Hi folks:

Two questions about songs from Sam Larner's US Folkways LP "Now is the Time
for
Fishing", which I'm currently working on for the Traditional Ballad Index.
The first is a fragment:

The Reckless Young Fellow

I once was a reckless young fellow
I never took care of my life
I sailed the salt seas all over
And every port a fresh wife

I wish the wars were all over
And I safe ashore on the main
And bless me forever and ever
If I ever go whoring again

Taking "I wish the wars were all over" as my handle, and searching on
"wars", the closest match I could come up with was "The Deluded Lover". But
I looked in Kennedy and, dammit, it's not the same song, not even close.

The liner notes (by Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger, the collectors) aren't much
help; they read: "These two verses are, according to Mr. Larner, 'the
complete song' and that may well be so, although they could, equally well,
be the first and last verses of a longer piece. Asked where he had learned
it, Mr. Larner replied, 'That's a well-known ditty in these parts, a
well-known ditty.' The editors have been unable to trace other versions of
the song."

The only thing I can think of is that this might be a bawdy variant on "I
would that the wars were all done", which is in Digital Tradition. But it's
way too fragmentary for me to assign for sure. Any ideas?

The second song is:

The Dockyard Gate

List you seamen unto me
For these few lines to you I'd write
Just to let you know how the game goes on
When you are out of sight
Just to let you know how the lads on shore
Go sporting with your wives
When you are out on the raging seas
All venturing your sweet lives.

Now, last farewell of her true love
She then began to cry
She took her handkerchief from her breast
To wipe her weeping eye
Saying, "My love is going to sea
How hard it is, my case
There's plenty a-more all on the shore
And another one to take his place."

"Now go you down to the dockyard gate
And wait till I come out
For this very day, we'll spent his half-pay
And we'll drink both ale and stout."

Now the day being spent with sweet content
And his half-pay was no more
"Nevermind, my love," she then did cry
"My husband is working hard for more
Perhaps it is his watch on deck
All shivering in the cold
Or perhaps it is his watch below
Our joys we can behold."

The notes (again MacColl & Seeger) add that Kidson collected a
verse-and-a-half in Whitby, Yorkshire, and give a reference to the Folk Song
Journal, but that's all.

Thing is, I'd *swear* we have this one in the Index someplace, and that I
know the plot if not the exact words. But I searched the Index on all the
likely keywords, and racked my memory, and didn't find it either place. Any
ideas on this one?

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

Peace,
Paul