If The River Was Whiskey

‘And if the river were whisky
And ah was a duck,
Ah’d go down to the BOTTERN
An ah’d never come up. No sir,
Ah’d never come up.’

The above refrain is sung by one of the crew of Oedipus Tyrannus in Chapter 6 of Ultramarine (Pg. 176). The refrain is from a song variously known as ‘Hesitation Blues’, ‘Hesitating Blues’, ‘If The River Was Whiskey’ or ‘Divin’ Duck Blues’.

The exact origins of this song are lost in the mists of time. The traditional tune was arranged by W. C. Handy and published in 1915 as ‘Hesitating Blues’. The lyrics were entirely different from those of ‘Hesitation Blues’, and seldom used. In his Blues Anthology Handy stated that the tune was from an old spiritual.

‘Hesitation Blues’ was written/adapted by Billy Smythe and Scott Middleton. One of the first popular recordings of this song was an instrumental version by the Victor Military Band, with authorship attributed solely to Billy Smythe. It was recorded in 1915 at the Victor Talking Machine Company in Camden, New Jersey. Later, a dispute over the credits was resolved by adding Art Gillham to the credits. Gillham, who was probably responsible for the lyrics, Gillham performed the song on radio and on 25 February 1925 recorded it for Columbia Records. The song was re-published in 1926 giving credit to the three writers. The 1926 publication was a different arrangement from the 1915 publication and featured different lyrics. Because the tune is traditional, many artists have recorded ‘Hesitation Blues’ crediting themselves as writer, though the lyrics of the 1926 publication are frequently used.

Charlie Poole and His North Carolina Ramblers

Versions of the lyrics vary widely, though the refrain is usually mostly consistent with the original. So which version did Lowry hear? The nearest version of the song I can find with the lyrics is ‘If The River Was Whiskey’ by Charlie Poole, which sounds like a speeded-up version of Jelly Roll Morton’s ‘Hesitation Blues’, but Morton’s version lacks the phrase ‘If the river was whiskey’. Charlie Poole was an American old-time banjo player and country musician and the leader of the North Carolina Ramblers, an American old-time string band that recorded many popular songs between 1925 and 1930. The band recorded ‘If The River Was Whiskey’ in 1930 for Columbia, which means that either Lowry heard this while writing Ultramarine or he is referring to an as yet unidentified version. One can see the attraction of the lyrics for a budding alcoholic like Lowry! The song has parallels with the story of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, who is reputed to have been drowned in a vat of Malmsey wine in 1478. The tradition may have originated in a joke, based on his reputation as a heavy drinker. Lowry, of course, would adopt the Plantagenet name for his alter ego in the novella Lunar Caustic.

In Ultramarine, the refrain from ‘Hesitating Blues’ comes while the crew are talking about black sailors. These discussions may not be based on notes made by Lowry on the voyage to the East but may have more to do with his first voyage to America via the Caribbean in 1928 to visit Conrad Aiken. One of the crew talks about hearing black bands in the Milk Market area of Bridgetown, Barbados, which Lowry visited on the voyage to America. This was probably Lowry’s first exposure to African American and Caribbean American music. Up to this point, all the documented jazz and blues that he had heard would have been white American interpretations of the idioms.

Chances Peak, Montserrat

Chances Peak is the culminant point of the active complex stratovolcano named Soufrière Hills at 915 m. It is the highest point in Montserrat, a British overseas territory located in the Caribbean Sea. The last eruption was in January 2009.

Lowry refers to the peak in his novel Ultramarine; " 'Yes, and there's a mountain there, a ruddy great mountain, and I climbed it and I had a guide who went up in bare feet, eh. It was the hell of a climb, like climbing up a tree all the way - ink trees and wild cabbages they were - and kept stopping and his nigger guide'd say, "Catch yo' breeze, man! catch yo' breeze!" ......"Wild cabbage, yis! There was, growing at the top. And all the niggers go and throw pennies in the pond up there on Easter morning -" (Pg. 175).

Whether Lowry actually made the climb described in Ultramarine is certainly open to speculation though he may have spent a short time in Monsterrat on his 1929 voyage to USA to visit Conrad Aiken. (Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 83 ). Lowry also refers to this climb in his short story 'Through The Panama'; " Montserrat not far away to starboard where I altered geography books by climbing Chance's Mountain in 1929, in company with two Roman Catholics : Lindsey, a Negro, and Gomez, a Portugese." (Pg. 72).

Lowry's reference to the coins being thrown into the "pond" cannot be verified. However, there is certainly a legend associated with the Mermaid's Hole on the peak which may relate back to Irish mythology:

Finally, Montserrat is also a land of legend. A mermaid reportedly lives at a pond on Chances Peak in the now famous or infamous Soufriere Hills, with a treasure chest at the bottom of the pond. The mermaid has somehow revealed that anyone who takes her golden comb on Easter Monday and runs to the sea and wash it will possess the treasure. There is a catch however. The seekers must outrun a diamond snake that will try to touch them. If the snake succeeds, they will lose the treasure and must pass the comb back to another person. Montserrat & Monserratians: Photo Exploration: Commemorating Ten Years ... By Igor Kravtchenko, Howard A. Fergus

Or this account:

It is Easter Sunday and in Montserrat there is a legend that there is a white mermaid who appears at the top of Chances Pond every Easter at midnight. Hundreds of Islanders would climb Chances Mountain which is 3002ft using torches. They said that one must arrive before dawn take the mermaids comb from her and ran to the sea before they could be caught they would be rich for life. They never said exactly what you should do with the comb once you arrived at the seashore. Acacia

Bridgetown, Barbados

English settlement of Bridgetown began on 5 July 1628 under Charles Wolverstone, who brought with him 64 settlers to these lands formally claimed by James Hay, the Earl of Carlisle. From 1800 until 1885 Bridgetown served as the main seat of Government for the former British colonies of the Windward Islands. During this period the resident Governor of Barbados also served as the Colonial head of the Windward Islands. After the Government of Barbados officially exited from the Windward Island union in 1885, the seat was moved from Bridgetown to St. George's on the neighbouring island of Grenada. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to Bridgetown in his novel Ultramarine; Dana tells Poppelreuter while on their drunken drift around Dairen; " 'In Barbados, in Bridgetown, I remained a week, playing the taropatch in a brothel. While accepting the offer of the fifteen-year-old daughter of the house. I sold her to the Negro doorkeeper for a bottle of gin.' " (Pg. 93).

Later Lowry again refers to Bridgetown;  " ' Talking about cows, all round the West Indies I been, Barbados, Bridgetown, that's hot stuff...All the grape trees coming down to the water's edge, you want to stay at the Colonial in the Milk Market there - nigger orchestra. The Marine's no good - that is, if you got money. I had. That was during the war. I tried the Marine, and the Balmoral. And then I went to the Colonial.....' " (Pg. 174).


Lowry visited Bridgetown on his 1929 trip to the Caribbean, en route to the USA to visit Conrad Aiken, on board the SS Dorelian. Gordon Bowker states that Lowry later claimed to have played in a hot band in a brothel in Barbados (Pursued By Furies Pg. 83). We can only speculate whether the claims made by Dana in Ultramarine reflect Lowry's own visit to Bridgetown.


Marisa Joanna Fuentes in Buried Landscapes: Enslaved Black Women, Sex, Confinement and Death in Colonial Bridgetown etc (1997) states "Bridgetown is still a small city — underneath it all, the history of slavery is deftly white washed by "development", yet street names such as "Molls Alley", "Maiden Lane", "Milk Market" and "Liverpool Lane" whisper to a haunted past." (Pg. 109). This "haunted past" is perhaps what Lowry was tapping into on his visit in 1929.

Milk Market, Bridgetown

Marine Hotel, Hastings, Barbados

The Marine was a 200 room hotel built in 1887 in Hastings, Barbados about 2 miles from Bridgetown. The hotel featured some very elaborately detailed cast iron balustrades, large wrap-around patios and a magnificent ballroom. Today, on the sites of both the Marine and Pomroy Hotels is the PomMarine Hotel, a teaching Hotel attached to the Barbados Community College.

Lowry refers to the hotel in his novel Ultramarine; " ' Talking about cows, all round the West Indies I been, Barbados, Bridgetown, that's hot stuff...All the grape trees coming down to the water's edge, you want to stay at the Colonial in the Milk Market there - nigger orchestra. The Marine's no good - that is, if you got money. I had. That was during the war. I tried the Marine, and the Balmoral. And then I went to the Colonial.....' " (Pg. 174).

There is no record whether Lowry visited the hotel on his 1929 trip to the Caribbean en route to the USA to visit Conrad Aiken.

Hotel Balmoral, Bridgetown, Barbados

Lowry refers to the hotel in his novel Ultramarine; " ' Talking about cows, all round the West Indies I been, Barbados, Bridgetown, that's hot stuff...All the grape trees coming down to the water's edge, you want to stay at the Colonial in the Milk Market there - nigger orchestra. The Marine's no good - that is, if you got money. I had. That was during the war. I tried the Marine, and the Balmoral. And then I went to the Colonial.....' " (Pg. 174).

The hotel was located on the opposite side of the Hastings Road, near St. Matthias Church in Hastings, Barbados. There is no record whether Lowry visited the hotel on his 1929 trip to the Caribbean en route to the USA to visit Conrad Aiken.