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In the 1800s, and even into the early 1900s, travelling on ship across the seas was very risky. Once the ship left harbor, there were no radios or communications like we have today, and if the ship was lost at sea it might be months if not years to learn the fate of vessel, passengers, and crew. While the theme is seafaring, the original song and melody was written by a printer, Henry Clay Work in 1865. The melody and song became extremely popular and many variations came out. The most recent and popular version was by the Kingston Trio in 1959, known simply as "MTA." That latest version was about a man who got on the Boston subway and did not have a nickel to get off the train and as a consequence ... he never returned. Our KelticDead Music Group (Earnie Taft, Linda King, and Shaun Young) sang and played the original, seafaring song using live instruments typically used by Celtic music groups.
The KelticDead Music Initiative is a FREE on-line, web-based music-education resource about Celtic, Folk, Old Time, and Sea Faring tunes, songs and stories that are now found throughout the world and in every culture. For more information about this initiative, visit www.KelticDead.com .