Canadee-I-O – 18th century Canadian-English folk ballad. SheetMusic(pdf). Sung by Jon Boden & Dan Plews at woods by Hatfield House, by John & Robin Elwood, and by Nic Jones.
Well it's of a fair and handsome girl, she's in her tender years:
She fell in love with a sailor boy, it's true that she loved him dear,
But to follow him to sea, that she did not know how,
She longed to see that seaport town called Canadee-I-O.
And so she bargained with a sailor boy, it's all for a piece of gold.
Straightway he led her down into the hold,
Saying, "I'll dress you up in sailor's clothes, your collar shall be blue,"
You'll see that seaport town called Canadee-I-O.
Now when the other sailors they heard the news, well they fell in a rage
And with all the whole ship's company they were willing to engage,
Saying, "We'll tie her hands and feet me boys and overboard we'll throw her.
She'll never see that seaport town called Canadee-I-O."
Now when the captain he's heard the news, well he too fell in a rage
And with the whole ship's company he was willing to engage,
Saying, "She'll stay on board in sailor's clothes, her collar shall be blue.
She'll see that seaport town called Canadee-I-O."
Now when they reached the other side, well it’s not about half a year
Before she's married this captain bold who called her his dear.
She's dressed in silks and satins now, she cuts a gallant show,
The finest of the ladies up in Canadee-I-O.
So come all you fair and tender girls wheresoever you may be,
I would have you to follow your own true love, when he goes to sea.
For if the sailors prove false to you, well the captain he might prove true,
You see the honor I have gained by the wearing of the blue.
You see the honor that I have gained by the wearing of the blue.
Canadee-I-O is something of a hybrid folksong, combining, as it does, two separate motifs; namely the girl who follows her truelove abroad, and the myth of the shipboard Jonah. As in many broadsides, however, there is a happy ending. According to Frank Kidson, Canadee-I-O is a song which first appeared during the 18th century. In form, it is related to the Scots song Caledonia—versions of which were collected by Gavin Greig—although exactly which song came first is one of those ‘chicken and egg’ questions that so frequently beset folkmusic studies. Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music