A sea song about The Dreadnought[1] an American packet ship launched in 1853, flagship of the “Red Cross Line”, dubbed “The Wild Boat of the Atlantic”
A red cross, the company’s logo, was drawn on her fore-topsail, and she could carry up to 200 passengers.
Yet the era of the great sailing ships was over and her life seems to be the swan song.
Three sea songs are linked by a nineteenth-century melody “The Flash Frigate / La Pique” (a forebitter on a British navy ship) (forebitter ballad); the same melody associated with the glory of the American “The Dreadnaught“ (of the “Red Cross” Shipping Company) becomes in a third moment the capstan shanty entitled “The Liverpool Packet“
The Dreadnought -Derry Down, Down, Derry Down
According to Stan Hugill this song was a forebitter sung on the melody known as “La Pique” or “The Flash Frigate” (which recalls “Villikins and His Dinah”). Even Kipling in his book “Captains Courageous” has it sing by fishermen on the Banks of Newfoundland.
In the capstan shanty version a longer refrain is added, sung in chorus
Bound away! Bound away!
where the wide [wild] waters flow,
Bound away to the west’ard
in the Dreadnaught we’ll go!
The melody with which the shanty is associated is not univocal, since the “The Dom Pedro” tune is also used. The forebitter version bears the refrain of a single verse, a nonsense phrase sometimes used in the most ancient ballads. The melody is sad, looking like a lament to the memory of a famous wrecked ship; while praising her merits it’s a farewell at the time of sailing ships, now outclassed by steam ships.
full version (here)
I
There’s a flash packet, a flash packet of fame,
She hails to (from) New York and the Dreadnought’s her name;
She’s bound to the westward where the strong winds blow,
Bound away in the Dreadnought, to the westward we go.
Derry down, down, down derry down.
II
Now, the Dreadnought she lies in the river Mercey,
Waiting for the Independence to tow her to sea;
Out around the Rock Light where the salt tides do flow,
Bound away to to the westward in the Dreadnought, we’ll go.
III (1)
(O, the Dreadnought’s a-howlin’ down the wild Irish Sea,
Her passengers merry, with hearts full of glee,)
As sailors like lions walk the decks to and fro,
She’s the Liverpool packet, O Lord, let her go!
IV (2)
O, the Dreadnought’s a-sailin’ the Atlantic so wide,
While the high roaring seas roll along her black sides,
(With her sails tightly set for the Red Cross to show,
She’s the Liverpool packet, O Lord, let her go!)
V
Now, a health to the Dreadnought, to all her brave crew,
To bold Captain Samuel (3), his officers, too,
Talk about your flash packets, Swallowtail and Black Ball (4),
The Dreadnaught’s the flier that outsails them all.
FOOTNOTES
(1) The Dreadnoughts sings:
With the gale at her back/ What a sight does she make
A skippin’ so merry/With the west in her wake
(2) the Dreadnoughts sings:
With her sails tight as wires/And the Black Flag to show
All away to the Dreadnought/To the westward we’ll go
(3) her first captain was Samuel Samuels[2] “the Dreadnoughts sings ” To bold captain Willy”
(4) companies competing in the “Red Cross Line” but she was not especially fast; it generally took her nearly two weeks to cross the Atlantic eastbound, and three weeks to cross westbound, despite Captain Samuels and his tendency to keep a lot of sails up even in heavy weather.
Iggy Pop & Elegant Too in “Son Of Rogues Gallery ‘Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys” ANTI 2013
(stanzas I, III, IV, V)
STAN HUGILL VERSION
I
There’s a saucy wild packet, a packet of fame;
She belongs to New York, and the Dreadnought’s her name;
She is bound to the westward where the wide water flow;
Bound away to the west’ard in the Dreadnought we’ll go.
Chorus
Derry down, down, down derry down
II
The time of her sailing is now drawing nigh;
Farewell, pretty maids, we must bid you good-bye;
Farewell to old England and all we hold dear,
Bound away in the Dreadnought, to the west’ard we’ll steer.
III
And now we are hauling out of Waterlock dock,
Where the boys and the girls on the pierheads they do flock;
They will give us their cheers as their tears they do flow,
Saying, “God bless the Dreadnought, where’er she may go!”
IV
Now, the Dreadnought she lies in the Mersey so free,
Waiting for the Independence to tow her to sea,
For to around that rock light where the Mersey does flow,
Bound away in the Dreadnought, where’er we’ll go.
V
Now the Dreadnaught’s a-howling down the wild Irish Sea,
Where the passengers are merry, their hearts full of glee,
her sailors like tigers walk the decks to and fro,
Bound away in the Dreadnought, to the west’ard we’ll go
VI
Now, the Dreadnought’s a-sailing the Atlantic so wide,
While the high rolling seas roll along her black sides,
With her topsails set taut for the Red Cross to show
Bound away in the Dreadnought, to the west’ard we’ll go
VII
Now the Dreadnought’s has reached the banks of Newfoundland,
Where the water’s so green and the bottom so sand;
Where the fish in the waves They swim to and fro,
Bound away in the Dreadnought, with the ice and the snow
VIII
Now the Dreadnought’s lying on the long ireland shore
waiting ?? as we have done before
? your main topsail ?
Bound away in the Dreadnought, to the west’ard we’ll go
IX
And now we arrived in New York once more,
We’ll go to the land we adore, we call for strong liquors
and merry we’ll be
Drink to the health to the Dreadnought, where’er she may be.
X
So here’s health to the Dreadnought and all her brave crew;
To bold Captain Samuels and his officers too.
Talk about your flash packets, Swallowtail and Black Ball,
but the Dreadnought’s he clipper to beat one and all
XI
Now my story is finish and my tale it is told
forgive me, old shipmates, if you think that I’m bold;
for this song was composed while the watch was below
and at the health in the Dreadnought we’ll go.
Hulton Clint sings it on the tune “Dom Pedro.” It is the most extensive version of the previous one, with some variations[3]
REFERENCES
Roll And Go(p90-1)
American Sea Songs and Chanteys(p103-4),
The Oxford Book of Sea Songs(p233-35),
Songs of American Sailormen(p170-1),
Shantymen & Shantyboys(p126-8),
Naval Songs(p68),
Music of The Waters(p56-8),
Chanteying Aboard American Ships(p101-3),
Songs of the Sea(p150-1),
An American Sailor’s Treasury(p109-10),
Songs of the Sailor and Lumberman(II)(p126-8),
Shanties from the Seven Seas(II)(p344-6),
Shanties from the Seven Seas (complete)(II)(p454-6),
The Seven Seas Shanty Book(p6-7)
[1] There is some confusion about the spelling of the ship’s name. Laws called it the Dreadnaught, and earlier editions of the Index followed him because, well, I didn’t notice. Every reference I have checked, however, gives the title of the ship involved (as well as the later battleship) as Dreadnought (with an o rather than an a).
http://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/LD13.html
[2] In his own words: “Swearing, which appeared to me so essential in the make-up of an officer, I found degrading in a gentleman and I prohibited its indulgence. I also insisted that the crew should be justly treated by the officers.” He seems to have known when to turn a blind eye to the particular brand of justice which had to be handed out to over-troublesome “packet rats” by his mates. To the passengers and his officers he was the model of the young clipper captain, respected, well-groomed and quietly spoken, but always perfectly self-confident and calm in an emergency. The Dreadnought undoubtedly owed her conspicuous success at a difficult time to the personality of her master.
https://www.shippingwondersoftheworld.com/dreadnought.html
[3] most of the song is a catalog of places the ship visits
http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/sea-shanty/Dreadnought.htm
http://www.contemplator.com/sea/dread.html
