The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #145654   Message #4187929
Posted By: GUEST,guestD
12-Sep-23 - 01:15 PM
Thread Name: A.L.Lloyd & Sea Chanties
Subject: RE: A.L.Lloyd & Sea Chanties
There has been a lot of emphasis concerning where Lloyd sourced such unique & different lyrics & melodies. I would point to the two very distinct and mostly unrelated versions Wm Dorerflinger collected from Dick Maitland and Patrick Tayluer at Sailor's Snug Harbor in Staten Island late in the 1930s and early 40s. I am speaking here of The Leaving of Liverpool. How is it that the two versions are so dramatically different?
Chantey categories are absolutely necessary in educating the general public least they should confuse heaving and hauling. Accurate generalizations certainly can be made for capstan work vs. halyards. Less so with windlass and capstan. This technique was already in place at Mystic when I started in June of 1980 and to my knowledge still exists today.
In the 1980s and 90s I had conversations with both Lou Killen and Martin Carthy (Mystic), likewise with Martin Wyndham-Read within the last ten years, concerning the influence of Bert Lloyd upon them. All said he was generous and passionate in sharing his knowledge and repertoire; not one commented on inaccurate sources or bibliographies.