The Leaving of Liverpool

While this song, a sailor's forebitter (non-work song) has become something of a nostalgic ode to the city of Liverpool, the words make it clear that although the sailor is leaving Liverpool, "it's NOT the leaving of Liverpool that grieves me, but, my darling, when I think on you" -- the song is for the beloved.

Although the song is well-known nowadays, it gained this glory only through the Folk Revival. Really, there is only one known source for it. Dick Maitland, an American sailor of Staten Island, NY, sang it as he had learned it in the 1880s, for the writer William Doerflinger, who subsequently printed it in his 1951 chanteys collection. From that text, certain popular artists like the Spinners, the Dubliners, and the Clancy Brothers adopted it. In the process, the lyrics were smoothed out to make everything rhyme nicely-- most noticeably the "think on you" was changed to "think of thee." The melody changed a bit. Most noticeable in this regard was the general change, in all instances of the pitch pattern DO TI SOL to DO LA SOL. Indeed, with this sort of popular version so ingrained, I experienced some dissonance in my head while trying to bang out this, the "original" version of Maitland; inevitably there are lapses and variations.

A nice statement about the trajectory of this song can be found in the comments by singer-scholar Dan Milner in this post:
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=66662#1108766

The streets mentioned are just in from the Salthouse Dock, the center of the old Sailortown, and the landing stage near Princes Dock was a place of departure for Yankee packet ship, on board of which the speaker would have been working (bound for NY, then Frisco).

Category:

Music

Tags:

• leaving
• of
• liverpool
• sea
• song
• folk
• focsle
• forebitter
• deepwater
• ballad

[aramat111]

It was Maitland who first heard the song and took it down on the General Knox- being sung by Scousers, some of the lyrics may have been changed but not all, "Hanson Terrace" Park Lane" are all local street names, you may not be able to speak for my grandmother but I certainly can and I can assure you the info she and her generation have passed on pre-dates anything you have so far come up with. Next we'll hear is that the Beatles were American and their music written and composed in New York

[hultonclint]

What has your Beatles quip got to do with the price of tea in China? You'd make a better cae that maybe your gram heard this if you didnt embellish the facts. Maitland was bosun of the American ship GENERAL KNOX, circa 1885. He heard a Scouser singing it in the focsle. It won't do for you to pluralize "Scousers" and "was being sung by several natives of that city" and declare it an emigrant ship. You're making up a fantasy. cont...

[hultonclint]

cont...

Your date of 1955 --when you were about 5 yrs old -- still post-dates its appearance in print, and possibly revival singers had started with it then. Ewan MacColl and Bert Lloyd drew heavily from Doerflinger's text. It is entirely possible that dear gram had heard it, but your "story" here, which you've spammed on many of the videos with this song, sounds shady because of the way you've distorted other info.

[aramat111]

This song is pure Liverpool, it was first heard and taken down on the"General Knox" an America bound emmigrant ship it was being sung by several natives of that city.. no one knows the composer although my grandmother (born1875) recalls singing it as a young girl in Liverpool, she told me this in 1955 and was one of my favourite songs as a child.

[hultonclint]

It was taken down by chantey-collector Bill Doerflinger from Dick Maitland, a New Yorker, in Sailor's Snug Harbor, Staten Island. I can't speak to your dear grandma's experiences, but 1955 post-dates the publication of Doerfinger's text, and the adoption of the song by folk revival groups, based on that text.

[hultonclint]

@cd1690 Hi. As you can see from the quotation marks, I am quoting someone, who subsequently deleted his comment. --who started an argument and then ran away. I didn't say The Spinners were Irish.

[cd1690]

@hultonclint The Spinners IRISH??!!! Sober up!......... One of them came from the West Indies f'Christs sake!!!  Another one from manchester and the rest were scousers!!!

[NearAbbeyRoad]

The song has nothing to do with Ireland, its is purely Liverpool. The Spinners were a semi-Liverpool folk group, based in Liverpool.

[Scytalte]

Well sung.

I was always under the impression that the singer was a sailor, not an emmigrant.

He has sailing experience - "I have sailed with Burgess once before"

He intents to come back -" and when I return united we will be."

On a side note, The Spinners folk band ( if it's the band I think you mean ) were from Liverpool and the Manchester area. They weren't Irish.

[hultonclint]

2nd comment from "TheShamtube":

"RUBBISH!!!!! typical american rubbish the world knows and the composer knows its a song about an irishman making his way to liverpool to gain a ship to emigrate to the u,s ..way back when the u,s was still a new country with no history ,class or pedigree ..look at the people here on the choob singing this ,dubliners ,tommy makem , the spinners(irish folk band ..not the u,s niggers) all irish its a irish folk song,,in fact ..google it,,, end off"