When the water is passing through the land it dissolves and gathers up various substances, especially salt, which “melts” in water very easily. This salt and the other bitter and brackish substances are carried little by little, sometimes pausing, but always on and on till they reach the sea, beyond which they cannot go, for the sea is in the lowest parts of the earth. Now come the sun, the heat and the winds and evaporate the water; that is, draw up the vapor to start on its new circuit. But, notice this, the vapor that rises is pure water. The salt and other substances are left in the sea. At first it was only a little that was left, then more, always a little more till the water couldn’t hold it all and it sank to the bottom and made deposits of salt and other things. But the streams always bring more sediment and the heat and the winds carry off pure water and leave the rest salty and bitter. And that is the real reason why the sea is salt.
Faithless Sally Brown
(Volume III, page 92)
It is a thankless task to try to explain a joke, but some of the fun in these jolly old rhymes depends upon facts that are not generally known or that may have been forgotten. A few words here may help to answer questions.
Stanza II. “Fetched a walk.” This is an application of a nautical term, as in “to fetch headway.”
“Press Gang.” To secure recruits for her navy, England at one time permitted her men to be seized and forcibly carried on board ship, where they were compelled to perform sailors’ duties on long cruises. The bands of cruel men who captured the recruits were known as “press gangs.”
Stanza III. A boatswain is one of the minor officers of a ship. He usually has charge of one of the small boats, such as would carry off a recruit to the big ship.
Stanza VIII. John Benbow was a famous English Admiral who died in 1702 from wounds received in a four days’ fight with the French fleet in the West Indies. His captains refused to obey orders and Benbow was unable to win the battle. When his right leg was shot off he refused to go below but continued to direct the conflict from the deck. “I had rather have lost both legs,” he said, “than have seen this dishonor brought on the English nation. But, hark ye—if another shot should take me off, behave like men and fight it out.” Two of his captains were tried, convicted and shot. The Admiral himself died after three or four months of suffering.
Stanza IX. A tender is a ship that carries supplies or conveys messages from one to another of the ships in a squadron.
Stanza XI. “The Virgin and the Scales.” The Virgin (Virgo) and the Scales (Libra) are two constellations known to the ancients. A person born while these constellations were to be seen in the sky (from near the end of August to near the end of October) was said to be born under them and was believed to have certain characteristics. In the case of Sally Brown the stars were cruel. She could not follow her beau, Ben, but must walk about raising her voice in wailing.