Tag: Sailing Ship

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Going to sea

“Sailing ship” photographed by Sanford Ross Bender near Gloucester, Massachusetts on August 22, 2024 .
“Going to sea” composed and performed with two guitars by Sanford Ross Bender on March 10, 2026.

William and Polly*

Sweet William went to Polly,

To give her to understand,

That he had to go and leave her,

To go to a foreign land.

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O stay at home, Sweet William,

O stay at home, said she,

O stay at home, Sweet William,

And do not go to sea.

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My king doth give command, my love,

And I am bound to go;

And if it were to save my life,

I dare not answer No.

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My yellow hair I wll cut off,

Men’s clothing I’ll put on;

Like a true and faithful servant,

It’s you I’ll wait upon.

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The men do lie a-bleeding there,

The bullets swiftly fly,

And the silver trumpets a-sounding,

To drown the dismal cry.

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O tell me not of danger,

For God will be my guide;

And I value not no danger,

When William’s by my side.

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O Polly, dearest Polly,

These words have gained my heart,

And we will have a wedding,

Before we ever part.

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This couple they got married,

And William’s gone to sea,

And Polly she’s a waiting,

All in their own country.

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*“William and Polly” text from book titled “80 Appalachian Folk Songs” collected by Cecil Sharp & Maud Karpeles, 1968. Chord progression transposed and loosely based on guitar accompaniment notation.

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The Mermaid

“Three times ’round went our gallant ship” drawn with colored pencils on paper by Sanford Ross Bender.
“The Mermaid” composed, performed, and recorded with vocals, guitar, and concertina by Sanford Ross Bender on May 26, 2023. Traditional ballad lyrics documented by J.J. Niles No. 62A after F.J. Child No. 289.

One Saturday night as we set sail,

Not very far from land,

We there did spy a pretty mermaid,

With a comb and a glass in her hand,

With a comb and a glass in her pretty, pretty hand,

With a comb and a glass in her hand.

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This pretty mermaid sprung into the sea,

The storm it began to roar.

The snow and rain came thick and fast:

“We’ll never see land any more,

We’ll never see land any more, more, more, more,

We’ll never see land any more.”

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The first one on deck was the captain of our ship,

With a plumb and a line in his hand,

He plumbed and he plumbed and he plumbed for to see,

How far it was to the sand,

How far it was from the sea to the sand,

How far it was to the sand.

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The next one on deck was the mate of our ship,

And a well-looking man was he,

“My wife and my child are in Merry England,

And tonight a widow she’ll be,

And tonight, a widow she’ll surely, surely be,

And tonight, a widow she’ll be.”

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The next one on deck was our little cabin boy,

And a very pretty boy was he,

“Oh what, oh what will my mother say,

When she knows I’m drowned in the sea,

When she knows I’m drowned in the salt, salt sea,

When she knows, I’m drowned in the sea?”

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Oh three times ’round went our gallant ship,

And three times more went she,

And as the storm did rage and roar,

She sank to the bottom of the sea,

She sank to the bottom of the deep blue sea,

She sank to the bottom of the sea.

“Deep Blue Sea” painted and drawn wuithy gouache, watercolors band colored pencils by Sanford Ross Bender
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“The Mermaid” (Child No. 289) from the Ballad Book by John Jacob Niles

“Sailing ships at sea” drawn by Sandy Ross Bender from “Ships in a Stormy Sea off a Coast” by Dutch Painter Ludolf Backhuisen C. 1690 exhibited at the North Carolina Museum of Art in 2019. *
“The Mermaid” arranged, performed, and recorded by Sandy Ross Bender with voice, guitar and harmonica on March 27, 2021

Oh the stormy winds do blow,

with the landlubbers down below,

And the sailor-men a-climbing to the top,

To haul in the riggin’-o.

T’was Sunday night, our sails were set

We hardly cleared the land-o,

When we spied a mermaid a-swimming by,

A comb and a glass in her hand-o.

The captain plumbed with a lead and a line,

He plumbed for to reach the sand-o,

While the winds and the waves did toss and roar,

We knew we’d never see land-o.

Then three times ’round went our gallant ship,

And three times more went she,

And the mate and the cabin boy said goodbye,

As we sank in the salt, salt sea.