Maritime work song in general

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 17 Jan 23 - 06:50 PM

“Chanter, va. cantar † (náut.) zalomar † fam. charlar † vulg. (pain à) hostia, oblea † pouille, decir ó tirar pullas, dicterios † la palinodie, cantar la palinodia, llamarse antana.”
[Nouveau Dictionnaire Français-Espagnol, Blanc,1847]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 19 Jan 23 - 08:00 PM

“The wind being fair, in a few minutes the well-known song at the windlass was heard, and then the hoarse voice of the first officer calling out, “The anchor is short apeak, sir; lay aloft fore and aft, and loose the topsails and top-gallant sails.” These orders were quickly obeyed. The sails were sheeted home, and hoisted to the mast-head, and the yards were braced so as to cant the ship's head to starboard. And again the long-drawn song was heard at the windlass, the anchor was rapidly hove up to the bows, and in a few minutes our gallant ship was standing down the river under a press of canvass.”
[Life on the Ocean; or, Twenty Years at Sea, Little, 1843]
George Little (1791-1849)

Note: Same author as The American Cruiser (above.)

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 19 Jan 23 - 08:02 PM

“After remaining a very short time at Lisbon, we one morning fired a gun to give notice to our convoy to get under weigh. Immediately the harbor was alive with noise and activity. The song of the sailors weighing anchor, the creaking of pulleys, the flapping of the sails, the loud, gruff voices of the officers, and the splashing of the waters, created what was to us, now that we were “homeward bound,” a sweet harmony of sounds. Amid all this animation, our own stately frigate spread her bellying sails to a light but favoring breeze; with colors flying, our band playing lively airs, and the captain with his speaking trumpet urging the lagging merchant-ships to more activity, we passed gaily through the large fleet consigned to our care….”

“Our preparations all completed, the hoarse voice of the boatswain rang through the ship, crying, “All hands up anchor, ahoy!” in a trice, the capstan bars were shipped, the fifer was at his station playing a lively tune, the boys were on the main deck holding on to the “nippers,” ready to pass them to the men, who put them round the “messenger” and cable; then, amid the cries of “Walk round! heave away, my lads!” accompanied by the shrill music of the fife, the anchor rose from its bed, and was soon dangling under our bows. The sails were then shaken out, the ship brought before the wind, and we were once more on our way to sea….”
[Thirty Years from Home, Or A Voice from the Main Deck, Leech, 1843]
Samuel Leech (1798–1848)

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 19 Jan 23 - 08:13 PM

“Shooting the rapids.––When a boat enters the rapids of the Columbia, the bowman and the steersman quickly resign their oars, and grasp short canoe paddles, which they hold down edge-wise, by the boat's sides, propping themselves, at the same time, against her gunwale, to steady her; while the rowers, in the middle, ply their oars most vigourously and then the boat sweeps onward––rising, or ducking, or spinning about, according as she is borne by the current or the eddies; to the great terror of those who, for the first time, are thus whirled along. The success of such a perilous adventure mainly depends on the steadiness and skill of the two guides, at the stem and stern––the efforts of the middle men* being, mainly, to keep the boat buoyant. The contrast between the Canadian voyageurs and the Indians, in performing this feat, is remarkable and characteristic those merrily chaunt their boat-song; but these are as silent and stern as death.”
[History of the Oregon Territory and British North-American Fur Trade, Dunn, 1844]

*ie: milieu.

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 19 Jan 23 - 08:17 PM

“The day before my departure, with a view to keeping my people as sober as I could during our stay, I directed Beau Pré to have the canoe put in order for the voyage, and to be ready with the men to take me over to the fort, where I was engaged to dine with General Brooke. I was glad to see them all at the appointed time tolerably sober, and after making a grand flourish along the river side with their paddles, they worked the canoe across to the fort in admirable style, to the very popular air of “Et en revenant du boulanger,” from which Mr. Moore took the idea of his Canadian boat-song of “Faintly as tolls the evening chime,” After passing the day very agreeably at the fort, and taking leave of the officers, I returned in the evening to Navarino, giving orders for the canoe and men to be all in readiness the next morning to receive the lading and take our departure.”
[A Canoe Voyage Up the Minnay Sotor, Featherstonhaugh, 1847]
George William Featherstonhaugh, FRS (1780–1866)

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 19 Jan 23 - 08:21 PM

“The approach to Montreal, in one of the Laprarie ferry-boats, allows you to contemplate it at leisure. The distance is nine miles: the river, which is three miles broad, being crossed transversely. You are excited by the rapidity of th the powerful steamboat, and of the current, bearing you like a bird over a ragged channel, which often is visible, covered with crags, apparently ready to tear the bottom of the vessel. French, of a harsh and uncouth dialect, is dinned in your ears by market-men and women, watching their baskets of roots, herbs, &c., gathered it scanty harvest from some part of the rich but abused plain, which extends from the river's bank to the horizon, except where it is bounded by a few distant and imposing isolated mountains. If you cross in a batteau, you hear the boat song of your rowers, in which there is little sweetness or poetry. The city, spreading along the low shore of the river, shoots up the spires of five or six churches, with the domes of two convents, and the towers of the new cathedral, against the Mountain of Montreal, which alone rescues the scene from utter tameness. Those who wish to contemplate the largest specimen of barbarous architecture in North America (saving Mexico), may visit the cathedral.”
[Summer Tours; Or, Notes of a Traveler Through Some of the Middle and Northern States, Dwight, 1847]
Theodore Dwight (1796–1866)

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 21 Jan 23 - 01:52 AM

“A simple “all ready, sir,” uttered by the first to the captain, in a common tone of voice, was answered by a “very well, sir, get your anchor,” in the same tone, set every thing in motion. “Stamp and go,” soon followed, and taking the whole scene together, Rose felt a strange excitement come over her. There were the shrill, animating music of the fife; the stamping time of the men at the bars; the perceptible motion of the ship, as she drew ahead to her anchor,…”
[The Islets of the Gulf; or Rose Budd, Graham's American Monthly, Cooper, 1847]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 21 Jan 23 - 01:54 AM

“The canoes are elegantly shaped, and elaborately ornamented with grotesque carvings, painted red with kokowai; they have elevated stern-posts, and carry low triangular sails made of raupo (a species of rush), and look remarkably picturesque. A fleet of canoes, adorned, as they often are, with the snow-white feathers of the albatross or the gull, and each manned by a numerous band of paddlers, presents a singular and beautiful appearance; gliding swiftly over the blue and crisp waves, and lowering their mat-sails as they dart into the bay, and run up on the beach, shooting like arrows through the white breakers. Many of the canoes that arrive at Waitemata from the Thames, will carry from fifty to sixty men, who all paddle together, singing in unison some Maori boat-song: their strokes and voices are timed by an individual who stands erect in the centre of the canoe, performing the twofold duty of conductor and prompter; beating each stroke with a staff, which he holds in his hand, and prompting the words of the song. The voices of the crew, shouting in measured strain, may frequently be heard when the canoe itself is but a speck on the waves, and the distant sound falls on the ear with a wild and savage effect.”
[Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand, Angas, 1847]
George French Angas (1822–1886)

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 21 Jan 23 - 01:57 AM

“CELEUMA. (Lelt.) Ce-lè-u-ma. Sm. V. G. Lat. celeuma. (Da celeome io comando, io esorto.) Nome del grido col quale si esortavano presso i Greci i rematori ed i cocchieri, acciò raddoppiassero i loro sforzi. –– Celeusma, sin. Tesauro, lett. Mis. 5. 113. Berg. (Aq) (0)
CELEUSMA. (Lelt.) Ce-lè-u-sma. Sf. V. G. Lat. celeusma. Lo stesso che Celeuma. V. (Aq) (0)
CELEUSTANORE, Ce-leu-stà-no-re. N. pr. M. (Dal gr. celeustes esortatore, e da henorea fortezza: Esortatore di fortezza.) –– Figliuolo Ercole e di Laotoe. (Mit)
CELEUSTE. (Lelt.) Ce-lè-u-ste: Sm. V. G. Lat. celeustes. Gr. … (Da celevo io comando.) Cosi chiamavano i Greci il capitano della nave o moderatore della navigazione, il quale or con la semplice voce, or con una specie di cantilena, ed or col suon della tromba regolava il naviglio. (Aq)”
[Vocabolario Universale della Lingua Italiana, Vol.II, Mortara, Bellini, Codogni, Mainardi, 1847]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 24 Jan 23 - 04:27 PM

I've lost count on the number of 'boat songs' passed over to date; Fhir a Bhata / Fear a Bhata / The boatman was one of many.

However, Logan's The Scottish Gaël has come up again and the author does label the two lines of Fhír a Bhata's music as an iorram. Also, at least one later source (Peacock) links it to Fulling songs.

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 24 Jan 23 - 04:31 PM

“Beannachadh luige marrai Prosnachadh fairge, 18th century.

There is no title, author, or date. It has been noted in previous historical records by the first line of the text, which reads Beannachadh luinge marrai Prosnachadh fairge, which translates as 'Blessing a sea ship and sea-cheering'. It appears to be poem, religious in tone, blessing a ship and the sailors who will sail in it.
The University of Edinburgh, Archives Online

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 24 Jan 23 - 04:33 PM

“*The Gaëlic liturgy, composed by John Kerswell, afterwards Bishop of Argyle, 1566, contains the form of blessing a ship when going to sea. The steersman says, “Let us bless our ship,” the crew responding “God, the Father, bless her!” Repeating his request they rejoin, “Jesus Christ bless her!” and, to the same observation, the third time, “The Holy Ghost bless her!” The steersman then asks them what they fear, if God, the Father, be with them, &c.; to which they reply, “We do not fear any thing.” They did not, however, altogether rely on the assistance of the Trinity, for they were careful to suspend a hegoat from the mast to insure a favourable wind.” [p.184, footnote]

“Address to the Rowers, or the Prosnachadh Uimrai: “That you may urge on the long, dark, brown vessel, man the tough, long, polished oars; keep time, strike quick, and deeply wound the heaving billows, and make the surges fly like sparkling showers of living flame. Send her, swift as an eagle, o'er the deep vales and mountains of the sea. O, stretch, bend, and pull the straight sons of the forest! And see how the stout conquerors of the ocean bend their muscular forms like one man! Behold their hairy, sinewy arms! See how they twist their oars in the bosom of the deep! Now the pilot's song inspires them with fresh vigour –– see how they urge the swift courser of the ocean, snorting o'er the fluid plain. Lo! how her prow cuts the roaring waves! Her strong sides creak amidst the dark heaving deep, while the sons of the forest, wielded by the strong arms of the crew, impel her against the storm. These are the fearless, unwearied, unbending rowers, whose oars can shut the very throat of the whirlpool.”

As soon as the sixteen rowers were seated at their oars, and ready to row the vessel into the fair wind, Callum Garbh, Mac Ronald of the ocean, the fore oar's-man, sung the Ioram, which consists of fifteen stanzas.” [p.185]

“Fhir a bhata or the boatmen, the music of which is annexed, is sung in the above manner, by the Highlanders with much effect. It is the song of a girl whose lover is at sea, whose safety she prays for, and whose return she anxiously expects.” [p.253]

Fhir a bhata (Iorram) music. [p.260]
[The Scottish Gaël; Or, Celtic Manners, as Preserved Among the Highlanders, Logan, 1831]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 22 May 23 - 08:24 PM

c.1812
“Then he turned. His tone was almost gay now.

“Here, Johnny Bow,” he cried, “up with you!” A little sailor with a fiddle tucked under his chin mounted the capstan. The men with half a cheer set the bars into place, and Johnny Bow, with one foot stamping out the time, struck up “The girl I left behind me,” and the lively rattle of capstan joined in an accompaniment.”
[Midshipman Farragut, Barnes, 1896]
David Glasgow Farragut (1801–1870) - Went to sea at age 11 years. Flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War.

David Porter (1780–1843) - Farragut's foster father, mentor and Capt. of the USS Essex (1799) c.1812-1814.

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 22 May 23 - 08:26 PM

“The day had hardly yet begun to dawn, the stars shone with unclouded brilliance, and the breeze was fresh off the land. The capstan was soon manned, the messenger brought-to, and all fair for heaving, when the sound of the mirth-inspiring fiddle operated like magic on the sailors' heels, and made them move with life and uniformity to its hornpipe measure.”
[Excursion to Vourla and Clazomene, The Literary Gazette, Vol.8, 1824]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 22 May 23 - 08:28 PM

“PROCELEUSMÁTICO, PROCELEUSMATICUS, PROCÉLEUSMATIQUE, Bersglied, Poes., da... (pro), avanti, e da... (celeuò), comandare, esortare. Verso, il cui primo piede consta di quattro sillabe brevi, e che è l'opposto del Dispondeo: tali sono i citati da Giovanni Argoli (in Not. ad lib. I. cap. 2. Panvin. de lud. Circens.):
= Pecora rapida caper agitat =.
= Humi caput inanime tepet, avida neque manu =.
= Memor eris, Asine, moreris , Asine, vapulans =.
Fu così esso denominato, quasi primus jussus, perchè ne' sacrificj di Minerva sembra pronunciarsi il primo piede di questo verso, o perchè per la sua celerità è, ne' casi urgenti della Milizia o della Nautica, acconcio ad esortare ed incoraggiare i Soldati od i Marinari.”
[Dizionario Tecnico Etimologico Filologico, Tom.II, Marchi, 1829]

Note: See vol.I, above and Bardin on celeustique (to follow.)

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 22 May 23 - 08:30 PM

“On arriving off the island of Poros, instead of continuing our course towards Athens, we turned aside, and ran in to communicate with H.M.S. Cymbrian; we did not anchor, but the captain repaired on board, and in ten minutes we held the pipe, “All hands up anchor,” and the capstan moving round to the air of that most approved and fashionable bravura, “Fiddle dum dee.””
[Cavendish; or, the Patrician at Sea, Vol.2, Neale, 1831]
William Johnson Neale (1812–1893) –– English barrister and novelist.

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 23 May 23 - 07:52 PM

“Perhaps my reader, who has never been at sea, may picture the delight with which the officers, rising from their heated cabins, would behold such a scene as the one I have attempted to describe; the men with their breasts applied to the capstan-bar, heaving up the anchor to the mirth-inspiring sounds of the merry flute and fiddle; their hearts bounding wildly in their bosoms with all the pride and joyousness of a sailor, as they turned their eyes aloft, to behold spar above spar distend its bleached canvass freely to the breeze, with many an indignant flutter, like a young blood-horse champing at the bit.”
[The Port Admiral: A Tale of the War, Vol.1, Neale, 1833]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 23 May 23 - 07:54 PM

“The next was the kuberneter,—the master or pilot, who had charge of the navigation of the ship, and sat at the stern to steer. He was expected to be well versed in the kubernetike techne, or art of navigation, such as it was then practised. It consisted, first, in the management of the rudder, the sails, and the engines, then in use,—second, in the knowledge of the winds, the stars-their motions-and their supposed influences on man,—and third, in the knowledge of the best harbours, the rocks, quicksands, and other hydrographical particulars. As may be supposed, the navigators of those times, kept to sea only during the day— commencing the voyage at sun-rise, and anchoring at sunset. The master had his proreus,, or mate, under him, whose station was on the forecastle.—to his care the tackling was assigned, and the placing of the rowers. The duty of the keleustes, or boatswain, was to repeat the orders, and to distribute the allowances to the ship's company. The purser was styled the grammateus,. Nor was the trieraudes,, or musician, forgotten; whose duty, like the modern fifer on the capstan, was to cheer and inspirit the rowers, and to keep them in time.”
[Navigation in Ancient Greece, The Pilot, or Sailors' Magazine. [Continued as] Sailors' Magazine, Vol.2, anon RN officer, 1840]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 23 May 23 - 07:58 PM

“PROCELEUSMATIC, adj. (applied to verses), procéleusmatique.
[Dictionnaire Phraséologique Royal Anglaise-Francais, Francaise-Anglaise, Tarver, 1845]


“As for divine songs, however, they can easily, even while working with their hands, say them, and like as rowers with a boat-song[1], so with godly melody cheer up their very toil. Or are we ignorant how it is with all workmen, to what vanities, and for the most part filthiness, of theatrical fables they give their hearts and tongues, while their hands recede not from their work?
[1] celeumate.”
[Seventeen Short Treatises of S. Augustine, Cornish, Browne, 1847]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 25 May 23 - 01:44 PM

“Slow to the sun-shine beach they now draw near,
To sounding oars the choral iurrum swells, (13)
While echoes join from out their secret cells.
        “Ho roe i loe! Come poise the sweeping oar!
        Thus braved our sires the deep, in days of yore!…”

“13 To sounding oars the choral iurram swells. –– P. 138.
We learn from ancient history that, among the Greeks, the oar-song, called, …. was sung to the lyre by a musician, whose duty it was to cheer the rowers by his powers of song, when by reason of long continued exertion their spirits flagged, and their bodies became weary and faint with labour, and also to direct the rowers to keep the rythmus or time exactly, to which custom the Roman poet thus alludes.

“ ––––––Mediæ stat margine puppis,
“ Qui voce alternos nautarum temperet ictus,
“ Et remis dictet sonitum, pariterque relatis
“ Ad numerum plaudat resonantia cærula tonsis.
                                        SILIUS ITALICUS, Lib. vi.

The iurrams or oar-songs of our Hebridian mariners, however, are always sung by one, who is joined by the rest of the rowers in chorus. In general, when the Gael are weary, or begin to flag at any sort of labour, a lunneag or song and chorus is called for, and it is truly surprising with what animation they renew their employment when the lunneag strikes up.
[The Grampians Desolate A Poem, Campbell, 1804]
Alexander Campbell (1764-1824) –– musician and writer)

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 25 May 23 - 01:47 PM

“...Staffa ordered his barge to be manned; and thinking, according to the Scottish adage, “Bode a gown if gowd, and ye'll aye get the slieve of it,” that is, “Try, and you will get something of what you try for,” and that, if we could not reach the islands both of Staffa and Iona, we might reach one of them, we embarked with the piper, who sat at the head of the boat, and played some merry and mournful tunes, but which I could not ascertain, as we committed ourselves to the ocean; when he ceased, the strokesman of our rowers commenced a spirited Gaelic song, the chorus of which ended with “Hatyin, foam! foam, Hatyin, foam! foam, foam, Hatyin, foam! foam, eri!”* in which the principal singer introduced some peculiarly shrill notes, beating time very smartly with his hand upon the oar, and producing a brisk and agreeable effect; this had such influence upon his comrades, that, to borrow a marine expression “we flew through the water,” and with great velocity passed Inchkenneth, which I shall mention hereafter, the black basaltic rocks of Ulva, and the Cave of Mackinnow, which time and the weather would not admit of our reaching. After between three and four hours of hard and incessant rowing, we reached one of the great objects of our voyage, and landed on Staffa.”
[Caledonian Sketches, Or, A Tour Through Scotland in 1807, Carr, 1809]
Sir John Carr (1772–1832) –– English barrister and (travel) writer.

* See also: The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides With S. Johnson, Boswell, 1785 (above)

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 25 May 23 - 01:52 PM

“With HEAVE AND HOW seems to mean, with interest or perhaps, with force implying such an exertion as makes a preson cry ho! for ho it seems to have been pronounced, by the rhyme:
        The silent soule yet cries for vengeance just
                Unto the mighty God and to his saints,
        Who though they seem in punishing slow,
        Yet pay they home at last with heave and how.
                        Harr. Ariost. xxxvii. 89.”
[A Glossary: Or, Collection of Words, Phrases, Names, and Allusions to Customs, Proverbs, &c., which Have Been Thought to Require Illustration, in the Works of English Authors, Particularly Shakespeare, and His Contemporaries …, Nares, 1822]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 25 May 23 - 01:54 PM

“Salóma, sf. singing out of sailors, goldline.
Salomár, vn. to sing out
Zalóma, sf. singing out of seamen when they pull with a rope.
Zalomár, vn. to sing out
[A Pocket Dictionary of the Spanish and English Languages, Neuman-Baretti, 1823]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 25 May 23 - 01:54 PM

“Rowing. This practice was anciently directed by a person called Celeustes, who gave the signal for the rowers to strike, and encouraged them by his song or cry. This song, called the celeusma, was either sung by the rowers, or played upon instruments, or effected by a symphony of many, or striking sonorous tones. The commander of the rowers, called Hortator Remigum, Pausarius, and Portisculus, was placed in the middle of them. He carried a staff, with which he gave the signal, when his voice could not be heard. The Corinthians first introduced the use of many ranks of oars. The method consisted in the rowers sitting obliquely one above another in this fashion….

They did not sit, but stood inclined. Ossian mentions the rowing song; and the Anglo-Saxon, batswan, or boatswain, as they called him, had also a staff to direct the rowers ; nor is one man, rowing with sculls, one in each hand, modern, the Greeks having boats on purpose, called ampheres, long and narrow. Mention is made of rowing with the face to the prow, as usual with our ancestors, but it must be pushing not drawing the oar. The oar upon the Etruscan vases is of the form of a very narrow pyramid from top to bottom. Evelyn says, that Andrew Baldarius was the inventor of oars, applied to large vessels for fighting.”
[Encyclopedia of Antiquities; and elements of Archaeology, Classical and Mediæval, Vol.1, Fosbroke, 1825]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 21 Jun 23 - 02:20 AM

“Celéufma, celéufmatis, vel Celêuma, celeumatis, n.g. L'enhortement des mariniers, ou autres gens, qui s'efforcent de faire quelque befongne. Martial.
Celéuftes, celéuftæ, m.g. Tel enhorteur, & donneur de courage. Bud.”
[Dictionarium Puerorum, Stephanus, 1586]

“IOMRAM, IOMRAMH, em'-ram, n.m. rowing.
IORRAM, eúrr'-am, n.f. an oar-song; boat-song.”
[A Pronouncing Gaelic Dictionary, MacAlpine, 1833]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 21 Jun 23 - 02:21 AM

““That will do, Johncrow––forward with you now, and lend a hand to cat the anchor.––All hands up anchor!” The boatswain's hoarse voice repeated the command, and he in turn was re-echoed by his mates; the capstan was manned, and the crew stamped round to a point of war most villanously performed by a bad drummer and a worse fifer, in as high glee as if those who were killed had been snug and well in their hammocks on the berthdeck, in place of at the bottom of the sea, with each a shot at his feet.”
[Tom Cringle's Log, Second Series, Vol.I, Scott, 1833]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 21 Jun 23 - 02:25 AM

“CELÊUMA, s.f. sorte de cri ou de chant des matelots pendant la manœuvre.
CELEUMÁR, v.n. faire Celeuma. V. ce mot.
FÁINA, s.f. (t. d'mar.) manœuvre à bord d'un vaisseau; cri de matelots en travaillant. *Ouvrage, travail, besogne. Courtoisie maritime.”
[Nouveau Dictionnaire Portugais-Francais, Roquette, 1841]


“...A capstan is a strong machine, working on pivots, in an upright position. In the holes around the top, called the drumhead, strong bars are inserted, and several men are placed at each, who keep walking round, pushing the bars to the sound of the drum and fife. In large merchant-ships, a fiddler is placed near the capstan, who plays a song tune, the men joining in chorus….”
[The History of a Ship, from her Cradle to her Grave, Grandpa Ben*, 1843]
*James Lukin (1828-1917)

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 21 Jun 23 - 02:27 AM

“CÉLEUSME. et mieux KÉLEUSME. s. m. (ant. gr.) L'air que l'on jonait ou que l'on chantait sur les vaisseaux, pour encourager les rameurs. § Kèleusme se disait aussi Des commandements du pilote.

CÉLEUSTIQUE. adj. et s. f. (art milit.) Il se dit de L'art de transmettre des signaux au moyen d'instruments de musique.
CÉLEUSTIQUEMENT. adv. (art milit.) Par le moyen de la céleustique.

*CHANTEUR. s. m. Chanteur militaire (art milit.), s'est dit Des musiciens qui chantaient à la tête des troupes, comme les musiciens actuels y jouent de leurs instruments. ? Chanteurs. s. m. pl. (zool.) Famille d'oiseaux.

PROCELEUSMATIQUE. adj. et s.m. (littér. anc.) Il se dit Du pied de vers grec on latin plus connu sous le nom de dipyrrhique, et composé de quatre brèves, comme hominibus.§ Il se dit aussi d'Un mètre composé de trois pieds procéleusmatiques et d'un tribraque ou anapeste.”
[Complément du Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française, Barré, 1842]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 21 Jun 23 - 02:30 AM

“CXLI. 209. … At the first cry*. ???e?sµa or ... strictly signifies the cry used to animate the sailors to row vigorously. It is also applied to the song which they sing whilst rowing. The Latins, in imitation of the Greeks, said, 'Celeusma.' [Hygini Fab. XIV. p.55. cum notis Munckeri et Van Staveren.]
[Larcher's Notes on Herodotus, Vol.2, Larcher, 1844]

*Aux premiers cris (1802 above)

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 22 Jun 23 - 10:34 PM

“LVI.
Llegan à bordo, y à las Naos faltando,
divididos en Tropas los Inglefes,
fuben por uno, y otro cavo halando,
à òcupar Corredores, y, Combefes:
con Zaloma callada vàn levando
las Anclas, à befar en los Bauprefes:
y el General en fu Marina Roca,
fe empieza à deslizar con Vela poca.
[Vida de la Esclarecida Virgen Santa Rosa de Santa Maria, Natural de Lima, y Patrona de el Peru poema heroyco, Oviedo y Herrera, 1729]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 22 Jun 23 - 10:37 PM

“Footnote: 'We heard the women singing as they waulked the cloth, by rubbing it with their hands and feet, and screaming all the while in a sort of chorus. At a distance the sound was wild and sweet enough, but rather discordant when you approached too near the performers.'
Lockhart's Scott, iv. 307.” [p.203]

I could now sing a verse of the song* Hatyin foani eri made in honour of Allan, the famous Captain of Clanranald, who fell at Sherrif-muir; whose servant, who lay on the field watching his master's dead body, being asked next day who that was, answered, 'He was a man yesterday.'” [p.330]
[Boswell's Life of Johnson, Vol.V, 3rd ed., 1786]

*Rowing song.

Lyr Req: (waulking) tweed making music

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 22 Jun 23 - 10:40 PM

“As the captain said this, the first lieutenant approached and reported, (a bustle had been for some time going on on deck), that “they were all ready for unmooring;” to which, having received for answer, “As soon as you please, Mr. Shroud!” a harmony struck up — the peculiar production of the seas. This was the united efforts of two fiddlers, drummer and fifer, and the whole crew in a sort of regular tramping in time (as bass) not unlike certain stampings of troops of the Red Indians in their war dance; all this mixed up with an unusual quivering and shaking of two pair of indefatigable pipes of the boatswain and mates, which seemed to curvet through more modulations than ever did the pipe of Catalani, Sontag, or Malibran—or the fingers and bow of the far famed Paganini. That there was more of dissonance cannot, we fear, be denied; but it blended on the whole, as we have observed, into a sort of sea harmony, admirably well suited to the auditors; —in short they were unmooring, and Jack was dancing round the capstan bars with an alacrity commensurate with his wish for a change at any rate. Thoughts of prize money; fatigue of Poll, whose amiability never failed to be in the exact ratio with the state of Jack's finances—that is to say, decreasing in exact proportion; and the fatigue of small beer or swipes, so small, that the diurnal fag of getting through sundry gallons (wherein his body became a sort of alembic) for the extraction of a very small quantity of the desired spirit, might indeed be said to fatigue, though certainly followed up with surprising patience, round the galley fire, and over many a tough yarn, or long story of a cock and a bull. Thus then, in addition to the said noise or harmony, every now and then a hurrah royal bespoke their joy—a never failing token of a “pull together, boys!””
[The Navy at Home, 1831]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 22 Jun 23 - 10:43 PM

“...You will set me down as a great egotist, which is one of Jack's characteristics, as he mostly makes himself the hero of his narration, and from the Admiral down to the Mid, we all have a forebitter to veer away upon.”
[The Cabin Boy, Pitt, 1840]

Note: Earliest(?) mention of the “forebitter” so far.

Help: What is a 'forebitter'?

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 22 Jun 23 - 10:48 PM

“The Edeeyah mode of dancing is both strange and uncouth. On festive occasions they fasten dry palm-leaves, &c. all over their persons;––these, tossed about in their frantic evolutions, cause a rustling noise, which, with a sort of pavior's grunt, eh! eh eh eh eh! eh! is the only accompanying music, if the word can be so employed…. One peculiarity in the Edeeyah is the inclination they feel to work, hunt, or amusement in unison. Thus, whenever it is necessary to employ them on any work, a whole village or town must be employed; in this way, in a few days an immense deal is cleared away, when they can be persuaded to come together.

Mr Scott, a respectable coloured man, who usually superintended their labours for the West African Company at Fernando Po, informed me that trees of the largest size were easily transported by them to the beach, merely by the habit they have of employing their force simultaneously. Even in the vocal exertions they observe this, and when they chant their incantations to Rupi, either at a feast or hunt, or before working, they use their voices in such exact unison, that it sounds like one stentorian effort, and produces an extraordinary effect on the ear. The first time we heard them thus occupied, it struck us as the most singular unison of vocal power we ever listened to. On such occasions the Buyehrupi uses a sort of wooden rattle, with which he keeps up a noise during the intervals of the performance. The only other instrument of a musical character used by the Edeeyah is a sort of small gourd compressed in the centre, and open at both ends. By blowing more or less forcibly into this, and regulating the fingers or hand at the bottom, such a variety of tones is produced as to enable them to communicate with each other at a distance, and even to hold musical dialogues.

In the still woods of Fernando Po, they are said to be able to communicate with each other at the distance of two or three miles. Having been a witness to some of these attempts, we can quite credit the statement.”
[The Bubis, or Edeeyah of Fernando Po, The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, Vol. 44, Thomson, 1848]
Read before the Ethnological Society of London, Dec., 1847

Bubi people

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 23 Jun 23 - 08:41 AM

The name of this thread should be 'The GUEST Phil d'Conch thread'

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 23 Jun 23 - 10:43 AM

“CHANTEUR MILITAIRE (F). Mot LATIN et GREC, cantator, qui s'appliquait à des MUSICIENS et HÉRAUTS qui, chez les BYSANTINS, transmettaient, sur le champ de bataille, les COMMANDEMENTS aux TROUPES, et excitaient au combat les guerriers, par des hymnes analogues aux CHANTS militaires de l'OCCIDENT et du NORD. Ne négligez pas, dit LÉON (900 A), d'avoir des Chanteurs (cantatores); il conviendrait que ce fussent même des préfets, ou des officiers éloquents, etc., etc. –– Ce passage prouve qu'on appelait également Chanteurs, des orateurs stimulant les courages par des harangues. –– Les TROUBADOURS de la Provence ont, en maintes occasions, été, dans les COMBATS du MOYEN AGE, les Chanteurs chargés d'animer les troupes.
–– La MILICE BYSANTINE a légué aux MILICES TURQUE et RUSSE leurs Chanteurs d'ARMÉE; dans cette dernière, tels Chanteurs sont des instruments à un seul ton, des gosiers à une scule note; tel homme est Sol ou Fa toute sa vie. –– Au camp de Kalish, le 27 août 1835, à cinq heures du soir, les Chanteurs de l'armée exécutaient un hymne en l'honneur du roi de Prusse; l'artillerie en marquait la mesure; cet orage musical est sérieusement raconté par les feuilles publiques, et par le Spectateur militaire (t. 20, p. 580). –– La MILICE AUTRICHIENNE a aussi des chœurs de Chanteurs. –– En 1837, quelque chose de semblable s'essayait en FRANCE, pays où l'harmonie n'est rien moins que populaire; aussi étaient-ce, non des Français, parlant français, mais des Français alsaciens servant au sixième régiment d'infanterie légère, qui, au nombre de vingt-quatre concertants, saluaient de leur mélodie, au camp de FONTAINEBLEAU, le deux juin, l'avènement de la duchesse d'Orléans. En cette même année étaient publiés les Scolies ou CHANTS MILITAIRES du capitaine de cavalerie Merson.

CÉLEUSTIQUE, adj. v. alarme c....... v. APPEL C... V. assemblée G... V. BAN c... v. BATTEMENT G... V. BATTERIE C... V. CAISSE C... V. CHARGE C... V. COMMANDEMENT G... V. CORVÉE C... V. DESSUS C... V. DRAGONNE C... V. GARDE G... V. grenadière c... v. GUERRE G...
V. HALTE C... V. MARCHE C... V. MESSE C... V. MESURE C... V. ORDONNANCE C... V. ORDRE G... V. PREMIER G... V. PRIÈRE c... v. Rappel G... V. RETRAITE C... V. ROULEMENT C... V. SECOND
C... V. SIGNAL C...

CÉLEUSTIQUE, subs. fém. (G, 6), ou céleusmatique. Mot qui dérive du GREG keleusma, qui signifiait ORDRE donné au moyen d'un SIGNAL ou d'un INSTRUMENT; ainsi il y avait des moyens Céleustiques propres aux manœuvres de mer; telle était l'espèce de cadence vocale ou de chant, par lequel les rameurs réglaient le mouvement de leurs En appliquant à l'armée de terre le mot Céleustique, on peut dire que le MÉTROBATE produit, relativement à la MARCHE MILITAIRE, un effet Céleustique analogue à celui que produisait, pour les manœuvres des GALÈRES, le eri concerté des matelots.
––En considérant la Céleustique comme une branche de la TACTIQUE, c'est la science qui applique aux maniements d'armes, aux manœuvres, à l'excitation des guerriers, le CRI, le son instrumental, les vibrations modulées; elle combine et règle l'exécution des SIGNAUX bruyants ou vocaux, et des BRUITS MILITAIRES, etc.; c'est le clangor belli des LATINS, et le klange des GRECS; mais avec cette différence que les MILICES GRECQUE et ROMAINE ne connaissaient pas l'usage de la CAISSE, et que le verbe clangere signifiait à la fois, appeler aux armes et sonner de la TROMPETTE; il eût signifié faire résonner le tambour, si le tambour eût été un instrument du temps. –– La Céleustique comprend BATTERIES DE CAISSE, SONNERIES et MUSIQUE; et elle est ainsi l'ensemble des BRUITS CADENCÉS soit de MELODIE, soit d'HARMONIE; et, par catachrèse, l'ensemble des INSTRUMENTS propres à ces AIRS OU BRUITS, jouant ou de concert, ou séparément, ou alternativement; c'est l'association du CORNET OU CLAIRON, du TAMBOUR, de la TROMPETTE, etc., etc.; c'est l'art de se servir de ces INSTRUMENTS en conformité des lois harmoniques et militaires qui en réglent l'usage; c'est enfin, et surtout, la MUSIQUE DE HAUT BRUIT, représentée par un genre de NOTES particulières. La Céleustique a quelquefois pour auxiliaire la SÉMENTIQUE, qui en diffère parce que cette dernière est télégraphique.

CELEUSTIQUEMENT, adv. v. Appeler c...”
[Dictionnaire de l'Armée de Terre, Vol.2, Bardin, 1848]

Étienne Alexandre Bardin (1774-1840)

Note: Also two full pages on “chant.”

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 23 Jun 23 - 10:44 AM

“CALOMAR, esp. v. a. a Lascher la gumène ou autre cordage, filer. » Oudin, Thrés, des deux lang. esp. et fr. (1660).
El Calomar: « Le ton que les mariniers chantent pour tirer et faire effort tous ensemble. » Cette dernière acception du mot se trouve dans le Dict. de Sobrino; ni l'une ni l'autre ne se lit dans Röding, ou dans Neuman. – Calomar, avec le sens de: chant nautique, parait être une transformation grossière de Celeuma (V.), quelquefois employé pour Celeusma; l'Académie espagnole dans son Diccion, exprime cette opinion, qui nous semble très-fondée. Avec le sens de: lâcher, filer à Calomar est peut-ètre une contraction de Calar a mar, filer à la mer, qui aurait fait Calamar et Calomar. – L'ital. Dit Calomare. – V. Calumare.”
[Glossaire Nautique: Répertoire Polyglotte de Termes de Marine Anciens et Modernes, Vol.1, Jal, 1848]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 23 Jun 23 - 10:46 AM

“When the morning's dew was shaken off, our coffee enjoyed?our light bark again launched upon the water, and the chill of the morning banished by the quick stroke of the paddle, and the busy chaunt of the corporal's boat-song, our ears and our eyes were open to the rude scenes of romance that were about us?our light boat ran to every ledge?dodged into every slough or cut-off” to be seen?every mineral was examined?every cave explored?and almost every bluff of grandeur ascended to the top.”
[Illustrations of the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians, Vol.II, Catlin, 1848]
George Catlin (1796–1872)

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 25 Jun 23 - 12:41 PM

“DRAMATIC ENTERTAINMENTS.
...A very interesting moving panorama of the NILE, and its surrounding scenery, embracing everything that is interesting in the land of the Pharaohs, has been exhibited at the Egyptian Hall. The prestige of such names as Warren, Fahey, John Martin, and Edward Corbold, highly-accomplished English artists, is a sufficient guarantee that the painting, as a work of art, is of first-rate excellence. The views are taken from the drawings of Mr. Bonomi, an Egyptian traveller of note, and as the painting progresses, each subject is explained in a very interesting and familiar manner. The magnificent architectural remains, which form such a delightful theme for the antiquary, are admirably realized by the artist; while the living creatures, birds, beasts, and reptiles, incidental to each locality, are faithfully introduced. In the room there are several drawings and a great number of curiosities. The muezzin and an Arab boat song, with some favourite music, is introduced on the melodium, we believe.”
[The Dramatic and Musical Review, 1848]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 25 Jun 23 - 12:42 PM

“Asi la zuiza militar en tierra,
Y á bordo la marítima zaloma
Se escucha con motiu y civil guerra,
Y oculta rebelion el rostro asoma.
Cortés, en cuyo corazon se encierra
Valor, a quien ningun peligro doma,
Las filas corre, y lleno de osadia:
Compañeros heróicos, les decia,”
[Obras de D. Nicolás y D. Leandro Fernández de Moratín, 1848]


“Ocho dias bastaron para cargar el bergantin, y al último por la noche quedó todo preparado para dar la vela al amanecer. Nunca se oyó zaloma mas viva ni estrepitosa; tal era el estruendo que la corbeta de estacion navegó dos dias con cuidado, creyendo haber oido cañonazos de socorro.”
[El Remolque del Diablo, Periódico Universal, Vol.4, 1848]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 25 Jun 23 - 12:44 PM

“Calóma, sf. Singing out of sailors.
Salóma, sf. Singing out of sailors.
Salomár, vn. To sing out.
Zalóma, sf. Singing out of seamen when they haul with a rope.
Zalomár, vn. To sing out.”
[Dictionary of the Spanish and English Languages, Saint-Hilaire Blanc, 1848]


“Saloma sf. Canto de'marinaj
Salomar, vn. Cantar manovrando.”
[Diccionario Italiano-Espanol y Espanol-Italiano, Cormon, Manni, 1848

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 25 Jun 23 - 12:48 PM

“Cantar la sonda. To sing the soundings.
Zaloma. The act of singing-out.
Zalomar. To sing-out.”
[Diccionario Marino Español-Inglés para uso del Colegio Naval, Martínez de Espinosa, 1849]


“CELÊUMA, s.f. gritos, vozeria que levantan os marinheiros quando trabalham, para se animarem mutuamente.
CELEUMEAR, v.n. (p. us.) levantar celeuma.”
[Novo Diccionario da Lingua Portugueza, Vol.I, Faria, 1849]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 25 Jun 23 - 12:48 PM

“...The shouts of their war-songs were to be heard in chorus with many an old English ballad from the soldiers, as well as the “fore-bitter” (Jack's song) of our own people.”
[Reminiscences of Twelve Month's Service in New Zealand, McKillop, 1849]
Henry Frederick McKillop R.N. (1822-1879)
HMS Calliope (1837)

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 25 Jun 23 - 12:50 PM

“MADEIRA
...The manner of expressing the juice I have no where seen particularly described; and although a description of it may not add a relish to the cup, yet it will show the manufacture as conducted according to the old custom, at the present day. A friend of our consul was obliging enough to show us his works, and the machinery for expressing the juice from the grape. It was in a rude sort of shed. On our approach we heard a sort of song, with a continued thumping, and on entering saw six men stamping violently in a vat of six feet square by two feet deep, three on each side of a huge lever beam, their legs bare up to the thighs. On our entrance they redoubled their exertions till the perspiration fairly poured from them; the vat had been filled with grapes, and by their exertions we were enabled to see the whole process….

SYDNEY
...Sydney contains about 24,000 inhabitants, which is about one-fifth part of the whole population (120,000) of the colony; and about one fourth of this number are convicts. In truth, the fact that it is a convict settlement may be at once inferred from the number of police officers and soldiers that are everywhere seen, and is rendered certain by the appearance of “chain-gangs.” The latter reminded us, except in the color of those who composed them, of the coffee-carrying slaves at Rio; but the want of the cheerful song, and the apparent merriment which the Brazilian slaves exhibit in the execution of their tasks, was apparent….

TONGA
...After being three hours on board, hearing that the provisions for the feast had been sent go shore, , they desired to depart, and were again landed. The Tongese sang their boat-song as they sculled his canoe, but this custom, according to Whippy, is not practised by the Feejees.”
[Voyage Round the World, Wilkes, 1849]
Charles Wilkes (1798–1877)
United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842)

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 25 Jun 23 - 12:52 PM

“90-92. Rumore secundo. “With joyous shouts,” i.e., on the part of the rowers, encouraging one another at the oar. We have adopted the punctuation of Wagner, who connects these words with what precedes, but refers them to the naval “celeusma,” which regulated the movements of the men at the oars. Heyne, on the other hand, connects the words in question with labitur uncta, &c., placing a semicolon after celerant; a punctuation preferred also by Burgess (ad Dawes. Misc. Crit., p. 446) and Wakefield. The reference will then be to the gurgling noise of the water under the prow, “with a pleasant gurgling sound.” But, as Wagner remarks, since there is nothing very forcible in these words, they give a heavy air, if joined with it, to the line that comes after. The true mode of ap pending them would have been, “Labitur uneta vadis abies rumore secundo.

107-114. Atque inter opacum, &c. “And that they were gliding towards them amid the shady grove, and that (the crews) were bending to the silent oars,” i.e., were rowing silently, but steadily. The expression tacitis remis may refer either to the absence of all shouting on the part of the mariners, or to the cessation of the naval “celeusma.””
[The Aeneïd of Virgil: With English Notes, Critical and Explanatory, a Metrical Clavis, and an Historical, Geographical, and Mythological Index, Virgil, Anthon, 1849]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 26 Jun 23 - 08:25 PM

“As it is often inconvenient, and sometimes dangerous, to ship and unship the handspikes in a ship's windlass, besides causing much loss of time, and as by it the united strength of many men cannot be employed, the capstern or capstan is used instead of it, in large vessels, to weigh the anchor, and in ships of war, when despatch is needful, a large body of men act together, walking round the capstan, their efforts being rendered simultaneous and uniform by the sound of music, and the cable of the gallant ship, on her return home from a foreign station, is merrily rounded in.
                “A fair wind, and off she goes.”…”

“Referring to the practice of heaving at the capstan on board of ship to the sound of music, it may be remarked that, by this means, a number of those machines, actuated by large bodies of men, may be made to exert their force at once upon the same object; and that the Russians of the present day employ them in moving those immense blocks of stone, of which their public buildings display so many examples; and, also, that they are employed in moving their line-of-battle ships, often built on shallow water at a distance from the sea, until they are fairly floated upon the caissons or “camels,” which are used to buoy them up and enable them to come down the Neva to the Gulf of Finland, towed by a flotilla of row-boats.

The rock on which stands the colossal statue of Peter the Great, was moved from Lachta, in Finland, to the Russian capital by the aid of many capstans worked at the same time by a large body of soldiers, who kept step to the sound of the drum. The impression which the sight of this immense monument made on the author's memory, many years ago, is still fresh and vivid.

The rock, when brought to St. Petersburgh, is said to have weighed 1100 tons, which corresponds with the original dimensions of the stone. These were 42 ft. long at the base, 36 ft. at the top; 21 ft. thick, and 17 ft. high.”
[Rudimentary Treatise on the Construction of Cranes and Machinery for Raising Heavy Bodies, Glynn, 1849]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 26 Jun 23 - 08:27 PM

“The oars of our voyageurs, keeping time to their cheerful boat song, sent us rapidly over its swelling waves into another pretty watery ganglion called Lake Winnebigoshish; and thence with all possible speed we descended the river to Sandy lake, at the outlet of which the Mississippi is three hundred and thirty-one feet wide.”
[Doc,1, Alex Ramsey, Report of the Secretary of the Interior, 1849]



“Cantar la sonda. To sing the soundings.
Zaloma. The act of singing-out.
Zalomar. To sing-out.”
[Diccionario Marino Ingles-Español, Martínez, 1849]



“The Oregons are a jolly crew… &c.
[Sights of the Gold Region, Johnson, 1849]
Covered in the Advent & Development thread.

Note: The U.S.M. Oregon (1250 tons), was an auxilliary (a sailing steamship) built for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company.

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 26 Jun 23 - 08:33 PM

“CELEUS'MA (?e?e?e??). The chaunt or cry given out by the cockswain (hortator, pausarius, ?e?e?st??) to the rowers of the Greek and Roman vessels, in order to aid them in keeping the stroke, and encourage them at their work. (Mart. Ep. iii. 67. Rutil. i. 370.) The chaunt was sometimes taken up, and sung in chorus by the rowers, and sometimes played upon musical instruments. Auson. in Div. Verr. 17.
ER'GATA (????t??). A capstan or windlass, for drawing up vessels on to the shore, and for moving heavy weights generally. Vitruv. x. 4.
HORTATOR (?e?e?st??). On board ship, the officer who gave out the chaunt (celeusma), which was sung or played to make the rowers keep the stroke, and, as it were, encourage them at their work (Ovid. Met. iii. 619. Compare Virg. Æn. v. 177. Serv. ad /.), whence the name (solet hortator remiges hortarier, Plaut. Merc. iv. 2. 5.). He sat on the stern of the vessel, with a truncheon in his hand, which he used to heat the time, as represented in the annexed engraving, from the Vatican Virgil.
GUBERNA'TOR (????e???t??). A helmsman or pilot, who sat at the stern to steer the vessel (Cic. Sen. 9.), gave orders to the rowers, and directed the management of the sails. (Virg. Æn. x. 218. Lucan. Viii. 193.) He was next in command to the magister, and immediately above the proreta. (Scheffer, Mil. Nav. p. 302.) The illustration is from a bas-relief found at Pozzuoli.
PAUSA'RIUS. (Senec. Ep. 56.) The officer who gave out the chaunt (celeusmna), and beat the time, by which the rowers kept their stroke; also styled HORTATOR, where an illustration is given.
PRORE'TA (p???at??). A man who stood upon the forecastle at the ship's head (prora to keep a look ut, and make signs to the helmsman how to steer, as in the annexed illustration from a medal. He was second in command to the gubenator, and had every thing belonging to the ship's gear under his care and orders. Plaut. Rud. iv. 3. 86. Rutil. Itin. 1. 455. Schæffer, Mil. Nav. iv. 6.”
[Illustrated Companion to the Latin & Greek Lexicon, Rich, 1849]

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 26 Jun 23 - 08:36 PM

“Their uneasiness evidently increased, as our remaining time diminished; till at length, as the town clock struck twelve, the capstan was manned. The anchor was then hove to the tune of “Off she goes,” performed on a single fife in admirable time, marked by the tread of many feet.”
[My Peninsular Medal, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol.66, Nov., 1849]
Thomas Boys (1792–1880)

Subject: RE: Maritime work song in general
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 26 Jun 23 - 08:37 PM

“CELÉUSTICA, s.f. Arte trasmitir las órdenes por medio de sonidos músicos.
CELÉUSTICAMENTE, adv. m. Por medio de la celéustica.
SALOMA, s.f. Accion ó efecto de salomar.
SALOMAR, v.n. Mar. Gritar el contramestre ó guardian diciendo varias retahilas para que al responder á ellas tiren todos á un tiempo del cabo que tienen en la mano.
ZALOMA, s.f. Cancion usada por los marinos para unir sus esfuerzos cuando tiran de un cabo.
ZALOMAR, v.a. Cantar la zaloma.”
[Diccionario General de la Lengua Castellana, Tom.I-II, Caballero, 1849]