The Leaving Of Liverpool: A Song History
In “The Leaving of Liverpool,” a sailor shipping out of that port finds that parting from his sweetheart weighs on him far more than parting from the city.[1] William Main Doerflinger collected it between 1938 and 1940 from Richard Maitland at Sailors’ Snug Harbor on Staten Island, and he recorded a second version from Patrick Tayluer in 1942.[2] Doerflinger printed Maitland’s version in Shantymen and Shantyboys in 1951, and according to Stephen Winick of the Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center, no other traditional version has ever been published.[3]
James E. Buttersworth, Clipper Ship "Dreadnought" off Sandy Hook, February 23, 1854, nineteen days from Liverpool, hand-colored lithograph, 1854. A ship nineteen days out of Liverpool, shown for its subject; it is not the ship named in the song.
Doerflinger made it the first song in his chapter of forebitters, songs that, in his words, sailors sang “not for work, like shanties, but for entertainment.”[3] His notes on Tayluer’s recording, however, label that version a capstan shanty, suggesting it was also put to use as a work song.[3] The song names Captain Burgess and the ship Davy Crockett, and the Traditional Ballad Index identifies her as the real David Crockett, launched in 1853, whose master John A. Burgess was washed overboard in 1874.[1] Some folksong scholars have proposed a link with “The Leaving of Limerick,” a rarely collected Irish song, but Winick presents this as a possibility rather than a settled fact.[3]
Ewan MacColl recorded the song in 1962 on A Sailor’s Garland, an album he made with A. L. Lloyd.[2] Winick reports that Louis Killen sang harmony on that album, that MacColl’s track was the first revival recording of the song to be released, and that the Dubliners and the Clancy Brothers both issued recordings in 1964.[3] In his account, by 1966 the song had become a revival standard in Britain, Ireland, Australia and America.[3] Dana Gruber includes it, as “Farewell To Liverpool,” to illustrate slides and pull-offs in Play Pretty, a combined songbook and teaching book with its songs in DAD tuning unless noted, published by Fingers Of Steel.[4]
Sources
- The Traditional Ballad Index: "Leaving of Liverpool".
- Mainly Norfolk: "The Leaving of Liverpool (Roud 9435)".
- Library of Congress, Folklife Today: "Sung By Women Too: Patrick Tayluer and ‘The Leaving of Liverpool,’ Part 2".
- Fingers Of Steel: "Dana Gruber, Play Pretty".
- Image: James E. Buttersworth, Clipper Ship "Dreadnought" off Sandy Hook, February 23, 1854, nineteen days from Liverpool, hand-colored lithograph, 1854. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.