Gibb-

Alfred Palmer was an apprentice in the 4-masted sailing barque Burrowa in 1917 when he collected this "chanty" fragment. And he does note in other parts of this book that shanties were still being used aboard at the time for coordinating the work, especially when the sailors were in good spirits.

Yes, it's odd that he considers all the songs the sailors sang aboard "chanties," whether they were songs used for coordinating work or songs for entertainment. But Capt. Palmer was not an ethnomusicologist. He was a sailor and was quite well respected for his ability.

Dead Horse-

"Are you seriously suggesting that it is OK to take a fragment of a genuine shanty and muck about with it until it fits your own criteria?"

I didn't say "muck about with" but is that your attitude toward anyone now making changes in a collected shanty?

My attitude is that there was no one form for any traditional shanty with the exception of its first verse and chorus. Everything else was ad lib. I think it's fallacious to assume that any collected six or more verse shanty is the true version of the shanty. That being said, we should all know where our shanty verses come from, and admit when we are making changes in words or melody.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble