| Author | Topic: Add: Riding Down to Portsmouth | |
| dmcg | Posted - 28 Jun 08 - 01:34 pm | |
As a sailor was riding along In height of his glory, As a sailor was riding along Telling a story, He met with a pretty maid by the way And those very very words to her did say: Pretty maid will you go along with me? For I'm going down to Portsmouth. Kind sir, if I go along with thee, I must be carried. Kind sir, if I go along with thee I must be married. So she went along with him straightway And she laid all in his arms till the day And she leaved him all the reckoning to pay. Now in the morning when he awoke He found his love a-missing, Now in the morning when he awoke He paid dear for his kissing. O she robbed him of his gold watch and purse And she took to him was ten times worse. Don't you think she lay under a curse In riding down to Portsmouth? Now landlord, what have I got to pay That I may reward you? Now landlord, what have I got to pay That I may reward you? For my horse I will leave it in pawn Until from the seas I do return. Such gallus, gallus girls I will shun In riding down to Portsmouth Source: Cecil Sharp's Collection of English Folk Songs, Vol 2, p 117, No 227, ed Maud Karpeles , Oxford University Press, 1974 Notes: Sung by Jack Barnard (45) at Bridgwater, Somerset, 16 April 1906 | ||
| dmcg | Posted - 28 Jun 08 - 01:40 pm | |
Every so often, you come across a song where the attempt to transcribe what was obviously sung in a very free manner using standard musical notation seems a little desperate. This is one of those songs! | ||
| Guest (guest) |
Posted - 29 Jun 08 - 12:04 am | |
It all depends upon how quickly you try and sing it!! Tim Radford | ||
| dmcg | Posted - 29 Jun 08 - 09:56 am | |
Yep! The ABC notation represents dotted notes by, for example, B3/2, B7/4 and so on. The program I use gave the first attempt at one note as B5461/2048. I don't know about anyone else, but my playing isn't that accurate. More seriously: my view on all the music on this site is that the written form is an (idealised) record of how the song was performed, but not of how it should be performed. We should always be prepared to personalise it to some extent, how much depending on our personal experience and confidence. This song is one where I think even someone with very little confidence should be willing to give it a go performing it how they like, forget what precisely the music says and blow the consequences. | ||
| Snuffy | Posted - 02 Jul 08 - 03:22 pm | |
If you want to hear it actually sung, the Voice of the People set has a version sung by Tom Willett on Volume 2 MY SHIP SHALL SAIL THE OCEAN: TEMPEST & SEA BATTLES, SAILOR LADS & FISHERMEN (TSCD 652) | ||