Song Stories: “Willie and Mary”

A seafaring romance with a happy ending

In a past entry, I shared a melancholy song called “If I was a Blackbird” about a woman who was abandoned by her sailor sweetheart. But this time around, I was determined to find a happy seafaring romance. Like Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliot from Jane Austen’s Persuasion, Willie and Mary had a lengthy separation — though they never forgot one another. “William and Mary” is attributed to Lesley Nelson-Burns, which was printed on a 1794 English broadside. The version I chose is a variation performed by Déanta, a traditional Irish band. Enjoy!

Lyrics

As Willie and Mary met by the sea side
A long farewell for to take,
Said Mary to Willie, if you go away
I’m afraid my poor heart it might break.
Don’t be afraid dearest Mary he said,
As he clasped his fond maid to his side
In my absence don’t mourn, for when I return,
I will make you sweet Mary, my Bride.

Seven long years had passed, and no word at last,
Mary stood by her own cottage door.
A beggar came by, with a patch on his eye,
Bedraggled, and ragged, and tore.
Your charity fair maid, bestow upon me,
Your fortune I’ll tell you beside,
Your lad that you mourn will never return,
To make little Mary his bride.

She slipped and she started, saying all that I have,
It’s freely to you I will give,
If you’ll tell me true what I now ask of you,
Is my Willie dead or alive?
He’s living said he, though in sad poverty,
And shipwrecked he has been beside,
When he’d money untold and pockets of gold,
He’d have made little Mary his bride.

Then if he is dead, no other I’ll wed,
No other I’ll have by my side.
In riches though rolled, or covered with gold,
He’d have made his own Mary his bride.
Then the patch of his eye the old beggar let fly,
His old coat and crutches beside,
And in sailor’s blue clothes and with cheeks like the rose
It was Willie who stood by her side.

Oh, don’t be afraid dearest Mary he said,
It was only your faith that I tried.
To the church we’ll away, by the break of the day,
And I’ll make little Mary my bride.

The Sailor’s Farewell by William Gale

The element of disguise serves a dual purpose: it gives the song a playful atmosphere while also testing Mary’s character. The kindness she shows to a lonely beggar (combined with her declaration of loyalty to her lost love) proves her worthiness in his eyes. Like a scene out of a fairy tale, Willie reveals his true identity and proposes marriage on the spot — fulfilling a promise seven years in the making. The song may be fancifully unrealistic, but sometimes we need a feel-good romance to give us hope.