Both young and old, I pray lend an ear
To a lovesick maiden in deep despair
Whose heart was young, but whose courage failed
When her true love sailed on the Nightingale
Her parents were of high degree,
Her true love not so rich as they.
So they sent a press gang which did not fail
To steal her true love for the Nightingale.
As she one night on her pillow lay
A form before her these words did say:
“Go tell your parents so they might quail
For the loss of your true love in the Nightingale.
“On the fourteenth day of December last,
The storms did blow a most fearful blast.
We lost our spars, likewise every sail.
What a dismal wreck was the Nightingale!”
As she awoke in a terrible fright,
It being the hour of twelve at night,
To see his form standing cold and pale,
Just as he was drowned on the Nightingale,
These words he spake in lamenting cries:
“In the Bay of Biscay my body lies
To become the prey of a shark and whale,
With my drowned shipmates on the Nightingale.”
To a lovesick maiden in deep despair
Whose heart was young, but whose courage failed
When her true love sailed on the Nightingale
Her parents were of high degree,
Her true love not so rich as they.
So they sent a press gang which did not fail
To steal her true love for the Nightingale.
As she one night on her pillow lay
A form before her these words did say:
“Go tell your parents so they might quail
For the loss of your true love in the Nightingale.
“On the fourteenth day of December last,
The storms did blow a most fearful blast.
We lost our spars, likewise every sail.
What a dismal wreck was the Nightingale!”
As she awoke in a terrible fright,
It being the hour of twelve at night,
To see his form standing cold and pale,
Just as he was drowned on the Nightingale,
These words he spake in lamenting cries:
“In the Bay of Biscay my body lies
To become the prey of a shark and whale,
With my drowned shipmates on the Nightingale.”
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2018/1/1 - 16:44
×
![]()
Note for non-Italian users: Sorry, though the interface of this website is translated into English, most commentaries and biographies are in Italian and/or in other languages like French, German, Spanish, Russian etc.
Una shanty & love ballad settecentesca, classificata al n. 1093 delle Bodleian Libraries. Qui le date dei riscontri sono tutte ottocentesche ma The Nightingale è stato sicuramente il nome di una nave da guerra inglese impiegata contro i francesi negli ultimi due decenni del 700, durante la guerra d'indipendenza americana o le guerre rivoluzionarie.
Testo trovato su Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music, come interpretato da Eliza Carthy e Norma Waterson, rispettivamente figlia e moglie di Martin Carthy, nel loro album "Gift" del 2010.
In precedenza la canzone è stata incisa anche da Cyril Tawney, da The Clancy Brothers con Louis Killen, Frankie Armstrong e altri.
Una storia di amore impossibile, di sopruso e di guerra.
Un giovane contadino s'innamora, ricambiato, di una ragazza di famiglia benestante. I genitori di lei non solo osteggiano la relazione ma assoldano una press gang per rapire l'uomo ed arruolarlo a forza sulla nave da guerra Nightingale. Era statisticamente molto facile che il malcapitato non sarebbe mai tornato vivo. Era un modo molto sbrigativo assai usato all'epoca per rimpolpare le ciurme della flotta di Sua Maestà e, al tempo stesso, liberarsi di ladri e criminali, ubriaconi, oppositori politici o, semplicemente, persone importune o che subivano la vendetta di gente più forte. Nella marina da guerra la mortalità era altissima, e non tanto per via delle battaglie, piuttosto per i naufragi, gli incidenti, le esplosioni accidentali, le malattie, la fatica. Si pensi che durante le frequentissime guerre anglo-francesi di fine settecento solo un terzo dei morti (19.000 ca) tra i marinai britannici cadde realmente in battaglia.