the highwayman came riding-

Riding-riding-

The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.

II

He'd a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,

A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin;

They fitted with never a wrinkle: his boots were up to the thigh!

And he rode with a jewelled twinkle,

His pistol butts a-twinkle,

His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.

III

Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,

And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;

He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there

But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,

Bess, the landlord's daughter,

Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

IV

And dark in the old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked

Where Tim the ostler listened; his face was white and peaked;

His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy hay,

But he loved the landlord's daughter,

The landlord's red-lipped daughter,

Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say-

V

"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize to-night,

But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;

Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,

Then look for me by moonlight,

Watch for me by moonlight,

I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."

VI

He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand,

But she loosened her hair i' the casement! His face burnt like a brand

As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;

And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,

(Oh, sweet black waves in the moonlight!)

Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the West.

Part Two

I

He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon;

And out o' the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon,

When the road was a gipsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,

A red-coat troop came marching-

Marching-marching-

King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.

II

They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead,

But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed;

Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side!

There was death at every window;

And hell at one dark window;

For Bess could see, through the casement, the road that he would ride.

III

They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest;

They bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!

"Now keep good watch!" and they kissed her.

She heard the dead man say-

Look for me by moonlight;

Watch for me by moonlight;

I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way!

IV

She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good!

She writhed her hands till here fingers were wet with sweat or blood!

They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like

years,

Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,

Cold, on the stroke of midnight,

The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!

V

The tip of one finger touched it; she strove no more for the rest!

Up, she stood up to attention, with the barrel beneath her breast,

She would not risk their hearing; she would not strive again;

For the road lay bare in the moonlight;

Blank and bare in the moonlight;

And the blood of her veins in the moonlight throbbed to her love's refrain.

VI

Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs

ringing clear;

Tlot-tlot, tlot-tlot, in the distance? Were they deaf that they did

not hear?

Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,

The highwayman came riding,

Riding, riding!

The red-coats looked to their priming! She stood up strait and still!

VII

Tlot-tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot-tlot, in the echoing night

!

Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!

Her eyes grew wide for a moment; she drew one last deep breath,

Then her finger moved in the moonlight,

Her musket shattered the moonlight,

Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him-with her death.

VIII

He turned; he spurred to the West; he did not know who stood

Bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood!

Not till the dawn he heard it, his face grew grey to hear

How Bess, the landlord's daughter,

The landlord's black-eyed daughter,

Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.

IX

Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky,

With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!

Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,

When they shot him down on the highway,

Down like a dog on the highway,

And he lay in his blood on the highway, with a bunch of lace at his throat.

* * * * * *

X

And still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,

When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,

When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,

A highwayman comes riding-

Riding-riding-

A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.

XI

Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard,

And he taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred;

He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there

But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,

Bess, the landlord's daughter,

Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

[Trapper]

A great piece, "The Highwayman". Phil Ochs originally recorded it back in the '60s, a killer version.

If we were to continue on that theme, I'd recommend Sovay as well, as sung my Martin Carthy's band, "Brass Monkey". This one's about a female highwayman....highwaywoman? Highwayperson? Well, anyway...

Sovay

Sovay, Sovay all on a day

She dressed herself in man's array

With a sword and a pistol all by her side

To meet her true love, to meet her true love, away did ride

And as she was a-riding over the plain

She met her true love and bid him stand

“Your gold and silver, kind Sir,” she said

“Or else this moment, or else this moment, your life I'll have”

And when she'd robbed him of his store

She says, “Kind sir, there is one thing more

A golden ring which I know you have

Deliver it, deliver it, your sweet life to save”

“Oh that golden ring a token is

My life I'll lose, the ring I'll save”

Being tender-hearted just like a dove

She rode away, she rode away, from her true love

Oh next morning in the garden green

Just like true lovers they were seen

Oh he spied his watch hanging by her clothes

And it made him blush, made him blush like any rose

“Oh what makes you blush at so silly a thing

I thought to have had your golden ring

It was I that robbed you all on the plain

So here's your watch, here's your watch and your gold again”

“I did intend and it was to know

If that you were me true love or no

For if you'd have given me that ring," she said

"I'd have pulled the trigger, I'd have pulled the trigger, and shot you dead”

[Trapper]

whoops, and that was BY Martin Carthy's band.

Trapper

[Desert Pyrate]

I fergot bout this one:

Newry Highwayman

In Newry town, I was bread and born,

In Stephen's Green now I die in scorn.

I served my time to the saddling trade,

But I turned out to be a roving blade.

At seventeen I took a wife,

I loved her dearly as I loved my life;

And for to keep in fine array,

I went a-robbing on the King's highway.

I never robbed any poor man yet,

Nor any tradesman did I beset;

I robbed both lords and the ladies bright,

And brought their jewels to my heart's delight.

I robbed Lord Golding I do declare,

And Lady Mansel, in Grosvenor Square;

I shut the shutters and bad them good night.

And home I went then to my heart's delight.

To Covent Garden I made my way,

With my dear wife for to see the play;

Lord Fielding's gang they did me pursue,

And I was taken by the cursed crew.

My father cried, "O, my daring son."

My wife she wept and sighed. "I am undone."

My mother tore her white locks and cried;

Saying, "In the cradle he should have died.

And when I'm dead and in my grave

A flashy funeral pray let me have;

With six bold highwaymen to carry me.

Give them good broadswords and sweet liberty.

Six pretty maidens to bear my Pall,

Give them white garlands and ribbons all.

And when I'm dead they will speak the truth,

He was a wild and a wicked youth.

[Trapper]

Excellent choice!! Thank ye fer postin' it!

Trapper

[Nigel]

The lyrics to this song are the words to the poem of the same title, written by Alfred Noyes, minus the 4th stanza in part one.

This poem captivated me when I read it in school, and the song is a great version! Thrilling, romantic, and sad! I highly recommend checking out McKennit's version!

Ah... thankye, Jenny luv, yer a real sweetie.

This was the song I was thinking of, I have heard it before. Nice piece.

[Trapper]

Ah, and another one, that's a great (if obscure) song.

Trapper

THE PIRATE'S SONG

My boat's by the tower, my bark's on the bay

Both must be gone by the dawn of the day

The moon's in her shroud, and to light thee afar

On the deck of the "Daring's" a love-lighted star

CHORUS:

So, wake, lady, wake, I'm waiting for thee

On this night, or never, my bride thou shalt be

Wake, lady, wake, I'm waiting for thee

On this night or never my bride thou shalt be

Forgive my rough mood, unaccustomed to sue

I woo not, perhaps, as the landlubbers do

For my voice is attuned to the sound of the gun

Which startles the deep when the combat's begun

Oh, islands there are on the face of the deep

Where the leaves never fade and the skies never weep

So haste, love, make haste, while the fair breezes blow

And an ocean bird poses on pinions of snow

A hundred shall serve, the best of the brave,

The chief of a thousand shall kneel as thy slave

And thou shalt reign queen, and our empire shall last

'Til the black flag, by inches, is torn from the mast

[piratelassie]

The Maid on the Shore is slightly piratical, and could be seen as a love song. Pamela Morgan and Anita Best do a luvverly version of it on their CD THe Colour of Amber.

Other than that, I don't know any pirate love songs other than the ones already mentioned. I really liked the last one, The Pirate's Song though.

[Christine]

Oh, goodness yes, The Highway Man! Beautiful, but sad song. I absolutely love Loreena Mckennit. Such perfect renaissance/pirate music. I love the one album, The Mask and Mirror. The one song on there Dark Night of the Soul....*oh swoon*

Upon a darkened night

The flame of love was burning in my breast

And by a lantern bright

I fled my house while all in quiet rest

Shrouded by the night

And by the secret stair I quickly fled

The veil concealed my eyes

While all within lay quiet as the dead

(chorus) Oh night thou was my guide

Oh night more loving than the rising sun

Oh night that joined the lover

To the beloved one

Transforming each of them in to the other.

Upon that misty night

In secrecy, beyond such mortal sight

Without a guide or light

Than that which burned so deeply in my heart

That fire twas led me on

And shone more bright than of the midday sun

To where he waited still

It was a place where no one else could come

(chorus)

Within my pounding heart

Which kept itself entirely for him

He fell into his sleep

Beneath the cedars all my love I gave

From o'er the fortress walls

The wind would brush his hair against his brow

And with his smoothest hand

Caressed my every sense it would allow

(chorus)

I lost myself to him

And laid my face upon my lover's chest

And care and grief grew dim

As in the morning's mist became the light

There they dimmed amongst the lilies fair

There they dimmed amongst the lilies fair

There they dimmed amongst the lilies fair

All the while her haunting voice echoes through-out the song, *shivers* Oh, yes, love that!

[Nigel]

Aye lass, a haunting and evocative voice she has.

[piratelassie]

Aye, Loreena McKennit's voice is indeed fine, but I'd have to say that I'm a bigger fan of Capercaillie. On their newest CD, the last song is a seafarin', slightly piratical love song called "I Will Set My Ship in Order"

gorgeous

[Katie Nameless]

All renditions o' The Highwayman make me pyratical heart sing, but none beats the original, tha's fer sure.

I'm surprised none o' ye mentioned Black-Eyed Susan! That be my favorite pirate love song. Tis very pretty.

[piratelassie]

Actually, "The Female Smuggler" is a good example of a pirate love song. She ends up with the very commodore that finally captures her. Chris Roe of the chantey group, "Broadside" does a stirring rendition of this song:

never come across the music fer the female smuggler. Did Broadside write their own?

[Trapper]

Nope, it's traditional. You might check the "mudcat" site www.mudcat.org as some of their lyric pages come with midi files of the tune. Not the greatest renditions, mind, but enough that you can figure it out.

Fair winds,

Trapper

[Captain_MacNamara]

I love the highwayman song... it sends chills down me spine when I hears it... It seems like more Pirate love songs end in tragedy, at least in my findings... 'ere's another one: It's about both woman and ship...

The Dark Lady

A fierce one-eyed man named Baron LaBonne

A meaner pirate had never been known

And he sailed on the Dark Lady

A ship strong and sound with a perilous crew

And high on the mast the skull and bones flew

Fleet and swift was the Dark Lady

And every night the Baron would drink a toast

He'd say, "Here's to our lovely lady host!

My one true love...

"Hear, hear!" the crew replied

And the Dark Lady sighed

A rich Spanish galleon was spotted one night

The Dark Lady's crew prepared for the fight

Clash of swords.... No Spaniards survived it

Except for the maiden with dark eyes so bold

Found in the hull with the jewels and the gold

LaBonne laughed and took her for ranson

And every night the Baron would drink a toast

He'd say, "Here's to our lovely lady host!

My one true love...

"Hear, hear!" the crew replied

And the Dark Lady sighed

The girl Carlotta was a beauty quite rare

With each passing night LaBonne couldn't bear

His empty bed... He brought her to it

The Baron soon found he felt more than desire

His love for her grew and his heart filled with fire

He proclaimed that they would marry

The night the Baron drank with jubilee

He said, "Here's to my lovely bride-to-be!

My one true love...

"Hear, hear !" the crew replied

And the Dark Lady cried

The following night and storm brewed at sea

The Dark Lady saw her chance to be free

Of her rival, the beauty Carlotta

The ship steered her south to the heart of the gale

Where a wave swept the maiden out over the rail

Sweet revenge on an unfaithful lover

That night the Lady drank a toast

She said, "Here's to your lovely lady host!

Your one true love...

No voices replied

And the Dark Lady smiled

And now every night when a storm fills the sky

They say that a ghost ship sails in its eye

Fleet and swift is the Dark Lady

A ship strong and sound with a perilous crew

And high on the mast the skull and bones flew

While the Captain gazes out to sea

And every night the Baron must drink a toast

And say, "Here's to our lovely lady host

My one true love...

"Hear, hear!" the ghost crew replies

And the Dark Lady smiles

Kinda 'splains why tis bad luck to bring a woman aboard, now don't it?

[Iron Jack]

Hey, women on board be OK with me, just as long as they be well armed (and bring lots 'o their own RUM).

Here's one that I like about a poor drowned pirate, er . . . sailor (found on http://www.contemplator.com/) under Songs of the Sea.

The Drowned Lover (or Captain Digby's Farewell)

As I was a walking down in Stokes Bay

I met a drowned sailor on the beach as he lay

And as I drew nigh him, it put me to a stand.,

When I knew it was my own true Love

By the marks on his hand.

As he was a sailing from his own dear shore

Where the waves and the billows so loudly do roar,

I said to my true Love, I shall see you no more

So farewell, my dearest, you're the lad I adore.

She put her arms around him, saying O! My dear!

She wept and she kiss'd him ten thousand times o'er.

O I am contented to lie by thy side.

And in a few moments, this lover she died.

And all in the churchyard these two were laid,

And a stone for remembrance was laid on her grave,

My joys are all ended, my pleasures are fled,

This grave that I lie in is my new married bed.

Never heard anybody do a recorded version of this one, but I do like the simplicity and poetry of the lyric *snif*.

[Iron Jack]

By the by, the Shantyman does a pretty decent version 'o The Pirate Song, since ye mentioned it (and I think he might even have a sample on his website).

http://theshantyman.com/

It be one 'o me favs!

[piratelassie]

Hey, women on board be OK with me,

Thanks ta ya Jack fer stickin' up fer us ladies. Although it aint as if we couldn't stick up fer ourselves. Tis nice ta know o' some true gentlemen on the account.

~Ali