The Gosport Tragedy
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1969.54
Original Tape ID
Summary
A tragic ballad in which a young woman is seduced by a ship's carpenter and falls pregnant. He tells her he must leave to go to sea, but vows to remain true to her. At their last meeting, he leads her to a grave he has prepared and murders her with a knife. After burying her corpse, he boards his ship. One of the crew later sees the girl's ghost on board and tells the captain, who deduces what has happened and confronts the crew. The carpenter confesses and the girl's parents recover her body and bury her in Southampton. The song closes with a warning to young men not to beguile young women.
Ethel Findlater learned the words from a [manuscript] book given to her by Violet [Harvey], but learned the tune from her mother-in-law.
Item Notes
20 verses of 4 lines.
Violet Harvey (the surname is mentioned on another track) may be the same person as Violet Moar, from whom Ethel Findlater likewise said that she had borrowed a book and copied words (tape SA1968.193).
See:
Greig-Duncan vol. 2, p. 49, no. 201
'Singing Island' (E. MacColl & P. Seeger, 1960) p. 66
'Gleanings of Scarce Old Ballads' (P. Buchan, 1825) pp. 46-51
'Traditional Ballad Airs' vol. 2 (W. Christie, 1881) pp. 98-99
Language
English
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good