Charles Dibdin’s Grieving’s a Folly

Sketch by G Cruikshank in Songs of the Late Charles Dibdin

Throughout Lowry's novel Ultramarine, when the crew gather below decks, they sing songs to while away the time. Whether this is an accurate reflection of Lowry’s experience on board Pyrrhus is perhaps doubtful given the difficult time he reportedly had on the journey.  The singing of ‘wild songs’ owes more to the idea of the forecastle that Lowry created from his reading of sea literature, including Herman Melville’s White Jacket. The most significant chapter in White Jacket for this idea of male bonding through the singing of ‘wild songs’ is ‘The World in a Man-of-War’. Melville refers to the singing of songs written by Charles Dibdin on board British and American ships, saying that Dibdin’s songs ‘breathe the very poetry of the ocean’. In Chapter 6 of Ultramarine, the crew gather below decks and tell stories of past voyages, argue and break into song from time to time. One of the crew breaks into one of Dibdin’s songs, ‘Grieving’s a Folly’:

‘And Jack went aloft for hand the top-ga’t sail.
A spray washed him off and we ne’er saw him no more.
But grieving’s a folly,
Come, let us be jolly,
If we’ve troubles at sea, boys, we’ve pleasures ashore.’ (Pg. 163)

Refrains from this song recur throughout Chapter 6, acting as an aural backdrop to the idle banter of the crew passing time between watches. (See Pgs. 163, 164 and 167)

Spanking Jack was so comely, so pleasant, so jolly,
Though winds blew great guns, still he'd whistle and sing,
For Jack loved his friend, and was true to his Molly,
And, if honor gives greatness, was great as a king.
One night as we drove with two reefs in the mainsail,
And the scud came on low'ring upon a lee shore,
Jack went up aloft for to hand the topg'ant sail --,
A spray washed him off, and we ne' er saw him more:
But grieving's a folly,
Come let us be jolly;
If we've troubles on sea, boys, we've pleasures on shore.

Whiffling Tom, still of mischief or fun in the middle,
Through life in all weathers at random would jog;
He'd dance, and he'd sing, and he'd play on the fiddle,
And swig with an air his allowance of grog:
'Longside of a Don, in the " Terrible" frigate,
As yardarm and yardarm we layoff the shore,
In and out whiffling Tom did so caper and jig it,
That his head was shot off, and we ne'er saw him more:
But grieving's a folly,
Come let us be jolly;
If we've troubles on sea, boys, we've pleasures on shore.

Bonny Ben was to each jolly messmate a brother,
He was manly and honest, good-natured and free;
If ever one tar was more true than another
To his friend and his duty, that sailor was he:
One day with the davit to weigh the kedge anchor,
Ben went in the boat on a bold craggy shore
He overboard tipped, when a shark and a spanker
Soon nipped him in two, and we ne'er saw him more:
But grieving's a folly,
Come let us be jolly;
If we've troubles on sea, boys, we've pleasures on shore.

But what of it all, lads? shall we be downhearted
Because that mayhap we now take our last sup?
Life's cable must one day or other be parted,
And Death in safe moorings will bring us all up.
But 'tis always the way on't -- one scarce finds a brother
Fond as pitch, honest, hearty, and true to the core,
But by battle, or storm, or some damned thing or other,
He's popped off the hooks, and we ne'er see him more!
But grieving's a folly,
Come let us be jolly;
If we've troubles on sea, boys, we've pleasures on shore.

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.

Shenandoah

Lowry refers to the song Shenandoah in his novel Ultramarine;

‘Come on, Paddy, boy, give us a song.’
‘Yes, Paddy – good old Paddy – ’
‘Paddy – give us Paddy McGulligan’s daughter, Mary Ann.’ […]
‘Seraphina’s got no drawers, I been down and seen her, Ser-a-phina!’
‘No, that’s no good as a song; we want one of them old sea shanties, one of the real old timers.’
‘Shenandoah.’ (Pg 64)


‘Oh Shenandoah’ (also called simply ‘Shenandoah’, or ‘Across the Wide Missouri’) is a traditional American folk song, dating from at least the early nineteenth century. The lyrics may tell the story of a roving trader in love with the daughter of an Indian chief. Other interpretations tell of a pioneer’s nostalgia for the Shenandoah river, and a young woman who is its daughter; or of a Union soldier in the American Civil War, dreaming of his country home to the west of the Missouri river. The song is also associated with escaped slaves, who sang it in gratitude because the river allowed their tracks to be lost.

‘Shenandoah’ was first printed as part of William L. Alden’s ‘Sailor Songs’, in the July 1882 issue of Harper’s New Monthly Magazine. The song had become popular as a sea shanty with British sailors by the 1880s.  The lyrics were printed in Sea Songs and Shanties, collected by W. B. Whall, Master Mariner (1910). A Mr J. E. Laidlaw of San Francisco reported hearing a version sung by a black Barbadian sailor aboard the Glasgow ship Harland in 1894, which went:

Oh, Shenandoah! I hear you calling!
Away, you rolling river!
Yes, far away I hear you calling,

Ha, Ha! I’m bound away across the wide Missouri.

My girl, she’s gone far from the river,

Away, you rolling river!

An’ I ain’t goin’ to see her never.

Ha, Ha! I’m bound away,’ &c

The above lyrics may be near to what Lowry knew or heard on board Pyrrhus.

Mick McGilligan’s Daughter, Mary Anne

Lowry refers to the song Mick McGilligan’s Daughter, Mary Anne in his novel Ultramarine; "Paddy - give us Paddy McGulligan's daughter, Mary Ann." (Pg. 64).

Mick McGilligan’s Daughter, Mary Anne is an anonymous Irish bawdy song, which only exists in print in Louis Tierney’s cleaned-up version:

I’m a gallant Irishman
I’ve a daughter Mary Anne
She’s the sweetest, neatest, colleen in the Isle
Though she can’t now purchase satin
She’s a wonder at bog latin
In a fluent, fascinatin’ sort of style
When she’s sellin’ fruit or fish
Sure, it is her fondest wish
For to capture with her charm some handsome man

Ah! no matter where she goes

Sure, everybody knows

That she’s Mick McGilligan’s daughter Mary Anne

Chorus:

She’s a darlin’, she’s a daisy

And she’s set the city crazy

Though in build, and talk, and manner, like a man

When me precious love draws near

You can hear the people cheer

For Mick McGilligan’s daughter Mary Anne

Alternative chorus:

She’s me darlin’, she’s me daisy

She damn near drives me crazy

She’s got hairs upon her chest like any man

And you know she’s on the rocks

When she’s wearin’ cotton socks

Mick McGilligan’s daughter, Mary Anne

There are eight more verses, which elaborate on the masculine qualities of Mary Anne. This has resonance in Ultramarine, for the underlying theme is that Dana is a ‘nancy’, i.e. effeminate and not a ‘real man’. James Joyce also alludes to this song in Ulysses; this may be a coincidence, but Lowry includes further allusions to Ulysses in Ultramarine, so it seems that he certainly was aware of Joyce’s reference to the song. Another possible influence is Conrad Aiken’s Blue Voyage, Chapter 3, when the gambler sings about a girl who ‘can’t keep her petticoat down’.

This song is not to be confused with another song The Great Big Wheel with another Mary Ann, which Lowry refers to in an untitled poem (Collected Poetry 265.1) and in his film script for Fitzgerald's Tender Is The Night (Pg. 223). Lowry stated that he heard The Great Big Wheel from a neighbour; "The song about Mary Ann and the Ferris Wheel was sung for us, out of the blue, on New year's Eve, by one of our neighbours, a Guernsey fisherman of 75, who had come to visit us while we were revising the scene. He did not know what we were writing about. The song was probably written about 1890, is English, forgotten, if ever remembered, and even if ever published, which is doubtful, can be no longer copyright." (Notes on a Screenplay for F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is The Night Pg. 72). This song is a different one to the one written by E. W. Rogers in June 1895, and sung by Arthur Lennard (1867-1954).

Bollocky Bill

Lowry refers to Bollocky Bill in his novel Ultramarine; "Bollocky Bill, aspiring writer, drawn magically from the groves of the Muses by Poseidon." (Pg. 92).

The mythical Bollocky Bill – reputed to have been most generously testicled – was commemorated in the bawdy ballad ‘Bollocky Bill the Sailor’, a traditional folk song originally titled ‘Abraham Brown’. ‘Bollocky’ is pronounced and occasionally spelt ‘bollicky’, and may also be a reference to being left-handed or clumsy.

There are several versions of the bawdy song in the Gordon ‘Inferno’ Collection in the US Library of Congress. The first printed version of the song is in the public domain book Immortalia (1927). Later versions feature the eponymous ‘Barnacle Bill’, a fictional character very loosely based on a nineteenth-century San Francisco sailor and Gold Rush miner, William Bernard. There are also known versions in England and Scotland from the early twentieth century.

Again it is impossible to determine when Lowry first heard the song. The earliest known recording is an expurgated adaptation written by Frank Luther and Carson Robison, performed and recorded on 21 May 1930 by one of Lowry’s heroes, Bix Beiderbecke, featuring the vocal of Hoagy Carmichael, with another Lowry jazz hero Joe Venuti on the session. This recording, made during the writing of Ultramarine, may have prompted Lowry to adapt the persona of the mythical seaman.

One version of ‘Barnacle Bill’ refers to an exchange between Bill and a ‘fair young maiden’. Each verse opens with inquiries by the maiden, sung by women, or by men in falsetto, and continues with Bill’s profane responses, sung by men:

‘Who’s that knocking at my door? Who’s that knocking at my door?
Who’s that knocking at my door?’ said the fair Young Maiden…
‘It’s me and my crew and we’ve come for a screw!’ said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
‘It’s me and my crew and we’ve come for a screw!’ said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

Alternative responses:
‘It’s only me from over the sea’ said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
‘It’s only me from over the sea’ said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

‘Open the door, you pox-ridden whore!’ said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
‘Open the door, you pox-ridden whore!’ said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

‘Open the door, you dirty whore!’ said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.
‘Open the door, you dirty whore!’ said Barnacle Bill the Sailor.

This version of the song would suit the character of Dana at the point in Ultramarine at which he prepares to lose his virginity in the brothels of Dairen. Dana’s obsession, besides his guilt at the prospect of being unfaithful to his love Janet, is that he will catch syphilis from a prostitute. Another dimension to the introduction of the Bollocky Bill persona is that Lowry considered himself to be clumsy. Lowry endows Dana with the same clumsiness, which is constantly being reinforced by the crew of the ship.

God’s Agwine Ter Move All De Troubles Away

Lowry may have been exposed to African American spirituals for the first time in America through his contact with Conrad Aiken, who is known to have had some knowledge of spirituals. Lowry worked on a draft of Ultramarine while in America in 1929 and may have noted the refrain below, which he incorporated into the finished novel:

(And Samson tol’ her cut off-a ma hair
If yo’ shave ma hade
Jes as clean as yo’hair
Ma strength-a will become-a like a natch-erl man,
For Gawd’s agwine t’move all the troubles away,
For Gawd’s agwine t’move all the troubles away….) (Pg. 143)

Natalie Curtis-Burlin

The above verses are from a spiritual entitled ‘God’s Agwine Ter Move All De Troubles Away’. Natalie Curtis-Burlin first transcribed the song in 1918 in her Hampton Series.  She states that the song was recorded by a quartet in Hampton consisting of Charles H. Tynes ("Lead"), Freeman W. Crawley (Tenor), Samuel E. Phillips (Baritone) and John H. Wainright (Bass). The origins of the song are lost but it was popular in Virginia and St Helena Island off the coast of South Carolina.

CHORUS [sung twice after each verse]
[For] God’s agwine ter move all de troubles away,
God’s agwine ter move all de troubles away,
For God’s agwine ter move all de troubles away,
See ’m no more till de comin’ day.  

1.
Genesis you understan’,
Methusaleh was de oldes’ man;
His age was nine hundred an’ sixty nine,
He died an went to Heav’n in due time.

2.
Dare was a man of de Pharisee,
His name was Nicodemus an’ he wouldn’t believe;
De same he came to Christ by night,
wanta be taught out o’ human sight.
Nicodemus was a man who wanted to know,
Can a man be born a whena he is ol’?
Christ tol’ Nicodemus as a frien’,
a-Man, you must be born again.”

3.
Aread about Samson from his birth,
De stronges’ man ever walked on earth;
a-Read way back in de ancient times,
He slew ten thousan’ Philistines.
A-Samson he went a-walkin’ about,
a-Samson’s strengtha  was never found out
Twell his wife set down upon his knee an’
a “Tell me whar yo’ strengthalies, ef you please.”
ASamson’s wife she done talk so fair,
a-Samson tol’ her, “Cut offa ma hair,
Ef you shave my head jes’ es clean as yo’ han’,
Ma strengtha will becomea like a natcherl man.”

Aiken spent his childhood in Savannah, where he had at least two black nurses who may have taught or sung the song to him, or indeed he may have heard it from his mother.  Aiken himself was interested in spirituals and may have had a recording of the song. Another possible connection is that Aiken may have known Curtis-Burlin or her book, as she wrote for Poetry magazine, to which he contributed. There is also an article on spirituals by Gilbert Seldes, "An End and a Beginning" Rev. of twos book of Negro spirituals, Dial 83.1 (July 1927) Pgs.70-2  alongside a piece by Aiken. Therefore, Lowry could possibly have read about spirituals in the magazines prior to his visit, been exposed to them through Aiken, or picked up on them from an unidentified source in America on his first visit.

Lowry’s dalliance with African American culture continued during his time in New York in 1934 and 1935 with trips to Harlem to listen to jazz, though details are sparse. He also included the black character Battle in his novella Lunar Caustic, which allowed him the opportunity to include further references to African American speech idioms, slang, jazz music, stories and prototype rapping.

Lovis Corinth The Blinded Samson 1912

Lowry's use of the refrain comes in Chapter 4 is perhaps chosen to reflect on the story of Samson - a man who must abstain from alcohol and not cut his hair otherwise God would abandon him and he would only have the strength of a natural man; who is betrayed by his wife and who commits suicides - themes contained in Ultramarine.

Chlo-e (Song of the Swamp)

Chlo-e (Song of the Swamp) (1927) is a show tune with music by Charles N. Daniels, writing under the pseudonym of "Neil Morét," and lyrics by Gus Kahn. It is now regarded as a jazz standard.

The first recording of Chloe was made for Columbia in Los Angeles in September 1927 by singer Douglas Richardson, a vocalist with ties to Charles N. Daniels; it was followed by another Columbia by The Singing Sophomores made in November. The first instrumental recording of Chloe was made by the All-Star Orchestra for Victor, with a vocal chorus by Franklyn Baur, in December 1927. This is identified in the Victor ledgers as "the Fud and Farley Orchestra," indicating the participation of Fud Livingston and Max Farley, though Nat Shilkret probably led the band. Shilkret did record another arrangement of it for Victor with his Rhythm-Melodists in 1928.

However, the record that appears to have popularized Chloe is an elaborate version by the Paul Whiteman Concert Orchestra recorded in 1928 with vocals by Austin Young. This arrived along with a host of other 1928 recordings of the song. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to the song in Chapter 4 of Ultramarine - Dana and Janet see Mas and Zez two saxophonists from the Palais de Danse on the shore near New Brighton;  "We must get them to play Chloe - but no, they can't hear. It's against the wind". Later Dana recalls "even had Mas heard, it would have been all to no purpose, they would never have been able to dance to Janet's favourite tune - Chloe, the Song of the Swamp - for this is the last day. They are parting perhaps forever..." (Pg. 131).

Lowry's mention of the song is an example of him using a reference outside its proper time. The incident on the shore relates to a time in Lowry's love affair with Tess Evans before he sailed to the Far East in May 1927. The song had not been recorded at that stage. Lowry may have heard the song later while in America in 1929 - possibly the Paul Whiteman version as he was already familiar with the bandleader having seen him perform in Liverpool in 1926.

The inference in the saxophonists playing the song is that Lowry is referring to the instrumental version. However, the lyrics may have appealed to Lowry as Dana walks through "dismal swampland" of the red light district of Dairen "searching" for Janet with "empty arms outstretched, he's crying" .

Chloe! Chloe!

Someone's calling, no reply
Nightshade's falling, hear him sigh

Chloe! Chloe!

Empty spaces in his eyes
Empty arms outstretched, he's crying

Through the black of night
I've got to go where you are
If it's dark or bright
I've got to go where you are

I'll go through the dismal swampland
Searching for you
For if you are lost there
Let me be there, too

Through the smoke and flame
I've got to go where you are
For no ways can be too far
Where you are

Ain' no chains can bind you
If you live, I'll find you
Love is calling me
I've got to go where you are

Claude Debussy Hommage à Rameau

Claude Debussy's first volume of Images pour piano (1904–1905) combine harmonic innovation with poetic suggestion: Reflets dans l'eau is a musical description of rippling water; Hommage à Rameau, the second piece, is slow and nostalgic. It takes as its inspiration a melody from Jean-Philippe Rameau's Castor et Pollux. Read more


Lowry refers to the piano solo during Dana Hilliot's night time "drift" around the red-light district of Dairen in Chapter 3 of Ultramarine; "The wind came slowly at first, like my own intermittent breath, as I ran down the Yamagata-dori in the shafts of the jinrickshaw. Like the beginning of Debussy's Hommage à Rameau. Then it came in quicker puffs; finally it bellowed out as if ejected from the maw of some dragon.". (Pg.115)