The Mermaid

English trad., mostly from Ewan MacColl

 

One night as I lay on my bed,

I lay so fast asleep;

When the though of my true love came a-running to my head;

And poor sailors that sail on the deep.

 

As I sailed out one day one day,

And being not far from the land;

'Twas there I spied a mermaid a-sitting on a rock,

With a comb and a glass in her hand.

 

O’ The song she sang, she sang so sweet,

But no answer at all could us make;

Till at length our gallant ship, she took round about,

Which made all our poor hearts to ache.

 

Then up stepped the helmsman of our ship,

In his hand a lead and a line;

All for to sound the seas, my boys, that is so wide and deep,

But no hard rock or sand could he find.

 

Then up stepped the captain of our ship,

And a well spoken man was he;

He says, "I have a wife my boys, in fair Plymouth town,

But this night and a widow she will be".

 

Then up stepped the bosun of our ship,

And a well-spoken man was he;

He says, "I have two sons, my boys, in fair Bristol town,

And fatherless this night they will be."

 

Then up stepped the little cabin boy,

And a pretty little boy was he;

He says, "I care most for my Daddy and my Mammy,

That I never, never more shall see."

 

Call a boat, call a boat, my fair Plymouth boys,

Don't you hear how the trumpet do sound;

For the want of a long boat our gallant ship was lost,

And the most of her merry men was drowned.