“Joe Livermore”

Description

Joe Livermore captains Columbia from Eastport. "When we got to Eastport it was on the lucky day, Each man took his chest and no longer would stay, If we can't do no better boys, we'll stay on the shore And we'll never go to sea with old Joe Livermore"

Supplemental text

Joe Livermore
  Partial text(s)

          *** A ***

From Helen Creighton, Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia, #124, pp. 268-269.
"Sung by Mr. Hiram O. Hilshie, Dartmouth."

Come sit down beside me, come listen awhile,
I'll sing you a song that will cause you to smile
About this old villain, he's very well known,
And he sails the Columbia from Eastport town.

    Chorus
  Singing down, down, derry down.

(3 additional stanzas)

Notes

The tune as given by Creighton doesn't quite match any version of the Derry Down tune I know, but that is clearly the basis for the piece; looking at the lyrics, I suspect this is derived from "Red Iron Ore." The similarity is great enough that I instantly felt I had met this song before, even though (to the best of my knowledge) I haven't. - RBW

References

1. Creighton-NovaScotia 124, "Joe Livermore" (1 text, 1 tune)
2. ST CrNS124 (Partial)
3. Roud #1826
4. BI, CrNS124