Go to Sea No More  
Millions of people flooded into  
Liverpool at that time, and many died  
of starvation, disease, or were  
imprisoned for the slightest infraction.  
It was not uncommon to see young  
girls begging or being prostitutes (the  
youngest one on record for getting  
pregnant was a ten years old girl).  
For the most part the sailors who laid  
ashore in Liverpool while their  
wooden ships were being repaired  
and refurbished were of good moral  
character, and stayed clear of the  
dark side of Liverpool. However,  
there was the occasional sailor who  
ran astray.  
Child abuse laws in England did  
not come into effect until the late  
1800s and early 1900s. That initial  
attempt was to curb widespread  
child prostitution by raising the age  
of consent to 16 years of age.  
Child trafficking and slavery was  
also common. It wasn’t until the  
1930s that child labor laws were  
also added in the attempt to curb  
those problems as well.  
So. This was the world in which this  
seafaring folk song came about.  
The lyrics for this ballad may offend  
the sensibilities of some, but the  
song itself was meant to be a  
warning for those sailors who  
strayed from the right course of  
action.  
In this Maritime tale, a young sailor goes on a drinking binge as his ship is being “Hoved  
Down” (rolled over to remove barnacles and other hull rot) swearing he’d never go to sea  
again, but he loses all his money (as well as a new watch) to a prostitute. Realizing his state  
after he sobered up, he returned to the Custom House in Liverpool to see if he could get  
another billet. He met “rapper” Brown who was part of the recruitment process. “Rapper” is  
slang for “English” or someone from England, as most people in Liverpool were of Irish and  
Scots origins.  
Rapper Brown gave him a billet on a whaling ship, but Rapper Brown took the sailor’s  
advance, and the poor sailor had to work in the north sea without any gear. He almost died of  
freezing cold. He survived, but he gave some wise advice to new sailors who laid ashore.  
Continued …  

< Page 01 .......... Page 02 .......... Page 03 >

 

Make a free website with Yola