Join us each month in song!
Since 2016—our designated Year of Song—CDSS has featured a traditional song each month. Lorraine Hammond spearheaded this effort, and it was such a popular feature that Judy Cook volunteered to continue the tradition in 2017 and beyond.
Note: Many of these old songs should be looked at as “fairy tales for adults” in that they often address very strong, and sometimes scary, subject matter. They allow us to deal with difficult situations and emotions with the distance afforded by putting it in a song. They are cautionary tales, and had their use as such.
This month’s song:
February 2023: The Rose in June
Submitted by William Pint
This moving song came to me forty years ago by way of Louisa Jo Killen. It demonstrates the amazing power locked within a ballad when delivered by a brilliant singer.
The story is that of a fishing vessel capsizing in a storm off the coast of Scotland in the late 1800s, the fate of the captain and first mate, and the power of faith to give strength and comfort in terrifying circumstances. I am not a religious person by any means, but this song has a profound effect on me every time I hear it. Listen to it and marvel at how it conveys such tremendous emotional content.
Listen to Louisa singing “The Rose in June:”
Download the sheet music for “The Rose in June.” Lyrics
On the rocky coast of Scotland, in a little village there,
There dwelt a righteous man, serving God without a care
He was not a man of honour, but a humble fisherman,
Working hard to earn his living, his name was Andrew Davidson.He was the master of a vessel, and he claimed her as his own.
She was fitted with all was needed; she was called The Rose in June.
And with eager expectation he was waiting for the day
When the time would come for fishing and the boats would sail away.Now, Andrew had been lately married, and before he left his home,
Andrew and his wife together knelt in prayer before the Throne,
Asking God for His protection on his wife while he was gone,
Praying nothing would befall her, not of danger nor of harm.And his wife was kneeling by him, and she heard his fervent prayer
Asking God for her protection, not a word for his was there,
And her heart did sink within her as she rose from her bended knee,
Thinking on those terrible dangers and those perils of the sea!Now when the Summer winds blew softly, herrin’ fishing season came.
Andrew Davidson preparing, herrin’ fishing was his game.
Andrew Davidson preparing with his crew to go to sea,
Not thinking this would be his last time ever with his friends to be.Many vessels now are sailing and The Rose in June is one
Swiftly gliding out the harbour at the setting of the sun
Many fishing vessels sailing out that fateful afternoon
Out of sight of friends and loved ones swiftly glides The Rose in June.In that night a storm came raging and the angry billows roared,
Many a vessel was tossed and driven all along that rocky shore.
Their crews were clinging to them, all seamen strong and brave,
Praying the Lord would save them from a seaman’s watery grave.And all along the coast next morning, anxious eyes did watch and wait,
The children of those absent seamen, those returning ships did sight.
And one by one, those vessels sailed in, through morning until noon,
Till all were safely anchored, all but one, The Rose in June.Whom the seas turned bottom upwards, dashed against that rocky shore.
Her crew was clinging to her, thinking the storm would soon be o’er.
Andrew Davidson, their captain, in that time of sudden fear,
Called on Jesu, Christ the Savior, and he bowed his head in prayer.
Saying, “Come on and sing God’s praises,” and at last they all begun:
Dearest Jesus, I am dying, what a comfort divine,
What a comfort to know that the Savior is mine.
Hallelujah, send the Glory, Hallelujah, amen,
Hallelujah, send the Glory to revive us again.But these words were scarcely ended when the out-wave struck her side.
Tore their captain from his holdings, and he sank beneath the tide,
Gone to join those friends and shipmates on that heavenly shore,
Welcomed by his lovin’ Savior singing praise forevermore.And John Allen was the young mate, and he knew he was forgiven.
“Let us keep on with our singing, our captain is in Heaven.”
And they sang so loud and trialled, till they came to this last verse:
Slowly onward we haste to the heavenly place,
For this is the glory and this is the grace.
Hallelujah, send the Glory, Hallelujah, amen,
Hallelujah, send the Glory to revive us again.But these words were scarcely ended when the out-wave burst around.
Tore the young mate from his holdings and his body too was drowned.
Going to join those friends and shipmates on that heavenly shore,
Welcomed by his lovin’ Savior singing praise forevermore.And the rest of the crew was rescued, but they’ll ne’er forget the scene,
In that hour and that moment when that song they tried to sing,
Oh! Were no sermons ever preached or experience ever known,
Like the power in that moment, that hour of sudden doom!So sinners, give your souls to Jesus, it can never be too soon.
If in heaven you meet the captain, meet the mate of The Rose in June.
Oh, sinners, give your souls to Jesus, it can never be too soon.
If in heaven you meet the captain, meet the mate of The Rose in June.William Pint‘s heart was captured by traditional music at the impressionable age of seventeen, and sea shanties and maritime songs by his twenty-fifth birthday. He and his partner, Felicia Dale, have released numerous recordings of mostly traditional material with innovative and highly energetic arrangements.
Past Songs
January 2023: Bed Is Too Small
December 2022: Jack Ashton
November 2022: Wild Mountain Thyme
October 2022: I’ve Lived in Service
September 2022: London Town
August 2022: Yuba Dam
July 2022: Bibble A La Do
June 2022: The Golden Willow Tree
May 2022: Ford o’ Kabul River
April 2022: Bold Riley
March 2022: The Foggy Dew
February 2022: Scarborough Settler’s Lament
January 2022: Tom o’Bedlam’s Song
December 2021: We Shepherds Be the Best of Men
November 2021: Catch Me If You Can
October 2021: Somebody’s Waiting for Me / Country Garden
September 2021: The Water Is Wide
August 2021: Springfield Mountain
July 2021: Shove the Grog Around (Shanty Song)
June 2021: The Cruel Mother
May 2021: Katie Catch
April 2021: A Pilgrim’s Way
March 2021: Glenlogie
February 2021: Sprig of Thyme
January 2021: Lord Bateman
December 2020: Brave Boys
November 2020: Abroad as I Was Walking
October 2020: The Dowie Dens o’ Yarrow
September 2020: The Setting of the Sun
August 2020: Annachie Gordon
July 2020: Stand Steady
June 2020: Braw Lads of Galla-water
May 2020: The Lincolnshire Poacher
April 2020: The Hills of Mexico
March 2020: I Saw Three Ships
February 2020: The Trooper and the Tailor
January 2020: Lost on the Lady Elgin
December 2019: Bright Phoebe
November 2019: Tickle Cove Pond
October 2019: I’m Going Back to North Carolina
September 2019: For the Company Underground
August 2019: The Maid of Sweet Gurteen
July 2019: Starving to Death on a Government Claim
June 2019: Annan Water
May 2019: The Shearin’s No’ For You
April 2019: Shady Grove
March 2019: Bedlam
February 2019: The Bonny Bunch of Roses
January 2019: Ambletown
December 2018: Throw Open Your Shutters
November 2018: The Wild Rover
October 2018: She’s Like the Swallow
September 2018: The Night Guard
August 2018: Here’s Adieu to All Judges and Juries
July 2018: Sailing
June 2018: Earl o’Bran
May 2018: Georgie
April 2018: A Sailor’s Life
March 2018: The Banks of Red Roses
February 2018: The Boy That Wore The Blue
January 2018: The Bay Of Biscay
December 2017: Song, Composed in August
November 2017: The Devil Buck
October 2017: Double Sledder Lad
September 2017: Sweet William’s Ghost
August 2017: Welcome Home My Sailor
July 2017: Drive Dull Care Away
June 2017: When I Went for to Take My Leave
May 2017: Bonnie Annie
April 2017: The Death of Bill Brown
March 2017: Money Is King
February 2017: Tha Sneachd’Air Druim Uachdair
January 2017: The January Man
December 2016: Lamb and Lion
November 2016: Farther On
October 2016: Skin and Bones
September 2016: Canaan’s Land
August 2016: Farmer’s Daughter
July 2016: Ladies Rejoice
June 2016: The Press Gang
May 2016: Dancing at Whitsun
April 2016: Spring
March 2016: The Bonnie Blue-Eyed Lassie
February 2016: Paper of Pins
January 2016: May It Fill Your Soul