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Sea shanties and maritime music

The songs of the sea have a long legacy of scholarship, musicianship, and public performance. From the work songs of deep-water sailors and fishermen, to the ballads taken into pubs and forecastles, these songs have been used to coordinate effort, remember shore life, and sometimes just pass the time.

The songs themselves have been passed from ship to ship, printed in newspapers and books, shared at festivals, learned from video games, and remixed on social media. Hundreds of sea music-specific albums have been recorded, and maritime music comprises a distinct genre.

This Day in History (December 15, 1900)

The Flannan Isles Lighthouse protects ships along the Western Isles of Scotland. In 1900, it was staffed by three men: James Ducat, Thomas Marshall, and Donald McArthur. Just one year after it was first lit, the country was captivated by their mysterious disappearance. On December 15, the ships began noting that the light was unlit. When the Northern Lighthouse Board arrived to investigate, they found the premises in good order but no sign of the crew. An official investigation determined the men were swept away by an enormous rogue wave, but for years, there has been rampant speculation about sea serpents, ghosts, foreign spies, new identities, or violent altercations. Later research uncovered that "Marshall was previously fined five shillings when his equipment was washed away during a huge gale. It is likely, in seeking to avoid another fine, that he and Ducat tried to secure their equipment during a storm and were swept away as a result. The fate of McArthur, although required to stay behind to man the lighthouse, can be guessed to be the same."

The word beacon is laden with symbolism, and the sight of a familiar lighthouse was usually accompanied by joy as in En Gammal Brigg. The lonely plight of a lighthouse keeper is captured in Brasswork: The Lighthouse Keeper's Lament.

This Day in History (September 3, 1884)

September 3, 1884 marks the sinking of the John Bigler, an otherwise unremarkable schooner out of Detroit (or possibly Chicago) memorialized in song. The slow-moving timber drogher was sailed, and sometimes pulled, through the Great Lakes canals, averaging some 4 miles an hour. The ship was lost with $3,500 worth of stone in the middle of Lake Superior. A clipping from the Toronto Telegram, 3 Oct 1942, provides more detail about the ship, the times, and the song.

Try a random shanty sampling

Bounty Was a Packet Ship
Heaving shanty

Bounty was a packet ship
Ch: Pump ship, packet ship!
Sailing on a cruisin' trip
Ch: In the South Pacific!

Billy Blight, that silly man
Was the master in command.

He was growling day and night,
Whether he was wrong or right.

On the Bounty were the rules,
Not for soft an' silly fools.

An' the answer to complains.
Handcuffs an' the iron chains.

Spittin' on the quarterdeck,
Punishment -- a broken neck.

There were troubles every day,
Many sailors ran away.

An' at last that Billy Blight,
With his crew began to fight.

Brawling, kickin' everywhere,
Iron pins flew thro' the air.

Mates an' sailors in the night,
Overpowered Billy Blight.

They put Billy Blight afloat;
With his madness in a boat:

Bounty then went out of sight,
Left along was Billy Blight.

Billy Blight he reached the caost,
But the Bounty she was lost.

Many gales have crossed the sea,
Since the Bounty went away.

Never was there heard a word,
From the crew that stayed on board.
Doodle Let Me Go
Heaving shanty

It's of a merchant's daughter,
Belonged to Cal-li-oh,

Ch: Hoo-raw, my yaller gals,
Do let me go...

Ch: Do let me go my girls,
Do let me go,
Hoo-raw, my yaller gals,
Do let me go...
Uncle Sam
Hauling shanty

When there's rain and shine together,
Ch: Yo heave ho!
Uncle Sam is in the weather:
Ch: Yo heave ho!

When the sun shines through a fog,
Uncle Samuel drinks his grog:

When the blue sky shows in pieces,
Those are Uncle Samuel's breeches:

When a cloud is low and flat,
That is Uncle Samuel's hat:

When the wind is loud and bad,
Then Old Sam is getting mad:

When the wind begins to bellow,
Uncle Sam is in the cellar:

When the sky is clean and red,
Uncle Sam is gone to bed:

When you hear the wind a-roaring,
That is Uncle Sam a-snoring:

When you see the lightning spooning,
Then old Uncle Sam's harpooning:

When you hear the wind a-barking,
Uncle Sam has gone a-sharking:

When you see a santo-corpus,
Uncle Sam is arter a porpus:

When the water gabbles too much,
Uncle Sam is talking Dutch:

When the sea hawk's scream is heard,
He wants to know if there's Dutch on board:

When the wind's before the rain,
Soon you can make sail again:
En Sjöman Älskar Havets Våg
Heaving shanty

En sjöman älskar havets våg, ja vågornas brus
När stormen skakar mast och tåg, hör stormarnas sus
Ch: Farväl, farväl, Förtjusande mö, vi komma väl snart igen!

Jag avsked tar av vännen kär, vid vågornas brus,
Den hulda då mig trohet svär, i stormarnas sus

Hon trycker då så ömt min hand, vid vågornas brus,
Då känns det tungt att gå från land, till stormarnas sus

Hon viskar ömt och ljuvt mitt namn, vid vågornas brus
Kom snart tillbaka i min famn, från stormarnas sus
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