Fare Thee Well, My Own True Love
‘The Leaving of Liverpool’ is one of the best loved songs of the sea. It is gentler than most of our set, and when we sing it there is often a moment at the chorus when the whole crowd goes quiet, and then joins in.
It is a song about saying goodbye, and anyone who has ever watched a ship sail away from a harbour can understand why it has lasted.
The Story of the Song
The singer is a sailor leaving his home port of Liverpool, bound for California by way of Cape Horn, one of the most dangerous passages in the world. He has signed up aboard a Yankee ship, the Davy Crockett, and does not expect it to be a comfortable berth, as her captain has a hard reputation.
But it is not the voyage that weighs on him most. As the chorus says, it is not the leaving of Liverpool that grieves him, but the thought of the girl he is leaving behind. He promises to return to her one day, when they will be together again.
Liverpool was one of the busiest ports in the world in the 19th century, and thousands of sailors, many of them Irish, shipped out from its docks. The song reflects that world, where a sailor might be away for years at a time.
Is It a Shanty?
The answer is: sometimes. Folklorists usually call ‘The Leaving of Liverpool’ a lyric lament, and it is sometimes described as a ‘forebitter’, one of the songs sung for pleasure in the fo’c’sle during off-watch hours, like those we described on our main history page.
However, recordings made in America in the 20th century show that old sailors also remembered it as a capstan shanty, sung while the crew walked round the capstan to haul in the anchor. One sailor said that on his voyages it was a forebitter, and another described the work the men did as they sang it. So it seems the song was used both ways, depending on the ship and the crew.
Where Did It Come From?
Nobody knows who first wrote it, but we do know a good deal about how it survived. The song is thought to date from the 19th century, from the days when fast American clippers carried passengers and cargo from Liverpool to San Francisco during the California Gold Rush years and after.
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, a folk song collector named William Doerflinger recorded old sailors at Sailors’ Snug Harbor on Staten Island in New York. One of them, Richard Maitland, said he had learned the song from a Liverpool man aboard a ship around 1885. Doerflinger printed Maitland’s version in his book, and this became the starting point for nearly every version sung today.
From the Sailors’ Home to the Folk Clubs
The song might have stayed in the book if it had not been picked up by singers of the folk revival. Ewan MacColl recorded it in 1962, and his accompanist, Louis Killen, soon began singing it himself. Killen taught it to Luke Kelly, who passed it on to his group The Dubliners, and also to Liam Clancy of The Clancy Brothers.
In 1964, The Dubliners and The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem both recorded the song, and the Clancy Brothers’ version was a top ten hit in Ireland. The Seekers recorded it in 1965. Bob Dylan borrowed the tune for his own song ‘Farewell’, and Tom Paxton used it as the basis for ‘The Last Thing on My Mind’. It has since been recorded by The Corries, The Pogues and many more.
“It’s not the leaving of Liverpool that grieves me…”
Why We Still Sing It
- The tune is simple and beautiful, and it is easy to harmonise.
- The chorus is easy to learn, so the audience can sing along.
- It gives a change of pace in the set, after a run of loud stamping songs.
- Many of us have said goodbye to someone at a harbour, and the song speaks to that.
Selsey has seen many fishermen and lifeboat crews go out to sea, and many families waiting for them to come home. So when we sing this song on the lifeboat station apron, it feels very much at home.
Come and hear it for yourself. Have a look at our Performances page to see where we will be next, and don’t forget to sing along. If you have a story about the song, drop us an email at contact@theselseyshantymen.co.uk!