“The Poor Smuggler's Boy”
Description
Singer meets a boy who is mourning his father. The father was a smuggler; caught in a storm, their ship was wrecked and his father drowned. The boy has clung to a plank and been swept ashore. A rich lady hears his complaint and adopts him
Long description
Singer, walking the beach on a stormy day, meets a boy who is mourning his father. The father was a smuggler who would, "venture out on the salt sea/For a keg of good brandy from the land of the free" (Holland). Caught in a storm, the ship has been wrecked and his father has drowned, despite the boy's efforts to save him. The boy has clung to a plank and been swept ashore. A rich lady hears his complaint, and adopts him
Cross references
- cf. "The Fisherman's Boy" [Laws Q29] (plot)
- cf. "The Soldier's Poor Little Boy" [Laws Q28] (plot)
- cf. "The Farmer's Boy" [Laws Q30] (plot)
- cf. "The Fisherman's Girl" (plot)
Recordings
- Bob Roberts, "The Smuggler's Boy" (on LastDays)
References
- Roud #618
- BI, RcTSmBy