{"id":8351,"date":"2021-01-18T16:20:56","date_gmt":"2021-01-18T16:20:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=8351"},"modified":"2021-04-14T14:14:53","modified_gmt":"2021-04-14T14:14:53","slug":"if-you-meet-a-vessel-in-distress","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/if-you-meet-a-vessel-in-distress\/","title":{"rendered":"If you meet a vessel in distress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Stand by<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1906<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>RP Weston<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN5375<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Ian Colquhoun<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Source Singers<\/strong>
Doughty, Johnny 1977 England : Sussex<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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From sheet music held by the British Music Hall Society<\/strong>\nStanding on an ocean liner, gazing o'er the stormy sea\nThe Captain saw in a blinding gale \nA ship in distress bearing but a rag of sail\n\"Standby! Lads\" he gave the order\"\n\"Standby! Till the storm has passed\"\nFor I'll have you know, many years ago,\nWhen a lad before the mast,\nMy captain always said to me, \n\"This is the rule, my lad at sea:\"\n\nIf you should meet with a vessel in distress, \nStand by! Stand by!\nRender all the aid you can,\nBe he Man-o\u2019-war or Merchantman\nSail right up and throw him out a line,\nTake him in tow,\nFor you might want somebody to stand by you \nSome day, you never know<\/em>!\n\nAll of you vessels sailing, sailing o'er the seas of life, \nAnd in the storm or in the calm sublime, \nYour heart is the crew and the captain all the time; \nSo if sinking ships should hail you \nStandby! For you must confess,\nThough he flies no flag\nEvery tattered rag \nIs a signal of distress; \nHe'll make the harbour safe, no doubt, \nIf you will help him so launch out.\n<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
In 1906 RP Weston published this short song titled If you meet a vessel in distress<\/em> or Stand by<\/em>. Killgariff has a song of the same name being sung by Ian Colquhoun a singer active in the late 1890s and early 1900s who specialised in straight (i.e. non-comic) patriotic songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The melody and words of Weston’s chorus are almost identical to a fragment collected by Mike Yates  from the singing of Johnny Doughty,  who remembered it being sung by Hastings lifeboatmen. It’s certainly a song associated with Hastings, as since World War II the chorus been sung as the official song of The Winkle Club, a charitable organisation of Hastings fishermen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can’t find any evidence that the song goes back any further the 1906. It’s possible that Weston was reusing an older chorus, but I think the balance of probability is that both Johnny Doughty and the members of the Winkle Club got this song directly or indirectly from the Halls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n