Sea shanties (singular "shanty", also spelled "chantey"; derived from the French word "chanter", 'to sing') were shipboard working songs. Shanties flourished from at least the 15th century through the days of steam ships in the first half of the 20th century. Most surviving shanties date from the 19th and, less commonly, 18th centuries. Italian Full rigged ship Amerigo Vespucci in New York Harbor, 1976 A ship is a large watercraft capable of deep water navigation. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

In the days when human muscles were the only power source available aboard ship, sea shanties served a practical purpose: the rhythm of the song served to synchronize the movements of the sailors as they toiled at repetitive tasks. They also served a social purpose: singing, and listening to song, is pleasant; it alleviates boredom, and lightens the burden of hard work, of which there was no shortage on long voyages.

Most shanties are "call and response" songs, with one voice (the shantyman) singing the line and the chorus of sailors bellowing the response (compare military cadence calls). For example, the shanty "Boney": In music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first. ... A drill sergeant drills recruits in the U.S. Army. ... Boney is a slang term for someone who is skinny, or lacks fat. ...

Shantyman: Boney was a warrior,

All: Way, hey, ya!

Shantyman: A warrior and a terrier,

All: Jean-François!

The "pulls" would be on the last syllable of the response in each line.

Categories

Shanties may be divided into several rough categories:

• Long-haul (also called "halyard" or "long-drag") shanties: Sung when a job of hauling on a line was expected to last a long time, hoisting topsails, for example. Usually there are two pulls per chorus as in Way, hey, Blow the man down! Examples: "Hanging Johnny", "Blow the Man Down."
• Short-drag (also called "short-haul", or "sheet") shanties: Sung when a job of hauling on a line was expected to be quick but required great force. These are characterized by one strong pull in each chorus as in "Way, haul away, haul away Joe!". Examples: "Boney", and "Haul on the Bowline."
• Capstan Shanties: Raising the anchor on a ship involved winding the rope along a giant winch, turned by sailors walking around it. Capstan shanties are anchor-raising shanties. They are typically more "smooth" sounding than other types (no pulling required) and, unlike many other types of shanties, frequently have a full chorus in addition to the call-and-response verses. Examples: "Santianna", "Paddy Lay Back", "Rio Grande", "South Australia", "John Brown's Body" (adapted from Army marching song).
• Stamp-'n'-Go Shanties: were used only on ships with large crews. Many hands would take hold of a line with their backs to the fall (where the line reaches the deck from aloft) and march away along the deck singing and stamping out the rhythm. Alternatively, with a larger number of men, they would create a loop -- marching along with the line, letting go at the 'end' of the loop and marching back to the 'top' of the loop to take hold again for another trip. These songs tend to have longer choruses similar to capstan shanties. Examples: "Drunken Sailor", "Roll the Old Chariot". Stan Hugill, in his Shanties from the Seven Seas writes: "(Drunken Sailor) is a typical example of the stamp-'n'-go song or walkaway or runaway shanty, and was the only type of work-song allowed in the King's Navee (sic). It was popular in ships with big crews when at halyards; the crowd would seize the fall and stamp the sail up. Sometimes when hauling a heavy boat up the falls would be 'married' and both hauled on at the same time as the hands stamped away singing this rousing tune."
• Pumping Shanties: All wooden ships leak somewhat. There was a special hold (cargo area) in the ships where the leaked-in water (the bilge) would collect: the bilge hold. The bilge water had to be pumped out frequently; on period ships this was done with a two-man pump. Many pumping shanties were also used as capstan shanties, and vice versa, particularly after the adoption of the Downton pump which used a capstan rather than pump handles moved up and down. Examples include: "Strike The Bell", "Shallow Brown", "Barnacle Bill the Sailor", "Lowlands".
• Fo'c's'le (Forecastle) Songs or Forebitters: Shanties are worksongs and were sung only for work. However, sailors also sang for pleasure in the fo'c's'le where they slept or, in fine weather, gathered near the fore bitts (large posts on the foredeck). Example: "Rolling Down to Old Maui". While songs with maritime themes were sung, sea songs were not the only sort sung off watch.
• Menhaden Shanties: These are worksongs used on menhaden fishing boats, sung while pulling up the nets. Typical examples are "The Johnson Girls" and "Won’t You Help Me to Raise ‘Em Boys."

The above categories are not absolute. Sailors could (and did) take a song from one category and, with necessary alterations to the rhythm, use it for a different task. The only rule almost always followed was that songs that spoke of returning home were only sung on the homeward leg, and songs that sung of the joys of voyaging etc., were only sung on the outward leg. Other songs were very specific. "Poor Old Man" (also known as "Poor Old Horse" or "The Dead Horse") was sung once the sailors had worked off their advance (the "horse") a month or so into the voyage. "Leave Her, Johnny Leave Her" (also known as "Time for Us to Leave Her") was only sung during the last round of pumping the ship dry once it was tied up in port, prior to leaving the ship at the end of the voyage. In sailing, a halyard is a line (rope) that is used to hoist (pull up) a sail or a yard to which a sail has been attached (bent on). ... Blow the Man Down is an old sea shanty. ... Nautical capstan A capstan is a rotating machine used to control or apply force to another element, usually linear. ... A stocked ships anchor. ... Also, Santiana, Santy Anna, Santayana, Santiano, Santy Anno and others. ... Lyrics In South Australia I was born Heave away! Haul away! South Australia round Cape Horn And were bound for South Australia Haul away you rolling king Heave away! Haul away! All the way youll hear me sing And were bound for South Australia As I walked... John Browns Body is a famous Union marching song of the American Civil War. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Barnacle Bill (released in the U.S. as All at Sea) is a 1957 comedy, starring Alec Guinness, playing an unsuccessful navy man as well as six of his maritime ancestors. ... forecastle with figurehead Grand Turk Focsle of the Prince William, a modern square rigged ship, in the North Sea. ... Rolling Down to Old Maui is a traditional sea shanty which has been performed and recorded by many folksingers, including Stan Rogers. ... The menhadens comprise two genera of marine fish in the family Clupeidae. ... For the popular Tamil film, see Rhythm (film) Rhythm (Greek = flow, or in Modern Greek, style) is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events. ... Look up beat a dead horse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The shantyman

The shantyman was a sailor who led the others in singing. He was usually self-appointed. A sailor would not generally sign on as a shantyman per se, but took on the role in addition to their other tasks on the ship. Nevertheless, sailors reputed to be good shantymen were valuable and respected — it was a good professional skill to have, along with strong arms and back.

Performance of shanties

Historically, shanties were usually not sung ashore. Today, they are performed as popular music. Shanty choirs, often large choral groups that perform only sea shanties, are popular in Europe, particularly Poland and the Netherlands, but also countries such as Germany and Norway. In English-speaking countries, sea shanties are comparatively less popular as a separate genre and tend to be performed by smaller groups as folk music rather than in a choral style. They are also sung by some folk music clubs as a social pastime, not for performance. A medley of sea shanties performed by classical orchestra, Sir Henry Wood's Fantasia on British Sea Songs, is a popular component of the Last Night of the Proms in Britain. This article is about choirs, musical ensembles containing singers. ... “Folk song” redirects here. ... Sir Henry Wood Kt CH (3 March 1869 – 19 August 1944) was an English conductor, forever associated with the Promenade Concerts which he conducted for half a century. ... Fantasia on British Sea Songs or Fantasy on British Sea Songs is a piece of classical music arranged by Sir Henry Wood in 1905 to mark the centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar. ... A Promenade concert in the Royal Albert Hall, 2004. ...

Although the "days of the tall ships" are over, the shanty song style is still used for new musical compositions. Well known examples include the Stan Rogers song, "Barrett's Privateers," the Steve Goodman song, "Lincoln Park Pirates," and the theme song for the television show SpongeBob SquarePants (a version of "Blow the Man Down"). Even the song "Reise, Reise" by the German Tanz-Metall band Rammstein is based on a shanty, "Reise, Reise." Stanley Allison Rogers (November 29, 1949 – June 2, 1983) was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter. ... Fogartys Cove, the album Barretts Privateers was released on. ... Steve Goodman (July 25, 1948 – September 20, 1984) was a Chicago folk music singer and songwriter. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Rammstein (pronounced Ram-Shtine, IPA: [ˈʁam. ...

Johnny Depp reportedly developed an interest in sea shanties while filming Pirates of the Caribbean. As a result, in 2006 he helped facilitate Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys, an album of informal recordings of variable quality, primarily by performers not known for prior interest in or knowledge of sea shanties. According to the liner notes, the producer, Hal Wilner, knew nothing of sea shanties before beginning the project. The notes state that many of the performers learned the songs in a matter of hours before recording, by listening to recordings of traditional sea shanty performers. However, other performers on the album, such as Sting, did have a prior interest. Johnny Depp (born John Christopher Depp II[2] on June 9, 1963, in Owensboro, Kentucky) is an Academy Award-nominated and SAG Awards-winning American actor and for his performances in the films Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Whats Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), Ed Wood (1994... Pirates of the Caribbean is a multi-billion dollar Walt Disney franchise encompassing a theme park ride, a series of highly successful films and spinoff novels as well as numerous video games and other publications. ...

Literary references to sea shanties

I soon got used to this singing; for the sailors never touched a rope without it. Sometimes, when no one happened to strike up, and the pulling, whatever it might be, did not seem to be getting forward very well, the mate would always say, "Come, men, can't any of you sing? Sing now, and raise the dead." And then some one of them would begin, and if every man's arms were as much relieved as mine by the song, and he could pull as much better as I did, with such a cheering accompaniment, I am sure the song was well worth the breath expended on it. It is a great thing in a sailor to know how to sing well, for he gets a great name by it from the officers, and a good deal of popularity among his shipmates. Some sea-captains, before shipping a man, always ask him whether he can sing out at a rope. (Herman Melville, Redburn: His First Voyage, 1849) This article is under construction. ... 1849 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

A song is as necessary to sailors as the drum and fife to a soldier. They must pull together as soldiers must step in time, and they can't pull in time, or pull with a will, without it. Many a time, when a thing goes heavy, with one fellow yo-ho-ing, a lively song, like "Heave, to the girls!" "Nancy O!" "Jack Crosstree," "Cheerly, men," &c., has put life and strength into every arm. We found a great difference in the effect of the various songs in driving in the hides. Two or three songs would be tried, one after the other, with no effect,-- not an inch could be got upon the tackles; when a new song, struck up, seemed to hit the humor of the moment, and drove the tackles "two blocks" at once. "Heave round hearty!" "Captain gone ashore!" "Dandy ship and a dandy crew," and the like, might do for common pulls, but on an emergency, when we wanted a heavy, "raise-the-dead pull," which should start the beams of the ship, there was nothing like "Time for us to go!" "Round the corner," "Tally high ho! you know," or "Hurrah! hurrah! my hearty bullies!" (Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the Mast, 1840) Richard Henry Dana Jr. ... Two Years Before the Mast a book by the American author Richard Henry Dana, Jr. ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

There is some suggestion that the Provençal song by the Comtessa de Dia titled "A Chantar M'er" may be a title pun on the French for a Sea Shanty. The troubadour punning text suggests piracy is afoot.

Samples

• Download recording - "Roll the Old Chariot Along," from the Library of Congress' Gordon Collection; recorded in the Bay Area of California in the early 1920s. Unfortunately, the identity of the singer is lost to history, but he is believed to have been a veteran of sailing ships. Due to the improvisational nature of sea shanties and folk music in general, this song exists with many different lyrics and even with different tunes. Depending on the lyrics it has been collected as both a spiritual song and as a sea shanty.

• Download recording -- "Haul Away Joe," modern recording by "Song of the Lakes" performed, as they put it, in the style of Bo Diddley. The song is performed much faster than it would have been when it was used as a work song.

• Download recording — "High Barbaree," as performed by Bounding Main. This rendition adapts a traditional sea shanty to a modern style. Maritime and battle sound effects are added to enhance the story of the battle with Barbary Pirates.

• YouTube video -- "South Australia" as performed by "Fisherman’s Friends," the Port Isaac Sea Shanty Singers.

• YouTube video -- "Hourra les filles à cinq deniers," a French shanty as performed by The NexTradition.

“Folk song” redirects here. ... == Historical background on spiritual music Spirituals were often expressions of religious faith, although they may also have served as socio-political protests veiled as assimilation to white, American culture. ... Bo Diddleys emphasis on rhythm largely influenced popular music, especially that of rock and roll in the 1960s. ... Bounding Main is an American a cappella sextet focusing on traditional sea shanties and maritime music. ...

Sea shanty and sea music performers

"Traditional" performers

• Bounding Main, an a capella sextet based near Kenosha, Wisconsin.
• Cyril Tawney, British performer. (1930 - 2005).
• EKT-Gdynia, the most popular Polish shanty-band. They recorded 4 albums and have been playing together since 1986.
• Forebitter, the resident shanty crew at Mystic Seaport
• Great Big Sea, Canadian band performing some shanties in traditional style (though many at speeds that would kill the crew if they tried to work that fast).
• Johnny Collins, a modern-day shantyman.
• Liereliet, a small group which is a part of Kat'n t'Seil, a Dutch sea music group
• Stan Hugill, "Last Working Shantyman." (1906-1992).
• Stan Rogers, Canadian performer. (1949 - 1983)
• The Idlers, an all-male A cappella Shanty group at the US Coast Guard Academy (1957-present)
• Tom Lewis, Canadian performer.
• William Pint and Felicia Dale, from Seattle.
• NexTradition, a duo from New York City
• The Seadogs, also known as The Paddy West School of Seamanship,[1] A Traditional singing group out of Northern California.
• Short Drag Roger, a shanty crew from Oxford UK.
• Northern Neck Chantey Singers, a group specializing in menhaden shanties, from Northern Neck Virginia. (NPR broadcast.) (Youtube video of CBS broadcast.)

"Pirate rock" performers Bounding Main is an American a cappella sextet focusing on traditional sea shanties and maritime music. ... Nickname: K-town Keno Kenowhere Location of Kenosha within Wisconsin Coordinates: Country United States State Wisconsin Counties Kenosha Settled 1836 Government  - Mayor John M. Antaramian Population  - City 96,845  - Density  3,795. ... Cyril Tawney (born October 12, 1930, Gosport, Hampshire; died April 21, 2005, Exeter. ... EKT Gdynia - one of the most popular Polish shanty-band, created by the guitarist and vocalist Jan Wydra in 1986. ... Mystic Seaport is a maritime museum in Mystic, Connecticut. ... Great Big Sea (often shortened to GBS) is a Canadian folk-rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the islands 500-year-old Irish, English, and French heritage. ... Johnny Collins (born May 10, 1938) is a London-based folk singer specializing in traditional maritime music. ... Stan (Stanley Edward James) Hugill (Born November 19, 1906, died May 13, 1992. ... Stanley Allison Rogers (November 29, 1949 – June 2, 1983) was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter. ... Background The Idlers of the United States Coast Guard Academy are an all-male A Cappella ensemble specializing in the performance of sea chanteys and patriotic music. ... A cappella music is vocal music or singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. ... The United States Coast Guard Academy, located in New London, Connecticut, is a U.S. military academy that provides education to future officers of the United States Coast Guard. ... Tom Lewis, Canadian singer/songwriter, currently residing in Salmo, British Columbia. ... William Pint and Felicia Dale (often billed as Pint & Dale), American folk music singer-songwriters based in Seattle. ...

• Captain Bogg and Salty, a pirate-themed rock band which performs many traditional shanties, as well as writing several of their own.
• Rainmaker, American hard rock band from New Jersey; their 1999 song "The Wreck of the Powhatan" is an adaptation of a 19th century poem set to a sea-shanty & performed on modern electric instruments.
• Sforzando, Australian Psych-Folk Pirate Punk Band.

Captain Bogg and Salty is a rock (music) band from Portland, Oregon, and a representative member of the subgenre of pirate rock. ... Look up pirate and piracy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Chief Powhatan in a longhouse at Werowocomoco (detail of John Smith map, 1612) The Powhatan (also spelled Powatan and Powhaten), or Powhatan Renape (literally, the Powhatan Human Beings), is the name of a Native American tribe, and also the name of a powerful confederacy of tribes that they dominated. ... Sforzando are a band from Melbourne, Australia who describe themselves as a 6-piece pirate orchestra (fans usually refer to them simply as a pirate band). Their musical style combines elements of punk, Western European folk music and sea shanties to create a soundscape for the ocean, and there is...

References

• Doerflinger, William Main, Songs of the Sailor and Lumberman. Mayerbooks, Glenwood, 1990.
• Harlow, Frederick Pease, Chanteying Aboard American Ships. Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic. 2004.
• Hugill, Stan, Shanties and Sailor's Songs. Frederick A. Praeger, New York, 1969
• Hugill, Stan, Shanties from the Seven Seas. Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic, 1994.
• Proctor, David, Music of the Sea. HMSO, London, 1992.
• Davids, C. A., & Aalbers, B. H. Wat lijdt den zeeman al verdriet: het Nederlandse zeemanslied in de zeiltijd, 1600-1900. The Hague, 1980.

Both Stan Hugill and Frank Shay have written extensively on sea shanties. Stan (Stanley Edward James) Hugill (Born November 19, 1906, died May 13, 1992. ...

External links

Sea shanties in general:

• The Chantey Cabin - Shanty and Maritime Music specialists
• John Ward's "Shanties and Sea Songs" webpage
• Contemplator.com, "Songs of the sea" section
• International Shanty and Seasong Association
• The First Free Shanty Portal SZANTYMANIAK.PL

Annual sea music festivals:

• The Bitter End contains a comprehensive list of forthcoming festivals across the world.

• Europe
  • "Mersey International Shanty Festival" in Liverpool, U.K. (Usually held in June, part of the Mersey River Festival.)
  • "Sea Fever Sea Shanty Festival" in Kingston Upon Hull, U.K. (Usually held in September.)
  • "De Slag op 't Wiede" in Giethoorn, the Netherlands. (Usually held in September.)
  • International Sea Songs Festival "Shanties" in Kraków, Poland (Held since 1981, usually in February.)
  • "International Shanty Festival" near the Old Harbour (Oudehaven) in Rotterdam, The Netherlands (Usually held in the first full week-end of September.)
  • "Szanty we Wrocławiu" - Shanty in Wrocła

• United States
  • "Sea Music Festival" at Mystic Seaport Museum of America and the Sea (Usually held in mid-June.)
  • "Festival of the Sea" at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park (Usually held in early September.)
  • "Chicago Maritime Festival" in Chicago (Usually held in late February.)

Web pages for various shanty and sea music performers:

• Bounding Main, lively interpretations of traditional maritime music
• ARRR!!!: An 'a-capirate' crew of students at Brown University
• The Corsairs, an a capella group that sings both traditional and original songs
• Bilge Pumps, a pirate-themed musical group based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
• The Jolly Rogers, a modern-day pirate-themed band and comedy performance group.
• Barend Fox, a shanty-choir of the Professional Rotterdam Firebrigade that sings shanty's and sea-songs.
• The Starboard Watch, A roving sea shanty duo.