HUDSON RIVER MARITIME MUSEUM
  • Visit
    • About
    • Plan Your Visit
    • Guided Tours
    • Events Calendar
    • Rondout Lighthouse
    • Docking
    • Visiting Vessels
  • Learn
    • Lecture Series
    • Youth Programs
    • School Programs
    • Exhibits on View >
      • Working Waterfronts
      • New Age of Sail
      • Warning Signs
      • Mary Powell
      • Rescuing the River
    • Online Exhibits
    • Speaking Engagements
  • Solaris Cruises
    • Cruise Schedule
    • Meet Our Boat
    • Book A Charter
  • Wooden Boat School
    • Boat School
    • Youth Classes
    • Adult Classes
    • Boat Building Classes
    • Boats For Sale
  • Sailing
    • Sailing School
    • Adult Sailing
    • Youth Sailing
    • Riverport Women's Sailing Conference
    • Sea Scouts
  • Join & Support
    • Donate
    • Membership
    • Volunteer
    • Ways to Give
    • Our Supporters

History Blog

Music Monday: Leave Her Johnny - Johnny Collins

9/28/2020

0 Comments

 
The traditional sea chantey, "Leave Her Johnny," sung by English folk singer Johnny Collins.

Johnny Collins (10 May 1938 – 6 July 2009) was an English folk singer based in London, England, specializing in traditional maritime music and sea shanties.
Collins was born in Norfolk, England and adopted by a railway worker and a music teacher living in Norwich. He joined the British Army in 1956, where he learned to play the guitar in jazz and folk clubs while posted in London. He was posted to Singapore in 1959 where he began performing in bars and cabarets in his off hours, and was posted to Hong Kong in 1965 where he began performing large concerts with other folk performers in the British and U.S. military.

He also performed on television and radio (including the "Voice of America in East Asia") and played venues like the Hong Kong Hilton. In 1967 he was posted again to Singapore where he began his own folk club at the Anophel Inn. Tom Lewis and Pam Ayres performed there, among others. He was demobilized ("demobbed") in 1968, and he began to perform full-time.

In 1983 he and Jim Mageean, performing as a duo, won the Intervision Song Contest in Rostock, in East Germany. Later, in 1987, they were invited by the East German government to perform at a sea shanty festival in Berlin commemorating the city's founding. Collins and his business partner Joyce Squires, assisted by Bernard Peek ran The Singing Chef. This service provided a wide range of home-cooked food at smaller folk-festivals throughout the UK. On occasions Collins sang on-stage wearing his chef's toque supported by backing singers (The Cheffettes) drawn from his kitchen brigade.

Although slowed down by health problems, Collins continued to tour and perform worldwide up to the time of his death. including in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland and France as well as making frequent appearances in his native country at Cutty Sark Tall Ships Races, and maritime festivals at Hull, Lancaster, Bristol, Dundee, Maldon, Portsmouth, Gosport, Greenwich and Chatham. He died on 6 July 2009 while on tour in Gdańsk, Poland, aged 71. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Collins

LEAVE HER JOHNNY - LYRICS
Oh the work was hard and the wages low
Leave her Johnny, leave her
I guess it's time for us to go
And it's time for us to leave her
Leave her Johnny leave her
Oh leave her Johnny, leave her
Oh the voyage is done and the winds don't blow
And it's time for us to leave her

Oh I thought I heard the old man say
Leave her Johnny, leave her
Oh tomorrow you will get your pay
And it's time for us to leave her
Leave her Johnny, leave her
Oh, leave her Johnny, leave her
Oh the voyage is done and the winds don't blow
And it's time for us to leave her

The winds blew foul and the seas ran high
Leave her Johnny, leave her
We shipped up green and none went by
And it's time for us to leave her
Leave her, Johnny, leave her
Oh leave her Johnny, leave her
Oh the voyage is done and
Oh the voyage is done and the winds don't blow
And it's time for us to leave her

The mate was a bucco and the old man was a Turk.
Leave her Johnny, leave her.
And the boatswain was a begger with a middle name of work
And it's time for us to leave her.
Leave her Johnny, leave her,
Oh leave her Johnny, leave her.
Oh the voyage is done and the winds don't blow
And it's time for us to leave her.

The old man swears, and the mate swears too,
Leave her Johnny, leave her.
The crew all swear, and so would you
And it's time for us to leave her,
Leave her Johnny, leave her,
Oh leave her Johnny, leave her.
Oh the voyage is done and the winds don't blow
And its time for us to leave her.

The starboard pump is like the crew
Leave her Johnny, leave her.
It's all worn out and will not do
And it's time for us to leave her,
Leave her Johnny, leave her,
Oh leave her Johnny, leave her.
Oh the voyage is done and the winds don't blow
And it's time for us to leave her.

The rats have gone and we the crew
Leave her Johnny, leave her.
It's the time be-damned that we went too
And it's time for us to leave her,
Leave her Johnny, leave her,
Oh leave her Johnny, leave her.
Oh the voyage is done and the winds don't blow
And it's time for us to leave her.

 Well I pray that we shall ne're more see
Leave her Johnny, leave her.
A hungry ship, the likes of she
And it's time for us to leave her,
Leave her Johnny, leave her,
Oh leave her Johnny, leave her.
Oh the voyage is done and the winds don't blow
And it's time for us to leave her.

Thanks to HRMM volunteer Mark Heller for sharing his knowledge of Hudson River music history for this series.

If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!​
Donate Now
Join Today
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    This blog is written by Hudson River Maritime Museum staff, volunteers and guest contributors.

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    May 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    April 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    Categories

    All
    Agriculture
    Amusement Parks
    Barges
    Black History
    Bridges
    Canals
    Captain William O. Benson Articles
    Catskill Mountains
    Environmental History
    Featured Artifact
    Ferries
    Fireboats
    George W. Murdock Articles
    Halloween
    House Boats
    Hudson River Commercial Fishing
    Iceboats
    Ice Harvesting
    Immigration
    Indian Point
    Indigenous Peoples
    Labor
    Lighthouses
    Marine Art
    Military
    Muddy Paddle Series
    Photo Contest
    Railroad
    RMS Titanic
    Rowing
    Sail
    Sail Freight
    Schooners
    Shipbuilding
    Shipyard
    Sloops
    Sports
    Steamboats
    Towboats And Tugboats
    Whaling
    Winter
    Women's History
    Wrecks And Mishaps

    RSS Feed

GET IN TOUCH
Hudson River Maritime Museum
50 Rondout Landing
Kingston, NY 12401

​845-338-0071
[email protected]


Contact Us

GET INVOLVED

Join & Support
​​Donate
Membership
Volunteer

Work with Us
​
RESEARCH
History Blog
Collections
Research Resources

stay connected

Join Our Email List
ABOUT
News
Publications
​Docking
Museum Store
Facility Rentals
Board
​
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Visit
    • About
    • Plan Your Visit
    • Guided Tours
    • Events Calendar
    • Rondout Lighthouse
    • Docking
    • Visiting Vessels
  • Learn
    • Lecture Series
    • Youth Programs
    • School Programs
    • Exhibits on View >
      • Working Waterfronts
      • New Age of Sail
      • Warning Signs
      • Mary Powell
      • Rescuing the River
    • Online Exhibits
    • Speaking Engagements
  • Solaris Cruises
    • Cruise Schedule
    • Meet Our Boat
    • Book A Charter
  • Wooden Boat School
    • Boat School
    • Youth Classes
    • Adult Classes
    • Boat Building Classes
    • Boats For Sale
  • Sailing
    • Sailing School
    • Adult Sailing
    • Youth Sailing
    • Riverport Women's Sailing Conference
    • Sea Scouts
  • Join & Support
    • Donate
    • Membership
    • Volunteer
    • Ways to Give
    • Our Supporters