Songs of the Sea & Focastle

Rolling down to Old Maui

The American Folk Experience

Rolling down to Old Maui

by John Fitzsimmons | The American Folk Experience

~Traditional 
Once more we sail with a favoring gale
A-bounding o’er the main
And soon the hills of the tropic clime
Will be in view again
Six sluggish months have passed away
Since from your shores sailed we
But now we’re bound from the Arctic ground
Rolling down to old Maui

Rolling down to old Maui, my boys
Rolling down to old Maui
But now we’re bound from the Arctic ground
Rolling down to old Maui

We will heave our lead where old Diamond Head
Looms up on old Oahu
Our masts and rigging are covered with ice
Our decks are filled with snow
The hoary head of the Sea Gull Isles
That decks the Arctic Sea
Are many and many leagues astern
Since we steered for old Maui

Oh welcome the seas and the fragrant breeze
Laden with odors rare
And the pretty maids in the sunny glades
Who are gentle, kind and fair
And their pretty eyes even now look out
Hoping some day to see
Our snow-white sails before the gales
Rolling down to old Maui

Once more we sail with a favoring gale
Toward our distant home
Our mainmast sprung, we’re almost done
Still we ride the ocean’s foam
Our stun’s’ls booms are carried away
What care we for that sound
A living gale is after us
Hurrah, we’re homeward bound

If you have any more information to share about this song or helpful links, please post as a comment. Thanks for stopping by the site! ~John Fitz

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I am indebted to the many friends who share my love of traditional songs and to the many scholars whose works are too many to include here. I am also incredibly grateful to the collector’s curators and collators of Wikipedia, Mudcat.org, MainlyNorfolk.info, and TheContemplator.com for their wise, thorough and informative contributions to the study of folk music. 

I share this scholarly research on my site with humility, thanks, and gratitude. Please cite sources accordingly with your own research. If you have any research or sites you would like to share on this site, please post in the comment box.  

Thanks!

 

Source: Wikipedia

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"Rolling Down to Old Maui" (or Mohee) (Roud 2005) is a traditional sea song. It expresses the anticipation of the crew of a whaling vessel of its return to Maui after a season of whaling in the Kamchatka Sea.[1]

Origin

Although the words have been found in records going back to the mid 19th century, there is some dispute about the accuracy and provenance of the melody. The words of "Rolling Down to Old Mohee" have been found in a copybook of a sailor called George Piper, who was on a whaling ship between 1866 and 1872.[2] Similar lyrics were recorded by Joanna Colcord in her collection Roll and Go, Songs of American Sailormen in 1924, where she stated that the melody had been forgotten.[3] She included additional details in the 1938 edition of her book, titled simply Songs of American Sailormen.[4]

Other references point to a version recorded in the journal of the whaling ship Atkins Adams from 1855.[5]

The tune strongly resembles that of the popular 18th-century song "Miller of Dee" and could be derived from it.[citation needed]

Lyrics

It's a damn tough life full of toil and strife
We whalermen undergo.
And we don't give a damn when the day is done/gale has stopped
How hard the winds did blow.
'cause we're homeward bound from the Arctic ground/tis a grand ol' sound
With a good ship, taut and free
And we won't give a damn when we drink our rum
With the girls of Old Maui.

(Chorus)
Rolling down to Old Maui, me boys
Rolling down to Old Maui
We're homeward bound from the Arctic ground
Rolling down to Old Maui.

Once more we sail with a northerly gale
Towards our island home.
Our mainmast sprung, our whaling done,
And we ain't got far to roam.
Six hellish months have passed away
On the cold Kamchatka Sea,
But now we're bound from the Arctic ground
Rolling down to Old Maui.

Chorus

Once more we sail with a northerly gale
Through the ice and wind and rain.
Them coconut fronds, them tropical lands
We soon shall see again.
Our stu'n's'l bones/booms is carried away
What care we for that sound?
A living gale is after us,
Thank God we're homeward bound.

Chorus

How soft the breeze through the island trees,
Now the ice is far astern.
Them native maids, them tropical glades
Is a-waiting our return.
Even now their big brown eyes look out
Hoping some fine day to see
Our baggy sails runnin' 'fore the gales
Rolling down to old Maui.

Chorus

We'll heave the lead where old Diamond Head
Looms up on old Wahu.
Our masts and yards are sheathed with ice
And our decks are hid from view.
The horrid ice of the sea-caked isles
That deck the Arctic sea
Are miles behind in the frozen wind
Since we steered for Old Maui.

Chorus

(The following verse is seen in some collections and performances of the song, but is not universal:)
And now we're anchored in the bay
With the Kanakas all around
With chants and soft aloha oes
They greet us homeward bound.
And now ashore we'll have good fun
We'll paint them beaches red
Awaking in the arms of a wahine
With a big fat aching head.

Chorus

Versions

As it is a folk song, it has been performed and recorded by several singers and bands including The Dreadnoughts, David Coffin, Kimber's Men, Todd Rundgren, Don Sineti, Stan Rogers, The Longest Johns, and Jon Boden. Its melody has also been used, in its entirety as well as in part, as the basis for many other folk songs and song parodies, such as "The Light-Ship" by Leslie Fish and "Falling Down on New Jersey" by Mitchell Burnside-Clapp.

Californian folk singer Brian Robertson has recorded an alternate version entitled "Old Maui (from the Whales' Point of View)" on his album Saltchuck Serenade.[6]

"Rolling Down to Old Maui" was recorded by the American quintet Bounding Main and release on their 2005 album Maiden Voyage.[7]

References

  1. ^ Whales, Ice, and Men (Bockstoce, 1995, p. 45).
  2. ^ James Revell Carr (2014). Hawaiian Music in Motion: Mariners, Missionaries, and Minstrels. Music in American Life. Urbana, Ill.; Chicago: University of Illinois Press. pp. 81–. ISBN 978-0-252-09652-5. OCLC 894511210.
  3. ^ Colcord, Joanna C. (1924). Roll and Go, Songs of American Sailormen. Indianapolis, IN: The Bobbs-Merrill Company. pp. 106–108. OCLC 19934915.
  4. ^ Colcord, Joanna C. (1938). Songs of American Sailormen (2nd ed.). New York: W. W. Norton. pp. 197–200. OCLC 946498851.
  5. ^ Huntington, Gale (1970). Songs the Whalemen Sang (2nd ed.). New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 9780486221694.
  6. ^ "Maui Whales". 21 June 2016 – via www.youtube.com.
  7. ^ Rolling Down to Old Maui (28 September 2019). "Bounding Main". Bounding Main. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Down_to_Old_Maui

    Rolling Down to Old Maui

    [ Roud 2005 ; Ballad Index SWMS027 ; trad.]

    This is a song about the ca. 1850 Kamchatka bowhead whale and Pacific sperm whale fishing. Gale Huntington in his book Songs the Whalemen Sang gives a version called Rolling Down to Old Mohee from a journal made aboard the Atkins Adams in 1858.

    A.L. Lloyd, Trevor Lucas and Martyn Wyndham-Read sang two verses of Rolling Down to Old Maui on their album Leviathan! Ballads and Songs of the Whaling Trade. Lloyd commented in the album’s sleeve notes:

    Maui is one of the Hawaiian islands. In the fifties and sixties, the Pacific whalers used to meet there, or in nearby Oahu, twice a year. In March they fitted out for the summer season in the Arctic, when they fished the bowhead grounds off Kamchatka and the Gulf on Anadyr. In November, when they were back again, to fit out for sperm-whaling in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Southern Seas. Hence this song, bidding farewell to the bitter North, and looking forward with a smile to the languors of the South.

    Jeff Warner sang Rolling Down to Old Maui in 1976 on the Collector LP Steady As She Goes: Songs and Chanteys from the Days of Commercial Sail. The liner notes commented:

    Stan Hugill of Liverpool says that as early as 1820 Maui, one of the Hawaiian Islands (then the Sandwich Islands), was considered “home” by the Yankee sailors who hunted the northern grounds or the Bering Straits for right and bowhead whales. This is an off-watch song, as distinct from a working song, of whalemen longing for the women and weather of better latitudes.

    Stan Rogers sang Rolling Down to Old Maui in April 1979 live at The Groaning Board, Toronto. This concert was released in the same year on his albumBetween the Breaks… Live!. He commented in the liner notes:

    Emily Friedman introduced this song to me in her hotel room at the Mariposa Folk Festival in 1978, and I’ve loved it ever since. It may very well be my favourite chorus song.

    Jolly Jack recorded Rolling Down to Old Maui in 1983 as title track for their eponymous Fellside album. This was also included in 1999 on the same-named Fellside anthology CD Rolling Down to Old Maui. Paul Adams commented in the liner notes:

    Our title track comes from Songs The Whalemen Sang by New Englander, Gale Huntington. Many young men working on the American whaling ships kept personal journals in which the recorded the voyage, made sketches, notes and copied their favourite songs. The words of this song were taken from such a journal made aboard the Atkins Adams in 1858. The noble tune is from Chantying Aboard American Ships by F.P. Harlow. Maui is one of the Hawaiian Islands and was a meeting place for whalers… something to look forward to between trips. A “homeward bound” feeling prevails after the arctic hunting season but it was likely that they were merely calling at Maui for “fitting out” for the further half year in the southern oceans.

    Roy Harris sang Rolling Down to Old Maui in 1985 on his Fellside album Utter Simplicity.

    John Spiers and Jon Boden recorded Old Maui in 2005 for their album Songs and again in 2010/11 for their CD The Works. Jon Boden also sang it as the August 23, 2010 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day. They commented in their former CD’s liner notes:

    A well known rowdy sea-song. This version comes from Songs the Whalemen Sang by Gale Huntington and is taken from the log-book of the American ship Atkins Adams from the year 1858. This is a rather sentimental and self-consciously literary version of the song, presumably collected before the aural tradition had had time to work its rough magic. Normally this would be “A Bad Thing” but we rather like it this way.

    This video shows them at the Gosport and Fareham Festival on the Easter weekend in 2008:

    Lyrics

    Rolling Down to Old Mohee from the journal of the Atkins Adams, 1858

    Once more we are waft by the northern gales bounding over the main
    And now the hills of the tropic isles we soon shall see again
    Five sluggish moons have waxed and waned since from the shore sailed we
    𝄆 Now we are bound from the Arctic ground, rolling down to old Mohee 𝄇

    Through many a blow of frost and snow and bitter squalls of hail
    Our spars were bent and our canvas rent as we braved the northern gale
    The horrid isles of ice cut tiles that deck the Arctic sea
    𝄆 Are many, many leagues astern as we sail to old Mohee 𝄇

    Through many a gale of snow and hail our good ship bore away
    And in the midst of the moonbeam’s kiss we slept in St. Lawrence Bay
    And many a day we whiled away in the bold Kamchatka Sea
    𝄆 And we’ll think of that as we laugh and chat with the girls of old Mohee 𝄇

    An ample share of toil and care we whalemen undergo
    But when it’s over what care we how the bitter blast may blow
    We are homeward bound that joyful sound and yet it may not be
    𝄆 But we’ll think of that as we laugh and chat with the girls of old Mohee 𝄇

    A.L. Lloyd, Trevor Lucas and Martyn Wyndham-Read sing Rolling Down to Old Maui

    It’s an ample share of toil and care we whaleman undergo,
    Through many a blow of frost and hail and bitter squalls of snow,
    The horrid isles of ice cut tiles that deck the Polar sea.
    But now we’re bound from the Arctic ground, rolling down to old Maui.

    Once more we’re blown by the northern gales, and bounding o’er the main;
    And the green hills of them tropical isles we soon shall see again.
    Oh, it’s many a day we toiled away in that cold Kamchatka Sea,
    And we’ll think of that as we laugh and chat with the girls of old Maui.

    Jeff Warner sings Rolling Down to Old Maui

    It’s a damn tough life full of toil and strife we whalemen undergo,
    We don’t give a damn when the gale is done how hard the winds did blow.
    We’re homeward bound, ’tis a grand ol’ sound with a good ship taut and free,
    We don’t give a damn when we drink our rum with the girls of old Maui.

    Chorus (after each verse):
    Rolling down to old Maui, me boys
    Rolling down to old Maui
    We’re homeward bound from the Arctic ground
    Rolling down to old Maui

    Once more we sail with a Northerly gale through the ice, and wind, and rain,
    And them coconut fronds and them tropical lands we soon shall see again.
    Six hellish months have passed away in the cold Kamchatka sea
    But now we’re bound from the Arctic ground rolling down to old Maui.

    Once more we sail with the Northerly gale towards our Island home,
    Our mainmast sprung and our whaling done and we ain’t got far to roam.
    Our stans’l booms is carried away, what care we for that sound,
    A living gale is after us, thank God we’re homeward bound

    How soft the breeze from the island trees now the ice is far astern,
    And them native maids and them island glades is awaiting our return.
    Even now their big, black eyes look out hoping some fine day to see,
    Our baggy sails running ‘fore the gales rolling down to old Maui.

    Spiers & Boden sing Rolling Down to Old Maui

    Once more we are waft by the northern gales a-bounding over the main
    And soon the hills of the tropic isles we all shall see again;
    Five sluggish moons have waxed and waned since from the shore sailed we
    And now we are bound from the Arctic ground, rolling down to old Maui.

    Through many a gale of frost and hail our big ship bore away
    And in the midst of a moonbeam’s kiss we slept at St. Lawrence Bay;
    And many is the day we whiled away on the bold Kamchatka Sea
    But now we are bound from the Arctic ground, rolling down to old Maui.

    Chorus (after each verse):
    Rolling down to old Maui, me boys
    Rolling down to old Maui
    We’re homeward bound from the Arctic ground
    Rolling down to old Maui

    Through many a blow of frost and snow and bitter squalls of hail
    Our spars were bent and our canvas rent as we braved the northern gale.
    The cruel isles of ice-capped tiles that deck the Arctic sea
    Are many, many leagues astern as we sail to old Maui.

    An ample share of toil and care we whalemen undergo,
    But when it’s over, what care we how the bitter the blast may blow?
    We’re homeward bound, that joyful sound across the Arctic sea,
    We’re homeward bound from the Arctic ground, rolling down to old Maui.

    Acknowledgements and Links

    A.L. Lloyd’s lyrics were taken from the Leviathan! sleeve notes.

    See also the Mudcat Café track Lyr Req: Rollin’ Down to Old Maui.

    One of the best versions by Stan Rogers and crew…

     

    Another great version by Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag…

     

    https://youtu.be/cAWRwdeonR0

    The American Folk Experience is dedicated to collecting and curating the most enduring songs from our musical heritage.  Every performance and workshop is a celebration and exploration of the timeless songs and stories that have shaped and formed the musical history of America. John Fitzsimmons has been singing and performing these gems of the past for the past forty years, and he brings a folksy warmth, humor and massive repertoire of songs to any occasion. 

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    Thanksgiving

    by | July 30, 2014 | Poetry | 0 Comments

    I am surprised sometimesby the suddenness of November:beauty abruptly shedto a common nakedness--grasses deadenedby hoarfrost,persistent memoriesof people I’ve lost.It is left to those of us dressed in the hard barky skin of experienceto insist on a decorumthat rises...
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    The Next Time Around

    by | April 16, 2016 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

            I wonder what the years have really taught me about writing and music. I have gotten so used to preaching and teaching that I am a bit looped by the thought of writing—as in how I wrote before (or how I will claim I wrote) before settling into this somewhat...
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    In Reply To Einstein

    by | July 14, 2014 | Poetry, Raccoon | 0 Comments

    *God casts the die, not the dice. ~Alfred Einstein I am cold down the neck, turtling my head to showers of ice that fall dancing and skidding on skins of crusted snow. I hold my breath when I step, inflating hopes of a weightlessness, and so be undetected
to the play...
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    Chores

    by | May 15, 2016 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

    The day sometimes slip away from me, a huge pine half-bucked in the backyard, the kids old tree fort cut into slabs, a ton of coal waiting to be moved in a train of buckets to the bin. Sipping cold water on the back deck, sharpening the dulled teeth of a worn...
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    The Mystery Within

    by | August 15, 2014 | Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

    EJ wanted a banana tree for Christmas so that early morning brought a plastic bag, a few meager roots and no directions. I bought some potting soil and a square cedar box EJ placed deliberately by a westward window. He gently splayed the roots, pressed the soil, and...
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    Calvary

    by | August 23, 2014 | Out of the Forge, Songs | 0 Comments

    It seems like it ain’t been a long time,
    But I’m damn pleased your coming by again.
    It’s been a while since we sat down and rambled
    About this and that and why and who and then
    You said that you had to get a move on,
    Move on and leave a space behind.
    So I spent a while hitting all those old roads:
    Old friends and kicking down the wine.

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    Ring of Fire: The Power of Simplicity

    by | March 28, 2017 | Journal, Songs, Teaching, The American Folk Experience | 0 Comments

    In fifth grade my mother finally let me go to the Concord Music store and buy a "45" single.  I bought Johnny Cash’s version of “Ring of Fire” written by his future wife June Carter and Merle Kilgore, a noted country songwriter of his day. There was no doubt in my...
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    I have been here before

    by | September 9, 2017 | Crows and Swallows, Journal, Poetry | 0 Comments

    Trying to pull a final day Back into the night, execute Some stay of time, Some way to wrap The fabric of Summer Around the balky, frame of Fall, sloughing My skin, unable to stop This reptilian ecdysis— This hideous morphing Into respectability. My students, tame As...
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    Searching for an Alibi

    by | August 12, 2014 | Fires in the Belly, Songs | 0 Comments

    Here I am out on the road again
    and it feels longer than it was back then;
    when I was younger, man, it saw me through—
    now it don’t do
    what I want it to—

    Too ra loo ra loo ra lady I—
    I’m just out searching for an alibi
    Too ra loo ra loo ra lady I
    I’m just out searching for an alibi.

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    What’s in a Song

    by | May 4, 2014 | Essays, Journal | 0 Comments

    Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet. ~Plato         Writing a song is not just an exercise in seeking some kind of future fame. It is...
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    Shane

    by | August 12, 2014 | Fires in the Belly, Songs | 0 Comments

    It’s been too long feeling sorry for myself.
    It’s been too long with my life up on the shelf.
    Sometimes wish that I was Shane—
    shoot Jack Palance, and disappear again;
    don’t have no one
    don’t want no one
    don’t miss no one:
    living lonely with a saddle and a gun.

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