Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part of a four part pancocojams series about examples of the Hymn/Gospel songs with the titles "The Old Gospel Ship", "Take A Trip" or similar titles.
This post presents some comments from a Mudcat folk music discussion thread about several 19th century African American Spirituals that refer to Gospel ships sailing. These songs may be part of more well known"The Old Ship Of Zion" family of Spirituals/Hymns.
I believe that these Spirituals are probable precursors of 20th century Black American and White American Gospels and Hymns with the titles "The Old Gospel Ship" or "Take A Trip".
This pancocojams post also presents a comment from that same Mudcat discussion thread about African American composer of and performer Sam Lucas who wrote a version of "The Gospel Ship" in the late 19th century.
Information about Sam Lucas is presented in the Addendum of this post...
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-carteer-familys-1935-record-gospel.html for Part iI of this pancocojams series. That post showcases a 1935 sound file of The Carter Family singing their version of "The Old Gospel Ship".The lyrics for The Carter Family's version of "The Old Gospel Ship" is also included in that post. That post also includes an auto-generated transcript from a YouTube video about the history of "The Old Gospel Ship" hymn.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/03/african-american-examples-of-take-trip.html__ for Part III of this pancocojams series. That post showcases six YouTube examples of 21st century African American singers performing "Take A Trip" (On That Good Old Gospel Ship). The lyrics to two versions of that Gospel song are included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for historical, religious, and socio-cultural purpose.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the unknown composers of these Spirituals and thanks to all those who collected those songs. Thanks to Sam Lucas for his cultural legacy. Thanks also to Dicho (Frank Staplin) and the other members of the Mudcat folk music forum who are quoted in this pancocojams post.
****
SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS MUDCAT FOLK MUSIC DISCUSSION THREAD
These comments are numbered for referencing purposes only.
from https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=41005
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 Nov 01 - 06:24 PM
THE OLD SHIP OF ZION I
[…]
...“Written down in 1850, this fragment from Cincinnati is one
of the earliest recorded spirituals. In Dena Epstein, 1977, Spiritual Tunes and
Spirituals: Black Folk Music to the Civil War, Univ. Illinois Press.”
[…]
Cho.
Don't you see that ship a-sailin',
Gwine over to the Promised Land?
I asked my Lord, shall I ever be the one,
Shall I ever be the one, shall I ever be the one,
To go sailin', sailin', sailin', sailin',
Gwine over to the Promised Land?
2. She sails like she is heavy-loaded, etc.
3. King Jesus is the captain, etc.
4. The Holy Ghost is the pilot, etc.
The above, from North Carolina, is in Allen, 1867, Slave
Songs of the United States.
@religion @spiritual
THE SHIP OF ZION V
Dis de good old ship o' Zion, (3 times)
An' she's makin' for de Promise Land.
She hab angels for de sailors (3 times)
An' she's makin' for de Promise Land.
An' how you know dey's angels? (3 times)
An' she's etc.
Good Lord, shall I be de one? (3 times)
An' she's etc.
Dat ship is out a-sailin', sailin', sailin',
An' she's etc.
She's a-sailin' mighty steady, steady, steady,
An' she's etc.
She'll neither reel nor totter, totter, totter,
An' she's etc.
She's a-sailin' away cold Jordan, Jordan, Jordan,
An' she's etc.
King Jesus is de captain, captain, captain,
An' she's making for de Promise Land.
From T. W. Higginson, 1867
THE SHIP OF ZION VI
De gospel ship is sailin', Hosann-sann.
O, Jesus is de captain, Hosann-sann.
De angels are de sailors, Hosann-sann
O, is your bundle ready? Hosann-sann.
O, have you got your ticket? Hosann-sann.
Versions 4-6 from T. W. Higginson, Negro Spirituals,
Atlantic Monthly, 1867.
See Fenner, Dett and others for other early versions."
**
2. Subject: Lyr Add: OLD SHIP OF ZION (DON'T YE VIEW DAT SHIP)
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 Nov 01 - 08:36 PM
(DON'T YE VIEW DAT SHIP)
Don't ye view dat ship a come a sailin'? Hallelujah!
Don't ye view dat ship a come a sailin'? (3 times)
Don't ye view dat ship a come a sailin'? Hallelujah!
Dat ship is heavy loaded, Hallelujah!
Dat ship is havy loaded, (3 times)
Dat ship is heavy loaded, Hallelujah!
She neither reels nor totters, Hallelujah! etc.
She is loaded with bright angels, Hallelujah! etc.
Oh, how do you know dey are angels? Hallelujah! etc.
I know dem by-a de'r mournin', Hallelujah! etc.
Oh, yonder comes my Jesus, Hallelujah! etc.
Oh, how do you know it's Jesus? Hallelujah! etc.
I know him by-a His shinin', Hallelujah! etc.
Chorus: Indicated as 1st verse plus 1st line of second
verse.
From Fifty Cabin and Plantation Songs, 1874, Thomas P.
Fenner, Hampton Inst.
@religion @spiritual
3.
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Nov 01 - 11:29 PM
Looking out over
life's troubled seas
When I saw the
old ship that was sailing
Is that the old
Ship of Zion I see?
Her hull was bent
and battered
From the storms
of life I could see
Waves were rough,
but the old ship was steady
Is that the old
Ship of Zion I see?
At the stern of
the ship stood the Captain
I could hear him
when he called out my name
Get on board the
old Ship of Zion
It will never
pass this way again
As I step on
board, I'll be leaving
All my troubles
and heartaches behind
I'll be safe with
Jesus, the Captain
Sailing out on
the old Ship of Zion
Sailing out on
the old Ship of Zion
The recording by the Jackson Southernaires is one of the
most beautiful gospel recordings I have ever heard.
Jerry Rasmussen"
4.
From: masato sakurai
Date: 11 Nov 01 - 01:43 AM
~Masato"
5.
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Nov 01 - 08:35 PM
"
De day did break an' de sun did rise,
I'se gwine to lib wid de Lamb!
An' I seen dem angels up in de skies,
I'se gwine to lib wid de Lamb.
O de ole ship ob Zion is a-gwine to sail,
I'se gwine to lib wid de Lamb.
An' she's only waitin' for de Gospel gale,
I'se gwine to lib wid de Lamb.
Cho.
Yes, I'se done quit all my worldly ways,
Done quit all my worldly ways,
Yes, done quit all my worldly ways,
I'se gwine to lib wid de Lamb.
De anchor's weighed an' de sails are set,
I'se gwine to lib wid de Lamb!
An' soon we're a-gwine to sail, don' you fret,
I'se gwine to lib wid de Lamb!
De Keptin an' crew dey am comin' on board,
I'se gwine to lib wid de Lamb,
De chorus am a-singin' an' praisin' de Lord.
I'se gwine to lib wid de Lamb.
Cho.
Let's stop a moment befo' we go,
I'se gwine to lib wid de Lamb.
Tro' out a plank, gib de sinners a show,
I'se gwine to lib wid de Lamb.
Gospel band am a-gwine to play,
I'se gwine to lib wid de Lamb.
As soon as de ship am a-sailin' away,
I'se gwine to lib wid de Lamb.
Cho.
Composed by Sam Lucas (b. 1848) and published 1881?, in
Ethiopian Jubilee and Minstrel Songs along with 19 others by various composers.
From African-American Sheet Music Collection, 1850-1920, Brown University;
American Memory, Library of Congress website. Whether the song was arranged for
minstrelsy or for gospel use is not clear. Only the birth date of the composer
is given.
@religion @gospel? @minstrel"
6.
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Nov 01 - 08:47 PM
7.
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Nov 01 - 08:53 PM
**
8. Subject: RE: Lyr Add: OLD SHIP OF ZION (spiritual)
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Dec 01 - 12:17 AM
"Newman L. White, in American Negro Folk Songs, 1928 (rep. 1965) says the earliest mention of the song that he found is in: Sarah Josepha Hale, 1853, "Liberia, or Mr. Peyton's Experiment," "where it is sung by both white people and Negroes as a familiar camp-meeting song." In white songbooks, it appears in the Zion Songster, 2ed., 1827."
ADDENDUM- INFORMATION ABOUT SAM LUCAS
from
"Sam Lucas (August 7, 1840 – January 10, 1916)[1][2] was an
American actor, comedian, singer and songwriter. His birth year has also been
reported as 1839, 1841, 1848 and 1850.[2][3][4]
Lucas' career began in blackface minstrelsy, but he later became one of the first African Americans to branch out into more serious drama, with roles in seminal works such as The Creole Show and A Trip to Coontown. He was the first black man to portray the role of Uncle Tom on both stage and screen. James Weldon Johnson described him as the "Grand Old Man of the Negro Stage".[5] He was vocal about liberating himself from the minstrel profession and was the only composer of spirituals in his time to present them consistently within the context of jubilee concerts.[6]
Early career
Lucas was born Samuel Mildmay Lucas (or Samuel Lucas
Milady)[7] in Washington Court House, Ohio to free black parents. He showed a
talent for guitar and singing as a teenager. While working as a barber, his
local performances gained him a positive reputation.
In 1858 he began his career as a performer with the traveling African-American minstrel companies. Over the next five years, he sang and acted on stage and riverboats, and composed music for his shows. Meanwhile, he found ways to integrate his African-American roots into the mostly white form; for instance, his tune "Carve Dat Possum" borrowed its melody from a black religious song, although Henry Hart (musician) may have been the source. As black minstrelsy grew popular with the general public, Lucas became one of its first celebrities, particularly known for his portrayals of pitiable, comic characters.[8]
His fame allowed him to choose his engagements and he performed with some of the best black minstrel troupes, never as leader, including Lew Johnson's Plantation Minstrels (1871–73), Callender's Georgia Minstrels (1873–74, 1875–76) and Sprague's Georgia Minstrels (1878–79) in Havana, Cuba.[3] After his time as a minstrel performer, he began to work vaudeville.
As a writer and performer of jubilee songs, Lucas was unique
in branding himself a "jubilee singer" and in forming a jubilee group
in 1881 to highlight the popular songs of black composers, as well as his own
character songs. His jubilee troupe never performed jubilee songs in the
original sense of arranged traditional spirituals. Instead, he mixed commercial
spirituals, cultivated songs, instrumental selections and comedy, forging a new
kind of concert that was part variety, part band concert and part art music.
Besides his own ensemble, "Mr. Sam Lucas and quartet", he was
involved with numerous other jubilee ensembles such as the Norfolk Jubilee
Singers, the Harper's Ferry Jubilee Singers, the Original Nashville Singers,
the Southern Jubilee Singers and the Hyers Sisters, among others.[9]”…
-snip-
Here's some information about "jubilee songs" from AI Overview (results of my March 25, 2026 query)
"Jubilee songs are traditional African American spirituals,
popularized by the Fisk University Jubilee Singers in the 1870s, which express
faith, sorrow, and hope for freedom. These songs originated from slave songs
and became a cornerstone of African American heritage, often featuring choral
arrangements of spirituals that served as both religious music and protest.
Key facts about Jubilee songs:
Origin: The term "Jubilee" comes from the Biblical
Year of Jubilee, a time when enslaved people were to be set free.
Fisk University Jubilee Singers: Formed in 1871 to raise
funds for their school, this group introduced these songs to the world,
performing in Carnegie Hall and internationally.
Characteristics: These songs, originally performed in a
cappella style, often featured strong harmony and a mix of traditional
spirituals with Western, religious, and sometimes patriotic melodies.
Examples: Popular songs in their repertoire include
"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Steal Away," "Go Down
Moses," "Every Time I Feel the Spirit," and "Nobody Knows
the Trouble I've Seen"...
This concludes Part I of this pancocojams series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment