Capitol Ship

“Capitol Ship” written by Charles Edward Caryl (December 30, 1841 – July 3, 1920) was an American children’s literature author.  Born in New York, Carryl became a second-generation successful businessman; and a stockbroker, who for 34 years starting in 1874 held a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1869 he married Mary Wetmore. Their elder child was the poet and humorist Guy Wetmore Carryl. In 1882 Charles E. Carryl published his first work: Stock Exchange Primer. In 1884 he published the children’s fantasy Davy and the Goblin; or, What Followed Reading “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, serialized in the magazine St Nicholas. His work includes the children’s nonsense poem “The Walloping Window Blind”, published in 1885, in a verse style similar to Lewis Carroll’s: A Capital Ship” is a traditional song that takes its lyrics from a 19th century poem by Charles Edward Carryl called “The Walloping Window Blind.” The tune and the song’s chorus are taken from the traditional sea shanty “Ten Thousand Miles Away.”