Ships Are Sailing: A Song History
"Ships Are Sailing" is an Irish reel, most often played in E Dorian, and it has gathered other names along the way, among them "Take Her Out and Air Her" and "The White-Haired Lass."[1] It was in print in Boston by 1883, in Ryan's Mammoth Collection, and in the 1890s the London dancing master Patrick Reidy entered a version credited to fiddler Daniel Kelleher in his manuscript as "Misses is Sick"; the Traditional Tune Archive suggests the tune was already widespread by the late nineteenth century.[2] Francis O'Neill included it in O'Neill's Music of Ireland (1903) and again in The Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems.[1]
James E. Buttersworth, Clipper Ship "Sweepstakes", hand-colored lithograph, 1853. Clipper ships under sail in 1853, shown for the title; the print has no connection to the tune.
The earliest recording listed on irishtune.info is by Peter J. Conlon in 1924; the list goes on to include the Flanagan Brothers (1930), the Tulla Ceilidhe Band with Joe Cooley (1949), Michael Gorman and Eileen Ivers.[1] The Traditional Tune Archive calls it a longtime session favourite, cites Ken Perlman's 1979 observation that it was a great favourite with New York City's Irish players, and lists a 1977 recording by the Red Clay Ramblers, who learned it from West Virginia fiddler Frank George.[2] A different reel in G major, "New Ships A-Sailing," recorded by Altan in 1991, should not be confused with it.[3]
Mark Gilston lists "Ships Are Sailing" in Irish Tunes For Dulcimer, Volume 2, where every piece is written out for one mountain dulcimer in DAD tuning; the listing does not give a key.[4]
Sources
- irishtune.info: "Ships Are Sailing".
- The Traditional Tune Archive: "Ships are Sailing (1) (The)".
- irishtune.info: "New Ships A Sailing".
- Mark Gilston: "Irish Tunes For Dulcimer, Volume 2".
- Image: James E. Buttersworth, Clipper Ship "Sweepstakes", hand-colored lithograph, 1853. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.