"Barnacle Bill the Sailor" (

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud. Roud's Index is a combination of the Broadsid ...

4704) is an American

drinking song A drinking song is a song that is sung before or during Alcoholic beverage, alcohol consumption. Most drinking songs are Folk music, folk songs or commercium songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyri ...

adapted from "Bollocky Bill the Sailor", a traditional

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

originally titled "Abraham Brown".Cray, Ed. (1992) ''The Erotic Muse: American Bawdy Songs''.

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

History

There are several versions of the

bawdy Ribaldry or blue comedy is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to indecency. Blue comedy is also referred to as "bawdiness" or being "bawdy". Like any humour, ribaldry may be read as conventional or subversive. Ribald ...

song in the

Gordon "Inferno" Collection The Robert W. Gordon "Inferno" Collection is about 200 pages of original and typescript copies of correspondence and letters that were separated from the main collection of the Archive of Folk Song, Library of Congress, by Robert W. Gordon, first ...

at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

folklife archive. The first printed version of the song is in the public domain book ''Immortalia'' (1927). Later versions feature the

eponymous An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

"Barnacle Bill", a fictional character loosely based on a 19th-century

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

and

Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...

named William Bernard.Boyes, Marcia Edwards (1936). ''The Legend of Yerba Buena Island''.

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

:The Professional Press. Versions are also known in England and Scotland from the early twentieth century. The earliest known recording is an expurgated adaptation by

Carson Robison Carson Jay Robison ( – ) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although his impact is generally forgotten today, he played a major role in promoting country music in its early years through numerous recordings and radio appear ...

and

Frank Luther Frank Luther (born Francis Luther Crow, August 4, 1899 – November 16, 1980) was an American country music singer, dance band vocalist, playwright, songwriter and pianist. Early life Born on a farm near Lakin, Kansas, 40 miles from the Colorad ...

in 1928. This version was also recorded on May 21, 1930 by

Bix Beiderbecke Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke ( ; March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was an American jazz cornetist, pianist and composer. Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s, a cornet player noted for an inventive lyrical a ...

and

Hoagy Carmichael Hoagland Howard "Hoagy" Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor, author and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s and 1940s, a ...

with Carson Robison on vocals and released as a Victor 78, V-38139-A and 25371. In 1996 it was released on CD on the album "Bix Beiderbecke 1927–1930". According to Philip R. Evans, Bix Beiderbecke's biographer, in the second chorus of this recording, violinist

Joe Venuti Giuseppe "Joe" Venuti (September 16, 1903 – August 14, 1978) was an American jazz musician and pioneer jazz violinist. Considered the father of jazz violin, he pioneered the use of string instruments in jazz along with the guitarist Eddie Lan ...

can be heard singing "Barnacle Bill the Shit-head," either to express his attitude toward the record producer, or typical of his wacky sense of humor. Esten Spurrier, a friend of Beiderbecke, is quoted by Evans as saying that Beiderbecke told him he could not believe the record would be pressed and had felt that it had been done just for laughs. Beiderbecke cut loose on the tune with what is believed to be one of his finest cornet solos.

John Valby John R. Valby (born November 22, 1944) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, comedian, and producer known for his comedic and obscene song parodies. Also known as Dr. Dirty, he typically performs in a white tailcoat suit and black derby h ...

(also known as "Dr. Dirty") also recorded the song. The tune has inspired a

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () was an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures in 1942, the parent company and the distri ...

Betty Boop Betty Boop is a cartoon character designed by Grim Natwick at the request of Max Fleischer. She originally appeared in the '' Talkartoon'' and ''Betty Boop'' film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pic ...

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

and two films, as well as the name of a

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the King ...

and the

Tympany Five Tympany Five was a successful and influential American rhythm and blues and jazz dance band founded by Louis Jordan in 1938. The group was composed of a horn section of three to five different pieces and also drums, double bass, guitar and pian ...

(then known as The Elks Rendezvous Band) recorded a clean version in 1938. In the first Fleischer ''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Popeye the Sailor Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Bluto Bluto, at times known as Brutus, is a cartoon and comics character created in 1932 by Elzie Crisler Segar as a one-time character, named "Bluto the Terrible", in his ''Thimble Theatre'' comic strip (later renamed ''Popeye''). Bluto made his fi ...

character. A later Fleischer ''Popeye'' cartoon, ''Beware of Barnacle Bill'' (1935), is a mock

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

based around a toned-down version of the song.

Example of lyrics

Although versions differ in their content "Barnacle Bill" is structured as an exchange between Bill and a "fair young maiden." Each verse opens with inquiries by the maiden and continues with Bill's response.

Ballochy Bill The Sailor (1927)

This version is credited to Anonymous and appears in ''Immortalia'' (1927). It is published as lyrics only with no indication of key or meter.

"Who is knocking at my door," Said the fair young maiden. "Who is knocking at my door," Said the fair young maiden. "Open the door and let me in," Said Ballochy Bill the sailor; "Open the door and let me in," Said Ballochy Bill the sailor. "You may sleep upon the floor," Said the fair young maiden. "To hell with the floor, I can't fuck that," Said Ballochy Bill the sailor. "You may lie down at my side," Said the fair young maiden. "To hell with your side, I can't fuck that," Said Ballochy Bill the sailor. "You may lie between my thighs," Said the fair young maiden. "What've you got between your thighs?" Said Ballochy Bill the sailor. "O, I've got a nice pin-cushion," Said the fair young maiden. "And I've got a pin that will just fit in," Said Ballochy Bill the sailor. "But what if we have a baby?" Said the fair young maiden. "Strangle the bastard and throw him away," Said Ballochy Bill the sailor. "But what about the law, sir," Said the fair young maiden. "Kick the bleeders out on their ass," Said Ballochy Bill the sailor. "But what if there's an inquest?" Said the fair young maiden. "Then shove the inquest up your cunt," Said Ballochy Bill the sailor. "And what about my paw and maw?" Said the fair young maiden. "Fuck your maw, and bugger your paw," Said Ballochy Bill the sailor. "Whenever shall I see you?" Said the fair young maiden. "Whenever shall I see you?" Said the fair young maiden. "Never no more you dirty whore," Said Ballochy Bill the sailor. "Never no more you dirty whore," Said Ballochy Bill the sailor.

Abraham Brown The Sailor (date unknown)

Walter Newton Henry Harding (1883-1973) collected over 15,000 ballads from mostly 19th-century, with many 18th-century items. Among them is an undated transcript of Abraham Brown The Sailor, noted as being to the tune of

My Heart and Lute "My Heart and Lute", sometimes known by its first line, "I give thee all, I can no more", is a song/poem Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthe ...

. It is presented below as originally typeset.

Who is it knocks at our door, Says a very nice young lady. Who is it, &c. It's I myself and nobody else, Says Abraham Brown the Sailor, Ti's I myself, &c. Oh! open the door and let him in, Says this very nice young lady, And where am I to sleep to night, Says Abraham Brown the Sailor You may sleep on my soft puncushion, Says this very nice young lady, And I've a pin, I'll run it in, Says Abraham Brown the Sailor I feel it rise between my — Says this very nice young lady, It's in your — up to the rim, Says Abraham Brown the Sailor Ah! now it's in let it remain, Says this very nice young lady, I'll be d—d if I do, I shall want it Says Abraham Brown &c.(again) When shall I have your pin again? Says this very nice young lady, When I can make it stand again, Says Abraham Brown &c.

References

External links

Ned Cobben – Barnacle Bill The Sailor
(1913)
Frank Luther – Barnacle Bill The Sailor
(1928)
Frank Luther – Barnacle Bill, The Sailor – No. 2
(1929)
Hoagy Carmichael – Barnacle Bill, The Sailor
(1930) *

Talkartoons ''Talkartoons'' is a series of 42 animated cartoons produced by Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures from 1929 to 1932. History For the Fleischer brothers, the transition to sound was relatively easy. With the new contract w ...