Origins: Admiral Benbow

Subject: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From:
Date: 03 Jul 97 - 11:48 AM

I'm trying to find the lyrics to a version of Admiral Benbow as done by June Tabor on the "A Cut Above" recording with Martin Simpson. The data base has The Copper Family version and the Cecil Sharpe version but Tabor's version is very different.Same tune but much more narrative. Between the naughtical terms and her smokey voice, I cant decipher it. Thanks

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Versions in the Digital Tradition:

Admiral Benbow
Admiral Benbow (2)

Subject: Lyr Add: Admiral Benbow
From: LaMarca
Date: 07 Jul 97 - 10:44 AM

Lance, I have a couple texts to that Admiral Benbow at home, including a couple verses that Tabor doesn't sing. It's a more detailed description of the actual battle. She leaves out the verses about the two captains who turned tail and ran; they were later court-martialed for cowardice. Here's the text Tabor sings (from memory; I'll type in amendments tomorrow if I've screwed up any of the words):

ADMIRAL BENBOW

We sailed from Virginia and thence to Fayall
Where we watered our ships and then we weighed all
Full in view on the seas, boys, seven sails we did espy
So we mannéd our capstans and weighed speedily.

Now the first we come up on was a brigantine sloop
And we asked if the others was as big as they looked
Ah, but turning to windward, as near as we could lie
We saw there were ten men of war cruising by.

We drew up our squadron in very nice line
And so boldly we fought them for full four hours time
But the day being spent, boys, and night a-coming on
We left them alone until early next morn.

Now the very next morning the engagement proved hot
And brave Admiral Benbow received a chance* shot
And as he lay wounded to his merry men he did say,
"Take me up in your arms, boys, and carry me away!"

Oh, the guns they did rattle and the bullets did fly,
But brave Admiral Benbow for rout would not cry;
"Take me down to my cabin where there's ease for my smarts,
If my merry men see me, it would sure break their hearts."

Now, the very next morning at the break of the day
They hoisted their topsails and so bore away;
We bore to Port Royal, where the people flocked much
To see Admiral Benbow buried in Kingston Church.

So come all you brave fellows, wherever you've been,
Let us drink a good health to the King and the Queen,
And another good health to the girls that we know,
And a third in remembrance of great Admiral Benbow.

*I've seen this printed as "chance" shot but also as "chain" shot in another source. Chain shot was a particularly nasty form of ammo where several balls were linked with iron chain. When shot at ship's rigging, it would wrap itself around masts, spars, etc. and cause great damage.

I like this song quite a bit; it's a lot more interesting than the "Oh, my name it is Benbow, I did sail" versions!

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: LaMarca
Date: 08 Jul 97 - 06:04 PM

Here's a few corrections and historical notes:

Vs. 1: "Where we watered our shipping.."

Vs. 2: "Now the first we come up with.."

Vs. 5: "But brave Admiral Benbow for help would not cry,
Take me down to the cockpit, there is ease for my smarts.."

Vs. 6: "To see Admiral Benbow carried to.."

The song describes a battle between Benbow's squadron and a French squad that took place from August 19-24, 1702, in the Caribbean. On August 24, Admiral Benbow's leg was severely broken in battle, and I assume he expired from the injury. One of the other ship's captains, Richard Kirkby, was later court-martialled for cowardice and sentenced to be shot, after reports that during the battle he spent most of his time "dodging behind the mizen-mast and falling down upon the deck on the noise of shot...", thus discouraging his men greatly. Printed versions of the song include a verse after verse 5 describing this:

"Our brave Captain Crosbie* proved coward at last,
For he stood at bo-peep behind the main mast;
He stood at bo-peep and did quiver and shake
For fear that those French dogs his dear life should take."

*The broadside this is taken from used the name Crosbie instead of Kirkby. I don't sing this verse myself, but I think it's kinda fun to know the historical background of the song! I got this info from a musty old book "Naval Songs and Ballads" put out by a British Royal Navy Society at the turn of the century. They have a lot of historical info on the songs they printed, and illustrations of some of the ships.

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: GUEST,Hoot & Fidget
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 03:52 PM

What in the world is "bo-peep" refering to?

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: GUEST,Bruce O.
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 04:05 PM

It's on a single sheet song with music, c 1780. Sung by Mr. Bannister.

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: BanjoRay
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 04:10 PM

Bo-Peep is english for Peek-a-boo.

Cheers
Ray

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: GUEST,#1
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 04:16 PM

Only since 1528 CE.

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Margo
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 04:42 PM

I have this exact version done by Lou Killen. You've clarified a couple of words for me, thanks! This is a great piece for Concertina. I do it that way

I read that while Admiral Benbow did indeed die of his wounds, he lived long enough to see Kirkby hang. The song makes it sound like he died on board after the battle. Poetic license...

Margo

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: GUEST,bigJ
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 04:42 PM

Don't know if this adds much :-
From "Popular Music of the Olden Time" - William Chappell Vol 2, p641.

The subject of this ballad is mentioned in Evelyn's Diary, under the date of January, 1702-03. "News of Vice-Admiral Benbow's conflict with the French fleet in the West Indies, in which he gallantly behaved himself, and was wounded, and would have had extraordinary success, had not four of his men-of-war stood spectators without coming to his assistance; for this, two of their commanders were tried by a council of war and executed; a third was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, loss of pay, and incapacity to serve in future. The fourth died." Admiral Benbow was a thoroughly gallant seaman. He received his commission in the navy for his bravery in beating off a corsair, while in command of a merchant vessel. He was twice sent to the West Indies by King William. On the second occasion, he fell in with the French Admiral, Du Casse, in August 1702, near the Spanish coast. A skirmishing action continued for four days, but on the last the Admiral was left alone to engage the French, the other ships having fallen astern. Although thus single-handed, and having his leg shattered by a chain-shot, he would not suffer himself to be removed from the quarter-deck (in this respect the ballad is incorrect), but continued fighting until the following morning, when the French sheered off. The Admiral made signal for his ships to follow, but his orders received no attention, and he was obliged to return to Jamaica, where he caused the officers who behaved so basely to be tried. The report of the court-martial will be found in The Harleian Miscellany, vol. I, 1744. There was a treasonable conspiracy among the officers of his fleet, not to fight the French. Admiral Benbow did not survive this disappointment; it aggravated the effects of his wound, and he expired. The tune of Admiral Benbow is the vehicle of many country songs at the present time (1859), and used for Christmas carols. In the month of January last, Mr. Samuel Smith noted it down from the singing of some carollers in Marden near Hereford, to the words commencing,- "A virgin unspotted the prophets foretold."

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Margo
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 05:46 PM

Regarding that "he would not suffer himself to be removed from the quarter-deck": Yes, in the other version of Benbow, he says "let a bed be fetched in haste, on the quarter-deck be placed, that the enemy I might face 'till I die, 'till I die!" I want that kind of guy on my side! Margo

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Snuffy
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 07:38 PM

I've usually heard peep-bo rather than bo-peep

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Mr Red
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 09:04 PM

We sailed TO Virginia...
minor variation from the Oxford book of folksongs c1930 part II
just call me a pedant and not a very thourough one at that.

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: GUEST,Bruce O.
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 12:17 AM

bigj, 'the subject of this ballad' being "Benbow the brother tar", which is not the one under discussion in this thread. Chappell's tune (for the other song) is from "The Vocal Enchantress", 1783.

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Michael in Swansea
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 04:20 AM

Verse 2 last line

We saw they were French men of war cruising by

Third and fourth verses:

We took our leave of them and made quick dispatch
And so steered our course to the island of Vatch
But turning to windward as near as we could lie
On the fourteenth of August ten sail we did spy

They hoisted their pennants and their colours they spread
They hoisted their bloody flag at the main topmast head
We hoisted our Jack flag at the mizzen peak
And brought up our squadron in a line most complete

Mike

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 08:21 AM

Benbow captured the popular imagination of the day, in part because he was that unusual thing, a naval commander risen from the ranks.  I believe that he started out as a butcher's boy.  He also had his share of brushes with authority; in the 1680s he was court-martialed for something or other, and transferred to the Merchant service for a few years, re-joining the navy in 1689.  The inn in Treasure Island was named after him.

There is a broadside copy of this song at the Bodleian Library:

Admiral Benbow  Printed between 1820 and 1824 for W. Armstrong, Banastre Street, Liverpool.

Malcolm

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: GUEST,Lea in Virginia
Date: 11 Apr 01 - 01:13 PM

Regarding the verse that refers to the mutiny, here's another way to start:

'Twas there Captain Kirkby proved a coward at last And with Wade played at bo-peep behind the main-mast

This variation names the other captain--Cooper Wade--who was executed after the engagement with Du Casse. Kirkby and Wade were court-marshalled in Jamaica, hauled back to England, and shot.

Best,

Lea

Subject: Admiral Benbow
From: GUEST,Gin
Date: 09 Jul 02 - 05:49 PM

Words sought to a version of the story of Admiral Benbow- NOT "Come all ye seamen bold" version

but one which commences roughly
"Well we sailed to Virginia and thence to Fayall
Where we hoisted our tops'ls and then we weighed all"
...and with a very different tune

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Messages from multiple threads combined. Requested lyrics are above.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Admiral Benbow
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 09 Jul 02 - 06:00 PM

Interesting that nobody on the previous thread mentioned the Swan Arcade version....

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: GUEST,greg stephens
Date: 09 Jul 02 - 06:21 PM

anybody remember the Ned Sherrin BBC tV play about Benbow? Bet they wiped the tapes. At a guess would have been early 60's. Can anybody add any info?

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Joe Offer
Date: 09 Jul 02 - 06:22 PM

Herga Kitty, what's the Swan Arcade version?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 09 Jul 02 - 06:38 PM

Joe

Basically, it's the "We sailed from Virginia and thence to Fayall" version posted by LaMarca 5 years ago, and just requested on this thread by guest, Gin. Most of the people I know who sang this version got it from Swan Arcade, one of whose members, Jim Boyes is now singing with Coope, Boyes and Simpson.

Kitty

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Joe_F
Date: 09 Jul 02 - 08:05 PM

George Orwell, in his newspaper column 29 December 1944, says:

"The English common people are not great lovers of military glory, and I have pointed out elsewhere that when a battle poem wins really wide popularity, it usually deals with a disaster and not a victory. But the other day...there came into my head the once popular song...`Admiral Benbow'. This rather jingoistic ballad seems to contradict my theory, but I believe it may have owed some of its popularity to the fact that it had a class-war angle which was understood at the time.

"Admiral Benbow, when going into action against the French, was suddenly deserted by his subordinate captains and left to fight against heavy odds. [Stanza `Said Kirby unto Wade...' quoted] So Benbow was left to fight single-handed and, though victorious, he himself was killed. There is a gory but possibly authentic description of his death: [Two stanzas quoted]

"The point is that Benbow was an ordinary seaman who had risen from the ranks. He had started off as a cabin boy. And his captains are supposed to have fled from the action because they did not want to see so plebeian a commander win a victory. I wonder whether it was this tradition that made Benbow into a popular hero and caused his name to be commemorated not only in the ballad but on the signs of innumerable public houses?"

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Charley Noble
Date: 10 Jul 02 - 11:14 AM

Hey, I could swear I heard a version where one captain stuck with Admiral Benbow in the battle while the others dropped astern.

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: The Walrus
Date: 10 Jul 02 - 07:47 PM

Charley,

In the "Come all you seamen bold" version, I believe there is a verse which begins
"'Twas Ruby and Benbow
Fought the french, fought the French...."

This is not incompatable with history as Benbow was a flag officer, "Ruby" could be the name the song gives to his Flag Captain (the Captain of the Flagship).

Walrus

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Charley Noble
Date: 10 Jul 02 - 08:02 PM

Walrus-

There's another version of "Admiral Benbow" to the tune of "Captain Kidd" which according to Captain W. B. Whall has a verse which runs:

'Twas the Ruby and Noah's Ark* fought the French, fought the French,
'Twas the Ruby and Noah's Ark* fought the French,
For there was ten in all,
Poor souls, they fought them all;
They valued them not at all, nor their noise, nor their noise,
They valued them not at all, nor their noise.

* Whall's notes that "Noah's Ark is probably a nickname for one of the oldest and out-of-date ships in the fleet, perhaps the Bredagh, which was one of Charles II's fleet."

I'm still looking for other references to the other supporting ship.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: The Walrus at work
Date: 11 Jul 02 - 08:56 AM

Charley,

I've just found this (via Google)
"...Admiral John Benbow died in 1702. He was the son of a tanner in Shropshire who became admiral. During a battle with the French in the West Indes, all but one of his captains (including Wade and Kirkby) refused to pursue the French as ordered. Captain Walton of the Ruby pursued with Benbow until the Ruby was disabled. Benbow was wounded and his captains persuaded him to give up the chase. However, when they returned to Jamaica he had two of the captains court-martialed (another died before the trial) and shot. Two were suspended. Benbow later died of his wounds..."

Walrus

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: vectis
Date: 11 Jul 02 - 06:52 PM

The Coppers sing this as the last verse, wrongly burying Benbow at Selmeston in Sussex for a good reason.

Last Tuesday morning last, Benbow died, Benbow died,
What a shocking sight to see when they carried him away
They carried him to Se'm's'on church
There he lays, there he lays.

One of the Coppers (Grandad I think) went to Kingston village (in East Sussex) and looked everywhere for the grave of Benbow. When he couldn't find it he thought he must be buried further away so chose the name of a village more than a days walk from Kingston.
He had so little schooling that he didn't realise that the song referred to Kingston Jamaica.

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Charley Noble
Date: 11 Jul 02 - 08:50 PM

Walrus-

Thanks! That's more than I could find in my searches but does tally with what was rattling around in my brain back-up files. So it appears that Capt. Walton of the Ruby provided good faith support.

Any clue what Benbow's ship was named?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Wolfgang
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 06:04 AM

The ship was the Breda according to this note (from Abby Sale).

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: greg stephens
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 06:09 AM

Well I sort of imagined Benbow was on Ruby.By the by, anybody notice my Ned Sherrin play question? I cant have been the only person who saw it.

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Charley Noble
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 08:41 AM

Well, let's raise a glass to the Admiral, and all those who have so handily tidied up this thread!

Charley Noble, safe in the harbor

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: greg stephens
Date: 12 Jul 02 - 01:06 PM

Charley,if youre having a glass IN the Admiral, watch out for the Black Spot.

Subject: Tech: Admiral Benbow
From: GUEST,Andy Barnes
Date: 06 Oct 02 - 07:54 PM

At last I have found some time to have a go at a pet project I thought about some time ago. Out of all great sea going characters I believe Benbow is on of the most fascinating.

So what I'd like to do is collate as many songs ( and versions of )that folk are aware of.....

The two most frequently sung that I have to date are

Admiral Benbow 1

We sailed to Virgina etc

Admiral Benbow 2

My name it is Benbow etc

I will ultimately put everything together and make available to all so if you can help please, to save filling the thread, contact me at
[e-mail]

Many thanks

Andy

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Messages from multiple threads combined. This message and messages below are from a new thread.

Subject: ZDTStudy: Admiral Benbow
From: Joe Offer
Date: 06 Oct 02 - 09:59 PM

Hi, Andy - I added crosslinks above to our previous thread, and the two versions we have in the Digital Tradition. Here is the entry from the Traditional Ballad Index. I guess we'll make this thread into a DTStudy and post and correct the Digital Tradition lyrics, too. The "we landed in Virginia" lyrics are in the other thread and I think I'll this thread with that one.
-Joe Offer-

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Admiral Benbow (I)

DESCRIPTION: Despite being badly outnumbered, Benbow prepares for battle (against the French), but captains Kirkby and Wade flee the contest. In the fight that follows, Benbow loses his legs, but orders his face to be turned toward the fight even as he dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1841
KEYWORDS: battle sea death abandonment
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1702 - Death of Admiral John Benbow in battle in the West Indies
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (7 citations):
CopperSeason, pp. 266-267, "Admiral Benbow" (1 text, 1 tune)
PBB 76, "The Death of Admiral Benbow" (1 text)
Sharp-100E 87, "Admiral Benbow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 92-93, "Admiral Benbow" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ADBENBOW* ADBENBW2
ADDITIONAL: Bertrand Bronson, "Samuel Hall's Family Tree,'" article published in the _California Folklore Quarterly_ (1942); also published in Bertrand Harris Bronson, _The Ballad as Song_ (essays on ballads), University of California Press, 1969, pp. 18-36; republished on pp. 30-47 of Norm Cohen, editor, _All This for a Song_, Southern Folklife Collection, 2009. The article discusses "Sam Hall," "Captain Kidd,,""Admiral Benbow," and related songs, with all or part of 16 texts and 9 tunes
C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , 1907 (available on Google Books), p. 149, "The Death of Admiral Benbow" (1 text)
Roud #227
NOTES: The story outlined here is true in its general details. John Benbow (1653-1702), commanding the British in the West Indies, and was mortally wounded in battle with the French after two of his captains deserted him (the two were later tried and executed for cowardice). The battle took place off Cartagena (the one in Columbia, not the one in Spain; Mahan, p. 207). Benbow became a naval hero, and several later battleships were named for him.
One version of the story is briefly told in Herman, pp. 245-246. Herman argues that Benbow was wrong and his captains right: The British squadron of six ships was not strong enough to fight the French. But Benbow (who lost only his right leg, not both) lived long enough to order the court martial of the rebellious officers. The leader, Richard Kirkby of the Defiant, was executed, as was one of the other captains. This firmly established the principle of obedience to orders no matter how stupid.
Not everyone agrees with Herman's interpretation. Woodman devotes pp. 48-58 to Benbow and his subordinates, and draws a very different picture. Benbow was a very unusual admiral, in that he was a "tarpaulin" officer -- that is, one drawn from the ranks of the sailors, rather than a noble who went straight into the officer class (Woodman, p. 48). He didn't even come up through the naval ranks; he had gone to sea as a merchant sailor, and risen to captain, and then been offered a naval command by James II because he had done an impressive job of beating off a pirate attack (Brumwell/Speck, p. 48).
That background as a merchant sailor and a privateer as well as in the navy, and seems to have developed a very high opinion of his own judgment as a result (Woodman, p. 49). Woodman, p. 49, says that the French fleet under Ducasse had a fleet with a total of 258; Benbow's force he lists as having 456 guns. If true, then Benbow's decision to attack was reasonable.
Bruce/Cogar, p. 40, sum up Benbow's career as follows: "Although Benbow came to be regarded as a hero in popular legend, there remains a doubt about his place in British naval history and whether his high reputation was well deserved."
Clark, p. 317, summarizes the whole incident as follows: "Vice-Admiral John Benbow, with seven English ships, had a good opportunity of attacking a weaker French squadron which remained to operate against English and Dutch commerce. Unfortunately four of his captain failed to join the fight, and it was a failure. Benbow was mortally wounded. Two of the captains were court martialed and shot. There is a still popuar folk-song about this dramatic but unimportant event."
Brumwell/Speck, pp. 48-49, also considers Benbow's squadron superior to the French, and speculates that his officers refused orders because they considered him their social inferior.
Stokesbury, p. 108, also declares the French squadron "weak." He makes the interesting note that Benbow's story did not immediately inspire firm obedience by future captains; in 1708. Admiral Wager could not make his captains fight at Porto Bello.
Most texts of this fit the tune of "Captain Kidd" (and the only one I've seen which doesn't appears to have been fiddled with), though the tune in Chappell isn't quite the standard "Captain Kidd." It is also said to be used for "A Virgin Most Pure." We might note that Kidd went to the scaffold at the time Benbow was fighting his fight with the French.
This is not the only song about Benbow; Firth (who calls this one "The Death of Admiral Benbow") prints another, "Admiral Benbow," on p. 148. That is said to date from at least 1784, though it appears less popular than this (which seems to have first been printed in Halliwell's Early Naval Ballads).
Benbow's reputation as a stickler seems to have been richly deserved; in addition to his conduct in the battle that caused his death, he was tough on people who showed up in the West Indies without leave -- even if they were subjects of the British crown! When the Scottish Darien expedition resulted in disaster, a shipful of colonists fled to the Indies -- and were refused help by Benbow (Thomson, p. 88). - RBW
Bibliography


• Bruce/Cogar: Anthony Bruce and William Cogar, An Encyclopedia of Naval History, 1998 (I use the 1999 Checkmark edition)
• Brumwell/Speck: Stephen Brumwell and W. A. Speck, Cassell's Companion to Eighteenth-Century Britain, Cassell & Co., 2001
• Clark: G. N. Clark, The Later Stuarts 1660-1714, corrected edition, Oxford, 1944
• Herman: Arthur Herman, To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World, 2004 (I use the 2005 Harper Perennial edition)
• Mahan: Alfred Thayer Mahan, The Influence of Sea Power Upon History 1660-1783, 1890 (mine is a reprint edition, but -- astonishingly -- it does not say who is the modern publisher!)
• Stokesbury: James L. Stokesbury, Navy & Empire, Morrow, 1983
• Thomson: Oliver Thomson, The Great Feud: The Campbells & The Macdonalds, Sutton Publishing, 2000
• Woodman: Richard Woodman, A Brief History of Mutiny, Carroll & Graf, 2005.

Last updated in version 4.0
File: PBB076

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Admiral Benbow (II)

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, we sail'd to Virginia, And from thence to Fial." The fleet sees seven sails. They draw up in line and fight for four hours. Admiral Benbow is wounded by a chain shot and is carried below but says to keep fighting. He is remembered after his death
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1891 (Ashton-Sailor)
KEYWORDS: battle sea death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1702 - Death of Admiral John Benbow in battle in the West Indies
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ashton-Sailor, #19 insert, "Admiral Benbow" (1 text)
Roud #3141
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(261), "Admiral Benbow," W. Armstrong (Liverpool) 1820-1824
NOTES: For background on John Benbow, see the notes to "Admiral Benbow (I)" - RBW
Last updated in version 3.2
File: AshS019i

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ADMIRAL BENBOW (DT Lyrics)

Come all ye seamen bold, and draw near
And draw near
Come all ye seamen bold, and draw near
It is of an admiral's fame
O brave Benbow was his name
How he fought all on the main
You shall hear, you shall hear.

Brave Benbow he set sail, for to fight
For to fight
Brave Benbow he set sail, for to fight.
Brave Benbow he set sail,
With a fine and pleasant gale
But his captains they turn'd tail
In a fright, in a fright.

Says Kirby unto Wade, "We will run,
We will run."
Says Kirby unto Wade, "We will run.
For I value no disgrace
Or the losing of my place
But the enemy I won't face
Nor his guns, nor his guns."

Then Ruby and Benbow fought the French
Fought the French,
Then Ruby and Benbow fought the French.
They fought them up and down
'Til the blood came trickling down
'Til the blood came trickling down
Where they lay, where they lay.

Brave Benbow lost his legs by chain shot
By chain shot,
Brave Benbow lost his legs by chain shot.
Brave Benbow lost his legs
And all on his stumps he begs
Fight on, my English lads
'Tis our lot, 'tis our lot.

The surgeon dress'd his wounds, cries Benbow
Cries Benbow,
The surgeon dress'd his wounds, cries Benbow.
"Let a cradle now in haste
On the quarterdeck be placed,
That the enemy I may face
'Til I die, 'til I die.

From English Folk Songs, Sharp
@navy @battle @English
filename[ ADBENBOW
TUNE FILE: ADBENBOW
CLICK TO PLAY
TUNE FILE: ADBENBOW.2
CLICK TO PLAY
RG

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ADMIRAL BENBOW (2) (DT Lyrics)

Come all you seamen bold, landed here, landed here,
It is of an Admiral brave called Benbow by his name,
How he ploughed the raging main
You shall hear, you shall hear.

Last Tuesday morning last, Benbow sailed, Benbow sailed,
What a sweet and pleasant gale when Benbow he set sail
And the enemy they turned tail
In a fright, in a fright.

Great Reuben and Benbow fought the French, fought the French,
See the boats go up and down and the bullets whizzing round
And the enemy they knocked down,
There they lie, there they lie.

Oh, Benbow lost his legs, by chain-slot, by chain-shot,
Down on his stumps did fall and so loud for mercy called,
Oh, fight on my British tars,
It is my lot, it is my lot.

When the doctor dressed the wounds Benbow cried,
Benbow cried,
Oh, pray pick me up in haste to the quarter deck my place
That the enemy I might face
Until I die, until I die.

Last Tuesday morning last, Benbow died, Benbow died,
What a shocking sight to see when they carried him away
They carried him to Se'm's'on church
There he lays, there he lays.

Printed in The Copper Family Songbook - A Living Tradition
Recorded by The Copper Family on Song For Every Season
@sailor @battle @death
filename[ ADBENBW2
TUNE FILE: ADBENBW2
CLICK TO PLAY
SOF

Subject: RE: Admiral Benbow
From: Joe Offer
Date: 06 Oct 02 - 10:16 PM

I double-checked the first version we have , and it almost perfectly matches the text in Sharp's One Hundred English Folksongs (Dover Reprint). (Sharp-100E in the Ballad Index)

The Traditional Ballad Index says there's another version in PBB, Penguin Book of Ballads - I don't have that book.

The other book cited is Chappell/Wooldridge - William Chappell, Old English Popular Music. Revised by H. Ellis Wooldridge (1893).

Don't have that one, either.

The UTK Song Index at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville has no listing for this song. No record at the American Memory Collection of the Library of Congress.

There is sheet music for the "we sailed to Virginia" version at the Levy Sheet Music Site, but I don't have time to transcribe it this week - anybody? We need a tune, too.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 07 Oct 02 - 02:01 AM

The text in the Penguin Book of Ballads is taken from Haliwell, Early Naval Ballads, 1841. It includes a form of the "Ruby and Noah's Ark" verse quoted earlier. According to Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Time, 1859) Halliwell got the text from a broadside published by Fowler of Salisbury (late 18th century). Chappell himself prints another -similar- text, with tune, both from an unidentified broadside of "the first half" of the 18th century.

He also quotes the other Benbow song mentioned earlier (we need to be clear that these are two completely different songs: Roud numbers 227 and 3141 respectively). Another set of that (text from another Fowler broadside, tune from The Vocal Enchantress, 1783) appears in Roy Palmer's Boxing the Compass (formerly The Oxford Book of Sea Songs), 2001; this is close to the text quoted at the beginning of the first part of this thread, and to the broadside I indicated earlier, though with an additional verse. The Levy set, also, differs in a few particulars only.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 07 Oct 02 - 02:59 AM

Just as a point of interest, James 'Brasser' Copper who was born in 1845, used to sing 'Benbow' to his very young and impressionable grandson Bob (born 1915 and still going strong) as a lullaby! As Bob has recalled "that made me so scared, with images of the poor unfortunate admiral slipping around the deck on his bloody stumps - I was afraid to blow the candle out".

Interestingly and contrary to popular received wisdom regarding child rearing, this failed to prevent Bob from deveolping into a perfectly normal and well balanced adult. Save, that is from a morbid fear of double amputee naval officers so commonly seen around theses parts.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Schantieman
Date: 07 Oct 02 - 07:24 AM

Tundra (Doug & Sue Hudson) did a version (I think the Coppers') on their 'Songs from Greenwich' LP.

John Benbow was indeed a Shrewsbury tanner's son. His grandfather, had been an admiral, on the losing side in the Civil War. After the Restoration, his grandson had to start from the bottom again.

There's a version in the Bodleian ballad library - I'll try and find it and post a link.

Steve

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 07 Oct 02 - 11:07 AM

There are two examples there of the "Virginia" song. See my earlier link to the Armstrong of Liverpool edition, and another, which I didn't spot first time round:

On admiral Bembo's death in the West-Indies Printed between 1790 and 1840 by J. Jennings, No. 13, Water-lane, Fleet- street, London (better of two copies).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: sian, west wales
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 05:37 AM

I was recently trying to find information on the Welsh tune, Mentra Gwen, for a friend - a bit complicated as Mentra Gwen is today known as one specific folk song but the tune was widely used in previous centuries for a variety of texts. Anyway, it's the same metre as Admiral Benbow (the "Come All Ye" above) and the 'digging' took me through "Ye Jacobites by Name", "The Loyall Subject's Joy", "Sam Hall", "Jack Hall", as well as "Admiral B.". "The Loyall Subject's Joy" I found here (will this "Make a link" thing work?) and it led me to "Sound a Charge" which I found at JC's ABC Tune Finder (B438, B439)

As it happens, the search also came up with "What Wondrous Love is This" (found in Southern Harmony), but although the metre is right, the tune probably isn't related, according to my friend.

Wandering a bit from Benbow perhaps, but it might be useful to someone...

sian

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Schantieman
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 11:41 AM

Just found the Bodleian Library broadside here but I'm not sure if it's the one I had originally!

Steve

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Schantieman
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 11:43 AM

Ah - sorry - the clicky doesn't quite make it. I think Malcolm Douglas's one above has it right! Thanks Malcom.

Steve

Subject: Tune Add: ADMIRAL BENBOW [WE SAILED TO VIRGINIA]
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 01:41 PM

Correcting my error above-

Wm. Chappell in PMOT give a 3/4 time major mode tune for the "We
sailed for Virginia" one, but I don't know where he got it.
The song and tune were given in 'The Vocal Enchantress', 1783,
with the tune as follows:

X:1

T:ADMIRAL BENBOW [WE SAILED TO VIRGINIA]

S:Vocal Enchantress, 1783

Q:1/4=120

L:1/4

M:C|

K:Ddor

A/|dd(^c/d/) (e/c/)|A2FA|c2Ae|g3(f/e/)|f(e/d/) (^c/d/) e/c/|\

A2FA|d3||(d/e/)|ffaa|g2(fe)|g (e/d/) (g/f/) (e/d/)|\

{d/}^c2zG|Adeg|f2 (f/d/) (d/^c/)|d2A^c|d3"Chorus"G|\

Adfg|f2 (f/e/) (d/^c/)|d2A^c|d3|]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 02:11 PM

I think I must have misscopied the tune above, and that C in the 2nd measure should be sharp. It's still a very uncommon mode.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Troll
Date: 10 Oct 02 - 11:03 PM

Here at Disney Sea in Tokyo, one of the piped-in tunes on the "Cape Cod Waterfront" is the Swan Arcade/June Tabor version of "Admiral Benbow".
It is likely that Tabor learned the song from Dave and Heather Brady of Swan Arcade as they live fairly close to each other in Northern England. Swan Arcade recorded the song in the last 60's or early 70's I believe.

troll

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: GUEST,Claymore
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 12:12 PM

My maternal grandmother was an English woman from Cornwall, whose maiden name was Benbow (direct from the Admiral), and married a Scotsman named Glasson, coming to America in the early 1900s in time to get wiped out, though not killed, by the San Fransico Earthquake. She was one of the last to carry that name until marriage.

My mothers middle name was Benbow, a fact that is frequently used by credit card companies to verify my records. Yet with only slight reference to the past, I knew nothing about the man. Thank you all for contributing to this thread

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From:
Date: 26 Nov 02 - 05:36 PM

Caryl Brahms and Ned Sherrin published a book version of their TV play titled Benbow was his Name in 1967, Hutchinson & Co publishers, London. I have written a more accurate biography titled Brave Benbow which is available by contacting me at [e-mail].

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: GUEST,Joseph Miras
Date: 18 Dec 03 - 06:46 PM

It surprises me that the name of the ballad
is the same name RLS gave to the inn at the
very start of Treasure Island. Was the ballad
written before the novel, was it the other way
round? I should know that since I am a devoted
reader of the great Scot.

Greetings

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Admiral Benbow lyrics
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 18 Dec 03 - 07:43 PM

Admiral Benbow was a national hero, and plenty of real pubs were named after him as well as fictional ones. I don't find that surprising at all. Stevenson published Treasure Island in 1883, some 180 years after Benbow's death. The songs are at the very least a century older than the novel. There is plenty of information earlier in this thread; though, as is inevitably the way with combined threads, that information may not appear in the most helpful order.

Subject: Lyr Add: ADMIRAL BENBOW
From: Roberto
Date: 19 Dec 03 - 02:40 AM

Two versions, four recordings. The first version, as recorded by Louis Killen and June Tabor; the second, as recorded by Bob Copper and Paul Clayton. Hope there are not mistakes in the transcriptions. Roberto

ADMIRAL BENBOW (I)


a) Brave Admiral Benbow
Louis Killen, Sailors, Ships & Chanteys, Vol.2, A Seaman's Garland, Knock Out KO04, 1997

Oh, we sailed to Virginia and thence to Fayall
Where we watered our ship in and then weighed all
Then in view on the seas, boys, seven sails we did espy
Oh, we mannéd our capstan and weighed speedily

The first we come up with was a brigantine sloop
And we asked if the others were as big as they looked
Then turning to windward as near as we could lie
We found there was ten men of war cruising there by

Oh, we drew up our squadron in a very nice line
And boldly we fought them for full four hours time
Then the day being spent, boys, and the night coming on
We left them alone till the very next morn

The very next morning the engagement proved hot
And brave Admiral Benbow received a chain shot
And when he was wounded to his men he did say:
Take me up in your arms, boys, and carry me away

Oh, the guns they did rattle and the bullets did fly
But Admiral Benbow for help would not cry:
Take me down to the cockpit, there is ease for my smarts
If my merry men see me, it would sure break their hearts

And there Captain Kirby proved a coward at last
And with Wade played at bopeep behind the main-mast
And there they did stand, boys, and shiver and shake
For fear that those French dogs their lives they should take

The very next morning at the break of the day
They hoisted their tops'ls and so bore away
We bore up for Port Royal, where the people flocked much
To see Admiral Benbow carried to Kingston Church

Come all you brave fellows, wherever you be
And drink to the health of our King and our Queen
And another good health to the girls that we know
And a third in remembrance of brave Admiral Benbow

Oh, yes, drink up a health, boys, to the girls we do know
And a third for remembrance of brave Admiral Benbow



b) Admiral Benbow
June Tabor, A Cut Above, with Martin Simpson, Topic TSCD 410, 1989

We sailed from Virginia and thence to Fayall
Where we watered our ship and then we weighed all
Full in view on the seas, boys, seven sails we did espy,
We mannéd our capstans and weighed speedily.

Now the first we come up on was a brigantine sloop
And we asked if the others was as big as they looked
Ah, but turning to windward, as near as we could lie
We saw there were ten men of war cruising by.

We drew up our squadron in very nice line
And boldly we fought them for full four hours time
But the day being spent, boys, and the night a-coming on
We left them alone till the early next morn.

Now the very next morning the engagement proved hot
And brave Admiral Benbow received a chain shot
And as he was wounded to his merry men he did say,
"Take me up in your arms, boys, and carry me away!"

Oh, the guns they did rattle and the bullets did fly,
But brave Admiral Benbow for rout would not cry;
"Take me down to the cabin where there's ease for my smarts,
If my merry men see me, it would sure break their hearts."

Now, the very next morning by break of the day
They hoisted their topsails and so bore away;
We bore to Port Royal, where the people flocked much
To see Admiral Benbow carried to Kingston Church.

Come all you brave fellows, wherever you've been,
Let us drink to the health of our King and our Queen,
And another good health to the girls that we know,
And a third in remembrance of great Admiral Benbow.



ADMIRAL BENBOW (II)


a) Admiral Benbow
Bob Copper, Copperfulofsongs, Folktrax FTX-238, recorded 1963-1983, edited by Peter Kennedy and first published on Folktrax cassettes 1983

Come all you seamen bold, landed here, landed here
It is of an Admiral brave called Benbow by his name
How he ploughed the raging main
You shall hear, you shall hear

Last Tuesday morning last, Benbow sailed, Benbow sailed
What a sweet and pleasant gale when Benbow he set sail
And the enemy they turned tail
In a fright, in a fright

Great Reuben and Benbow fought the French, fought the French
See the boats go up and down and the bullets whizzing round
And the enemy they knocked down
There they lay, there they lay

Oh, Benbow lost his legs, by chain-shot, by chain-shot
Down on his stumps did fall and so loud for mercy called.
Oh, fight on my British tars
It is my lot, it is my lot.

When the doctor dressed his wounds Benbow cried, Benbow cried
Oh, pray pick me up in haste to the quarter deck my place
That the enemy I might face
Until I die, until I die.

Last Tuesday morning last, Benbow died, Benbow died
What a shocking sight to see when they carried him away
Oh, they carried him to Se'm's'on church
There he lays, there he lays.



b) Admiral Benbow
Paul Clayton, & Sailing Songs, Tradition TCD 1064 (original LP release: Whaling & Sailing Songs from the days of Moby Dick, Tradition Records TLP 1005, 1956)

'T was of an Admiral
Called Benbow by his name
He fought on the raging main
You must know
Oh, the ship rocks up and down
And the shots are flying round
The enemy tumbling down
There they lay, there they lay

The ship rocks up and down
And the shots are flying round
The enemy tumbling down
There they lay, there they lay

'T was Reuben and Benbow
Fought the French, fought the French
'T was Reuben and Benbow
Fought the French, fought the French
Down on his old stump he fell
And so loudly he did call
Fight you on, my English lads
'Tis my lot, 'tis my lot

Down on his old stump he fell
And so loudly he did call
Fight you on, my English lads
'Tis my lot, 'tis my lot

When the doctor dressed his wounds
Benbow cried, Benbow cried
When the doctor dressed his wounds
Benbow cried,
Let a bed be fetched in haste
On the quarterdeck be placed
That the enemy I might face
'Til I die, 'til I die

Let a bed be fetched in haste
On the quarterdeck be placed,
That the enemy I might face
'Til I die, 'til I die

On Tuesday morning last
Benbow died, Benbow died
On Tuesday morning last
Benbow died
What a shocking sight to see
When Benbow was carried away
He was carried to Kingston church
There he lay, there he lay

What a shocking sight to see
When Benbow was carried away
He was carried to Kingston church
There he lay, there he lay

---

Note from Joe Offer: If at all possible, please put only one song in a message. It makes indexing a lot easier. Thanks.