MICHAEL ROW THE BOAT ASHORE – COVER BY ERSKINE & FAY KNOWLES

"Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" is a traditional spiritual first noted during the American Civil War at St. Helena Island, one of the Sea Islands of South Carolina. The song was sung by former slaves whose owners had abandoned the island before the Union navy arrived to enforce a blockade. Charles Pickard Ware was an abolitionist and Harvard graduate who had come to supervise the plantations on St. Helena Island from 1862 to 1865, and he wrote down the song in music notation as he heard the freedmen sing it. Ware's cousin William Francis Allen reported in 1863 that the formerly enslaved Black Americans sang the song as they rowed him in a boat across Station Creek.

The song was first published in 1867 in Slave Songs of the United States by Allen, Ware, and Lucy McKim Garrison. Folk musician and educator Tony Saletan rediscovered it in 1954 in a library copy of that book and introduced it into the American folk music revival.

The best-known recording was released in 1960 by the U.S. folk band The Highwaymen; that version briefly reached number-one hit status as a single. (Source: Wikipedia). Peter, Paul and Mary also recorded this song.

Acoustic cover by guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Erskine Knowles from The Bahamas and his wife Fay, an author, long-time resident of The Bahamas and originally from Scotland.

Erskine often struck up this song at parties and gigs throughout The Bahamas and attendees loved to join in the chorus!

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FREE BOOK - DEADLY DECEIT IN PARADISE!

FREE BOOK!

🌟 **Limited Time Offer!** 📚 Grab your FREE copy of "Deadly Deceit In Paradise," Book Two in the Buchanan Mystery Romance Series by Fay Knowles! Offer ends at midnight on Monday, May 19th (Pacific Time). Don’t miss out—get caught up before the launch of the third book in the series! Hurry! ⏰✨ DEADLY DECEIT IN PARADISE FREE (substitute your country code if necessary)

"ALWAYS MARRY A WOMAN UGLIER THAN YOU!" - IVAN CLAUDE (ANTIGUA & BARBUDA 50'S/60'S)

"ALWAYS MARRY A WOMAN UGLIER THAN YOU" 
IVAN CLAUDE (50’S/60’S)

Ivan Claude from Antigua and Barbuda wrote and performed the calypso song "Always Marry A Woman Uglier Than You" back in the late fifties or early sixties. Many Bahamians sang it here in The Bahamas. It was a great success.

One day, not too long ago, Erskine was asked by a young Bahamian man: "How can I find the right woman?!" He jokingly replied by saying: "Always marry a woman uglier than you!" quoting from the old calypso song by Ivan Claude.

Acoustic cover by guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Erskine Knowles from The Bahamas.
Research and recording by Erskine's wife Fay, an author, long-time resident of The Bahamas and originally from Scotland.

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60 YEARS OF LOVE: SECRETS TO A LASTING RELATIONSHIP PART FIVE - WEDDING PREPARATION

 

60 YEARS OF LOVE:
SECRETS TO A LASTING RELATIONSHIP 
PART FIVE: WEDDING PREPARATION

🎉✨ Welcome to Part Five of our love story - Wedding Preparation! I'm Fay, and this is my husband, Erskine Knowles. ❤️ We met in Nassau, Bahamas, back in September 1965. 🎸 Erskine is a talented guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter from Long Island, Bahamas, while I'm an author and a singer, born in Stirling, Scotland. After spending years in England, I moved to Canada but quickly escaped to The Bahamas to avoid the brutal winter after just four months. 🌎 I thought I’d only be here for three months, ready to travel the world, but then I met Erskine after just a month! 💍 Nine months later, we were married in this beautiful paradise. Who knew a chance encounter would lead to a lifetime together? 🥰

Did you watch Parts One, Two, Three and Four? Much more to come!

Feel free to share! And we'd love to hear your comments!

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A MOTHER'S DAY TRIBUTE 2025

My mother when I took her by car from
Devon to Buckingham for her 80th birthday

My dear mum, the late Mrs. Josephine (“Jo”) Johanson, was born in Scotland, but lived for thirty-seven years in Devon. I would visit her every year in the summer and she visited us in the winter. She died in March, 2007, at the ripe old age of 88, after a short illness.

Every year, while she was alive, I would call her to wish her Happy Mother’s Day in March, as that was when they celebrate Mother’s Day in the U.K.! Of course, there were few Mother’s Day cards in our shops at that time, because we celebrate Mother’s Day here in May!

Trained as a Comptometer Operator (the comptometer was the forerunner of the modern day computer), she served in the Women’s Royal Air Force during World War II as a Radio Telephony Operator, giving pilots on active duty bearings for home. During the war she met and married my father, Australian Royal Air Force instrument repairman, the late William Johanson. She and Dad, a watchmaker jeweller, once owned a jewellery business in Buckingham.

Mum worked as Head Receptionist at the Royal Clarence Hotel, Exeter, for several years, and as her hotel career progressed, she became Manager of the White Sands Hotel, Bermuda. During her lifetime, she also lived in Australia and Canada.

Mum enjoyed painting watercolours and had written two delightful, but unfortunately not published, children’s picture books. I still hope one day to try and get them published in her memory.

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WHO KNEW? CHECK THIS OUT!

Fay Knowles is a Scottish/Bahamian author, known for her work in the realm of fiction, particularly within genres such as mystery, romance and women's literature. Her writing often explores themes related to personal relationships, emotional growth, and life's complexities. She is married to Bahamian guitarist/vocalist/song writer Erskine Knowles and is a long time resident of The Bahamas. Her published books can be found at

FAY'S BOOKS