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Now, most people know this song as a Christmas song, but this is an alternative (with a note that “Christmas Day” could be substituted for “New Years Day”. I don’t remember ever hearing the second verse exactly like it is here.
Happy New Year!
THREE SHIPS A-SAILING
I saw three ships a-sailing by
A-sailing by, a-sailing by,
I saw three ships a-sailing by,
On New Year’s Day in the morning.
What do you think was in them then,
Was in them then, was in them then,
Now what do you think was in them then,
On New Year’s Day in the morning?
Three pretty maids were in them then,
Were in them then, were in them then,
Three pretty maids were in them then,
On New Year’s Day in the morning.
One she could dance, one she could sing,
And one could play a violin.
Such joy there will be when ships come in,
On New Year’s Day in the morning.
I thought I’d throw in this kind of cool tidbit from Chatterbox 1912.
ANCIENT NEW YEAR CARDS
The earliest known Christmas card is probably the one designed in 1842 by John Horsley, R. A., at the suggestion of Sir Henry Cole. But the New Year card is of a far greater antiquity. More than four thousand years ago the kings and nobles of Egypt used to interchange the New Year greetings in the form of small scarabs and tablets, upon which were engraved, in the hieroglyphic characters, wishes for ‘Good health,’ or ‘Happiness.’
