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English
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This folksong was collected by Francis James Child as "The Sweet Trinity [The Golden Vanity]", and is Child 286. It is collected as 122 in the Roud Folk Index. The song is known under several other names besides "The Sweet Trinity" and "The Golden Vanity". The earliest known version of the song comes from around 1635 as "Sir Walter Raleigh Sailing in the Lowlands". Also known as "The Merry Golden Tree" or "The Golden Willow Tree".

The captain of a variously named ship, most often The Golden Vanity, expresses deep concern over the ship's safety due to the presence of an enemy ship usually of Turkish, French or Spanish sail, and in American versions, British. A cabin boy offers to resolve the danger, and the captain promises various rewards if he will do so. The cabin boy swims to the enemy ship, bores holes in its hull, and than swim backs to his own ship, whereupon the captain refuses to make good on his promises and usually will not even let the cabin boy back on board so he drowns. In some versions the cabin boy proceeds to sink the ship on which he served, using the same method of boring holes in the hull.
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