"The Young Sailor Cut Down in His Prime" is part of a very large family of similar songs. Some of the members of this family are:     "Pills of White Mercury",     "The Young Girl Cut Down In Her Prime",     "The Dying Cowboy",     "The Young Trooper Cut Down in His Prime",     "St. James's Hospital",     "Noo I'm a Young Man Cut Down in My Prime",     "Wrapped in Red Flannels",     "The Unfortunate Rake" and     "The Streets of Laredo". The British version centers on a victim of syphilis. He tells of his demise, either through promiscuity or a false hearted lover and how he wishes to be buried. The American version is along the same theme, but the American cowboy is suffering from a gun shot in the chest. The other songs of this family included in this collection are:     The Dying Cowboy,     The Unfortunate Rake and     The Streets of Laredo. It was printed in Lomax's Folk Songs of North America (1960).