{"id":17245,"date":"2022-10-10T15:40:12","date_gmt":"2022-10-10T15:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=17245"},"modified":"2023-02-23T16:48:05","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T16:48:05","slug":"wreck-of-the-ragamuffin","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/wreck-of-the-ragamuffin\/","title":{"rendered":"Wreck of the Ragamuffin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Captain Nipper <\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>c1882<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>John J Stamford<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN10466<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>WJ Ashcroft<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
unknown shanty singers; Britain : c 1900
Williamson, Willie; Scotland: Shetland: 1972
Modern performances<\/strong>
Cyril Tawney
Paul Clayton and The Foc’sle Singers<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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As remembered in 1926\n\nTwas the fourteenth of November, \nThat day I well remember,\nWhen I set sail to go to foreign parts, \nI shipped with Burke, the skipper \nOf a fine three-masted clipper,\nAnd left my friends behind with broken hearts.\nWe were bound out to Calcutta,\nWith a load of Belfast butter,\nWe had whisky, eggs, and bacon in galore;\nOf passengers we had twenty,\t\u2022\nAnd begorra that was plenty,\nTo tell the truth, that ship would hold no more. \t..\n\nFor the wind began to howl,\nAnd the ship began to rowl,\nA thundering great big hurricane did blow\nIt knocked out all the stuffing\nFrom our ship, the \"Ragamuffin\"\t\nAnd we thought to the bottom we would go, brave boys,\t\nAnd we thought to the bottom we would go<\/em>\n\n\nTo start we weighed the anchor\nAnd hoisted jib and spanker\nA tug boat pulled us by the Hill of Howth, \nWith our pilot then we parted,\nAnd in our course we started,\nOur compass pointed east, nor'-west by south\nAt three o'clock next morning\nWithout a taste of warning.\t\nA blackguard of a gale began to blow\nIt tore our sails asunder.\nAnd then a clap of thunder\t\nKnocked Pat and James Maloney down below\n\nFor sixteen hours we bore it,\nThe gale took us before it,\nAnd carried off our main top-gallant boom,\nOne forecastle was shattered,\nAnd our figure-head was battered,\nAnd the water washed away our main saloon,\nFor thirteen hours we drifted, \nAnd then the cargo shifted.\nThe captain cried, \"Put on your Ulster coats,\nI've come to a decision, \nAs we've plenty of provisions \nLet every mother's son jump into the boats\"\n<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
A comic song from the repertoire of an Irish American comic who built his career in the British Halls: WJ Ashcroft<\/a>, written for him by his manager John J Stamford<\/a>. I have not found any evidence that sheet music was published for this song, but in 1882 Stamford was including it in the list of songs he claimed to have written for Ashcroft:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The Era April 15 1882<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The lyrics I have provided were remembered by a correspondent of an Irish newspaper in 1926, they are identical to those of the song printed in an unofficial songster in the Roud collection: Irelands own songbook<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Ireland’s Saturday Night<\/a><\/em>  27 Dec 1926 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The song seems to have very quickly been adopted by sailors and snatches of it feature in several shanty collections, usually with the alternative title Captain Nipper<\/em> – in the first stanza the singer recalls that they signed with Capt Nipper, on a fine three masted clipper<\/em>. Correspondents to the Mudcat Forum suggest there is also a variant sometimes called Woollamaloosh<\/em> – a word shouted out at the end of each stanza and chorus. These traditional versions vary considerably…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A version collected from the singing of Willie Williamson in 1972 can be heard on the excellent site Whalsay’s Heritage of Song<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not to be confused with a different song of the sea called The good ship Ragamuffin<\/em>, which starts “Farewell to your bricks and mortar”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paul Clayton and The Foc’sle Singers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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