285

THE GEORGE ALOE AND THE SWEEPSTAKE

a. Percy Papers, “from an ancient black-letter copy in Ballard’s collection.”

b. Rawlinson, 566, fol. 183, 4o.

c. Roxburghe, III, 204, in Ebsworth, Roxburghe Ballads, VI, 408.

March 19, 1611, there were entered to Richard Jones, “Captayne Jenninges his songe, whiche he made in the Marshalsey,” etc., and “the second parte of the George Aloo and the Swiftestake, beinge both ballades:” Arber, III, 456. The second part of the George Aloo must needs mean a second ballad, not the printers’ second half (which begins in c at the stanza here numbered 14). In ‘The Two Noble Kinsmen,’ printed in 1634, and perhaps earlier, the Jailer’s Daughter sings the two following stanzas (Dyce, XI, 386):

The George Alow came from the south,
From the coast of Barbary-a,
And there he met with brave gallants of war,
By one, by two, by three-a.
Well haild, well haild, you jolly gallants,
And whither now are you bound-a?
Oh, let me have your company
Till [I] come to the sound-a.

These verses, whether accurately reported or not, certainly seem to belong to another ballad. Whether they are from the first part or the second part, we have no means of assuring ourselves. It is to be observed that in the ballad before us the George Aloe and the Sweepstake are sailing for Safee, and in the other case the George Aloe is coming from the south, from the coast of Barbary, so that the adventure, whatever it was, may have occurred in the homeward voyage; but the circumstance is not decisive.[101]

The George Aloe and the Sweepstake, merchantmen, are bound for Safee. The George Aloe anchors, the Sweepstake keeps on, is taken by a French rover, and her crew thrown overboard. The George Aloe hears of this, and sets out to take the Frenchman. Her second shot carries away the enemy’s mainmast; the Frenchmen cry for mercy. The English ask what they did with the crew of the Sweepstake; the Frenchmen confess that they threw them into the sea. Such mercy as you shewed such mercy shall you have, say the English, and deal with the French accordingly.

‘Aboard,’ 62, 162, I suppose to mean alongside. ‘Amain,’ 71, 161, is strike (sails) in sign of surrender. The French use the word derived from their own language; the English say, strike. ‘Gallant’ Englishmen in 71, after ‘English dogs’ in 61, is unlikely courtesy, and is not found in 161.

‘The Swepstacke’ is a king’s ship in 1545, and ‘The Sweepstakes’ apparently again in 1666: Historical MSS Commission, 12th Report, Appendix, Part VII, pp. 8, 45.

1
The George Aloe and the Sweepstakes too,
With hey, with ho, for and a nony no
They were two merchant-men, a sailing for Safee.
And along the course of Barbary
2
[The George Aloe to anchor came,
But the jolly Sweepstake kept on her way.]
3
They had not sayled leagues two or three
Before they spyed a sail upon the sea.
4
‘O hail, O hail, you lusty gallants,
From whence is your good ship, and whither is she bound?’
5
‘O we are some merchant-men, sailing for Safee:’
‘And we be French rebels, a roving on the sea.
6
‘O hail, O hail, you English dogs, [hail!]’
‘The[n] come aboard, you French dogs, and strike down your sail!’
7
‘Amain, amain, you gallant Englishmen!’
‘Come, you French swades, and strike down your sails!’
8
They laid us aboard on the starboard side,
And they overthrew us into the sea so wide.
9
When tidings to the George Aloe came
That the jolly Sweepstakes by a Frenchman was tane,
10
‘To top, to top, thou little ship-boy,
And see if this French man-of-war thou canst descry.’
11
‘A sail, a sail, under your lee,
Yea, and another under her bough.’
12
‘Weigh anchor, weigh anchor, O jolly boatswain,
We will take this Frenchman if we can.’
13
We had not sailed leagues two or three
But we met the French man-of-war upon the sea.
14
‘All hail, all hail, you lusty gallants,
Of whence is your fair ship, and whither is she bound?’
15
‘O we are merchant-men, and bound for Safee;’
‘And we are Frenchmen, roving upon the sea.
16
‘Amain, amain, you English dogs!’
‘Come aboard, you French rogues, and strike your sails!’
17
The first good shot the George Aloe shot,
It made the Frenchmen’s hearts sore afraid.
18
The second shot the George Aloe did afford,
He struck the main-mast over the board.
19
‘Have mercy, have mercy, you brave English[men].’
‘O what have you done with our brethren on [shore]?’
As they sail[ed].
20
‘We laid them aboard on the starboard side,
And we threw them into the sea so wide.’
21
‘Such mercy as you have shewed unto them,
Even the like mercy shall you have again.’
22
We laid them aboard on the larboard side,
And we threw them into the sea so wide.
23
Lord, how it grieved our hearts full sore
To see the drowned Frenchmen float along the shore!
24
Now, gallant seamen all, adieu,
With hey, with ho, for and a nony no
This is the last news that I can write to you.
To England’s coast from Barbary

a. The Seamans only Delight: Shewing the brave fight between the George Aloe, the Sweepstakes, and certain French Men at sea. Tune, The Sailor’s Joy, etc. (No printers given in the transcript.)

b. The Saylors only Delight: Shewing the brave fight between the George-Aloe, the Sweepstake, and certain Frenchmen at sea. To the tune of The Saylors Joy. London, Printed for F. Coles, T. Vere and J. [Wright] (torn). 1655-80, Chappell.

c. The Sailors onely Delight: Shewing the brave fight between George-Aloe, the Sweep-stakes, and certain French-men at sea. To the tune of The Saylor’s Joy. Printed for F. Coles, J. Wright, Tho. Vere, and W. Gilbertson. The earliest known ballad by the four together is dated 1655, Chappell. (See No 273, Appendix, III, b.)

a.

1, 24. Burden1. anony.

1. Burden2. course should probably be coast.

2. Wanting; supplied from b, c.

41. O hail, oh.

51, 61, 151. Oh.

102. Frenchman of war.

132. French Men of War.

172. French Mens.

19. Ends torn away. Percy gives, after english, A, which may be the first half of an M; after on, fl, which may possibly be a wrong reading of sh. Shore is not what we should expect. Defects supplied from b, c.

232. French Men.

b.

1. Burden1. a nony. Burden2. alongst the cost.

11, 92. Sweepstake.

12. O they were marchant men and bound.

32. But they met with a Frenchman of war upon.

41. All hayl, all hayl.

42. Of whence is your fair ship, whether are you bound.

51. We are Englishmen and bound.

52. Of whence is your fair ship, or whether are you bound.

6. Wanting.

72. swads.

102. Frenchman.

111. our lee.

112. under her obey.

132. Frenchman.

142. is it.

152. I, and we are Frenchmen and war.

162. strike down.

172. He made: heart.

182. strook.

191. brave Englishmen.

192. brethen on shore.

Burden2. As they sayled into Barbary.

231. greives.

232. swim along.

c.

42. or whither.

71. Englishman.

72. sayle.

142. whither are you.

162. rogue.

172. hearts.

182. struck their.

192. brethren on shore. Burden2. sayled in.

212. Then the. Variations otherwise as in b.

FOOTNOTES:

[101] There is an entry, July 31, 1590, of A Ditty of the fight upon the seas the fourth of June last in the Straits of Gibraltar between the George and the Thomas Bonaventure and eight galleys with three frigates (Arber, II, 557), but it is likely that there were Georges many, and only one George Aloe.

Mr Ebsworth has pointed out that a ballad called The Sailor’s Joy, the name of the tune to which ‘The George Aloe and the Sweepstake’ was to be sung, was entered in the Stationers’ Registers, January 14, 1595: Arber, II, 669.