Annotation:Fair Sally lov'd a bonny seaman

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FAIR SALLY LOV'D A BONNY SEAMAN. English, Air (3/4 time). E Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. "Fair Sally lov'd a boony seaman" is a mid-18th century song, printed in John Simpson's Calliope, or English Harmony, vol. 1 (1746), John Sadler's The Muses Delight (1754), and other period songsters and on song-sheets. The words were the product of poet John Hoadly (1711-1776), a bishop's son who also became a clergyman. He also wrote songs, sometimes in partnership with his friend Maurice Green, who supplied the music (as he did for "Fair Sally..."). Hoadly's first stanza goes:

Fair Sally lov'd a bonny Seaman;
With Tears she sent him out to roam,
Young Thomas lov'd no other Woman,
But left his Heart with her at home.
She view'd the Sea from off the Hill,
And while she turn'd the Spinning-Wheel,
Sung of her bonny Seaman.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Oswald (Caledonian Pocket Companion, Book 11), 1760; p. 125.

Recorded sources:

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