The Boatswain's Mate is an opera in one act (but in two parts) written by British composer and suffragette Ethel Smyth in 1913–14 set to her own libretto, which was based on a story of the same name by W. W.

[3] The piece centers around a humorous battle of the sexes featuring a feisty and resourceful heroine who outwits her scheming suitor (but perhaps falls for his accomplice—this is left to the speculation of the reader or audience).

In summary, the opera's score has been described by Stephen Banfield as "interspersed with spoken dialogue in part 1, [it] is symphonically constructed around folksongs and Smyth's own March of the Women; its pacing and orchestration are adroitly managed.

"[2] From December 1913[4] to May 1914,[5] Smyth stayed at a hotel in Helwan, Egypt, in order to compose The Boatswain's Mate free from distractions,[4] although she kept up a continual correspondence with Emmeline Pankhurst.

[6] The hotel, formerly the palace of Tewfik Pasha, was suggested by her friend Ronald Storrs, who was an official under Lord Kitchener in Cairo.

Thomas Beecham entrusted the premiere to Eugene Goossens but on the day "[t]he composer herself elected to conduct the première of her work—much to my annoyance, as I had taken all the preliminary orchestral rehearsals.

"[9] The opera uses a number of folk melodies, including "The Keeper" and "Lord Randall", as well as "Bushes and Briars",[10] which provides the theme for the intermezzo.

The recordings were issued by His Master's Voice as “Overture” (parts 1 & 2, D. 445), “When rocked on the billows” (D. 446), “The Keeper” (D. 448), “A friend and I were on a pier” (D. 447), (a) “Contrariness” (b) “What if I were young again” (D. 448), “Oh!

[19] Two arias sung by Mrs Waters ("What if I were young again" and "Suppose you mean to do a given thing") have been recorded by EMI as part of a CD of Ethel Smyth's music.