PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Sailor Ron
Date: 17 Jun 09 - 09:09 AM

Sorry, the GUEST above was me! Ron

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Jun 09 - 03:48 AM

Charley, glad 'Chanty for steam' was well received, as you know, whilst I enjoy all types of nautical songs, my particulat 'bent' is steam, either as a collector or writer. I never worked 'in sail', nor in coal fired ships, but, I sailed with plenty of blokes who had worked 'in coal' and it was from their tales that inspired 'Chanty for steam'. Incidentally if you could get hold of a copy of 'Victoria Drummond, Marine Engineer' I think you'd find it facinating. She sailed as 10th Engineer with Blue Funnel in 1922, & ended up as Chief on the China coast in the 1960s. Ron

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 16 Jun 09 - 12:49 PM

Here's a link to a description of the battle around Convoy CW 9, though the song itself makes a very good job of it - thanks, Barry.

Charley, Ron asked me some time ago to send you a copy of Red Duster's "Farewell to the Clan Line" CD and our other material. I haven't forgotten, I just keep getting derailed by circumstances. Will get back to that shortly.

Ross

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 15 Jun 09 - 11:06 PM

It was awesome, Charley

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Charley Noble
Date: 15 Jun 09 - 10:26 PM

Ron-

I believe the "Coaling Shanty" went down very well when I sang it at the late night sessions at the Mystic Sea Music Festival.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Sailor Ron
Date: 30 Apr 09 - 12:02 PM

The [British] Merchant Navy lost more than 100% of its pre-war crew numbers, and yet there seems little in song [or poetry for that matter] about them. So for what it's worth here's one by me.

Some died quickly, some died slow
Some up on deck some down below
Where e're they died they died the same
And the price of petrol has gone up again.

Some died in the torpedoe's blast
Some starved in boats, some froze on rafts
Waiting for rescue that never came
And the etc.

Some died bravely, some did not.
How some died is best forgot
Screaming & frying in a sea of flame
And the etc

Some died in anger, some in hate
Some resigned unto their fate
Some died calling on Jesu's name
And the etc

Some tried fleeing from the attack
Some died cursing & firing back
To take revenge for their comrades slain
And the etc

Sun bleached skulls with empty eyes
Staring sightless to the skies
These are the reasons, the reasons plain
That the price of petrol has gone up again.

This was inspired by the David Low cartoon in the Daily Mirror
showing a blazing tanker, with a seaman clinging to a raft. The caption was 'the price of petrol has gone up again'. This very
nearly got the paper banned!

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Charley Noble
Date: 24 Apr 09 - 09:57 AM

Ron-

"White Feathers" is another haunting song. I find that the test of a good song is whether you still think of it long after you have heard it. What I heard was the rendition on the Folk Opera CD you sent me, titled BLOOD ON THE ICE. I suppose I'll just have to learn the damn thing now!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Sailor Ron
Date: 23 Apr 09 - 11:36 AM

Charley, no, but I will.

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Charley Noble
Date: 23 Apr 09 - 09:40 AM

Ron-

Barry and Neil did a great job of presenting the above song at the recent Borderline Mystic Sea Music Festival fundraiser.

Did you ever post "White Feathers" to this thread? That's another keeper that I believe you composed.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Barry Finn
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 06:23 PM

Buzz Smith, a friend of my singing partner Neil Downey (of Finn & Haddie) wrote this song about 20yrs ago without ever putting a tune to it, so it just laid around. Neil just recently found it after all those yrs & now we've just started singing it to Neil's tune.
There was a thread some where about this convoy of WWII coal colliers called CW-9 but I can't seem to unearth it.

CW-9 (words, Buzz Smith, tune Neil Downey)

On the 7th of August a convoy set out
As evening fell over the Thames
Through Dover Straits was their perilous route
CW-9 was their name
Twenty Coast Colliers, nine ships of the line
Were sent to that hell on the sea
With a cargo that could've been carried by rail
Just to prove that the channel was free

Chorus:
The Admiralty said "it's a mater of pride
We don't give a damn for your coal"
Then sent them all off for a bloody good ride
Where the E-Boats & Stukas patrolled

As the cloudy dawn broke the 1st E-Boats appeared
To strike with torpedo & shell
And when back to France the Bosch bastards had steered
Six ships had been blown all to hell
Three of them crippled, their hulls badly holed
Three more to the bottom had dived
And still trapped below with their cargo of coal
All the brave men who needlessly died

Chorus

In the gloomy mid-morning the Stukas rained down
With Messerschmitts guarding their tail
But Spitfires & Hurricanes gave them no ground
Through lead rained around them like hail
Jerry kept coming until at mid-day
They broke through the cover at last
And in ten minutes flat to the Convoy's dismay
Eleven of the Colliers were smashed

Chorus

It was evening before the sad slaughter was o'er
For Jerry kept at them all day
And many brave sailors lay dead in their gore
Or drowned in a watery grave
When into Swanage they limped with the tide
Four Colliers were all that remained
The rest were the victims of the Admiralty's pride
Shot to hell or lying under the Main

Chorus

They bombed them, they starfed they, they blew them aside
While the blood & the coal mixed with brine
T'was a hell of a price for the Admiralty's pride
That was paid by CW-9


I guess that this song would fit in either a merchant navy or a navy catagory.

Wonderful thread

Barry

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Sailor Ron
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 11:14 AM

The Liberty ships, known in the MN as 'Sam' boats could be said to be 'the ships that won the war'. After scratching round to find any songs about them, and failing, I ended up writing this :-

They were designed by Pickersgill, built by Beth'lam Steel
Down the slip in just six weeks from the day they laid the keel
Crude as a sawn off shot gun, no elegance or style
They were cut off by the furlong, they were laid down by the mile.

Chorus
They were the Sam boats, the Sam boats, built in hundreds, built in scores
These ships built by Uncle Sam were the ships that won the war.

Now every yard in Britain was working day & night
But the 'wolf-packs' they were winning the North Atlantic fight
So Roosevelt said to Churchill 'If you'll send us the plans
We'll build all the ships you need, isolationists be damned'!

So they rolled, and, cut, and welded with their 'Yankee Doodle Day'
And down each slip they were launched, from Maine to Mobile Bay
With a single 'up & downer', greyhounds they were not
Yet 10,000 tons they carried at a speed of near 12 knots.

'Sam Tampa', and 'Sam Verra', they'd strange, outlandish names
But they carried tanks, they carried guns, shells and aeroplanes
But more than munitions, they carried faith & hope
The 'press' called them the Liberty ships, to their crews they were 'Sam Boats'.

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Fidjit
Date: 11 Apr 09 - 10:08 AM

Dunno Ross. Probably. There were always strikes going on.

Chas

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 11 Apr 09 - 08:46 AM

If ferry boats counted, I'd qualify! From the early fifties we used to travel every summer from home in Lanarkshire to my mother's old home near Enniskillen. The boat trip, with Burns-Laird Lines from Lancefield Quay on the Broomielaw, Glasgow, to Donegal Quay on the River Laggan, Belfast was a major part of the holiday for us. Both rivers then had extensive working shipyards, and the quays and docks were jammed with ships of all shapes and sizes from all parts of the world. Opposite Lancefield Quay was where the Clyde steamers moored, usually the Queen Mary II. Occasionally the paddle steamer Waverley, arriving back from a trip "doon the watter", would have to moor alongside and off-load passengers through the QM II because there wasn't room to get to the quayside. Travelling overnight, we would be allowed to stay up until it got dark (about 11pm in the Scottish summer nights). Departing about 9pm, the Duke of Argyll (or the Royal Ulsterman) would take us slowly down the river, horn blasting to warn the Renfrew ferry of our approach. Then as the river widened out, we'd pass the disabled ex-servicemen's hospital at Erskine House in its open parkland, Dumbarton Rock on the other side, Gourock Rope Works' neon sign and eventually the Cloch Light at the "Tail o' the Bank". On the return journey there could be a stop at Shieldhall to off-load the live cattle cargo in the early morning before proceeding up-river. On the Belfast side, for a couple of years we watched the "Canberra" take shape. The first time we took the car over (1964?), it had to be loaded on and off by crane. By the time the QEII was being built at John Brown's yard, Dumbarton, Burns-Laird had changed over to RO-RO ferries, operating from Ardrossan, well down the Firth of Clyde. This made for a much shorter (and for me, much less interesting) journey.

Ross

Fidjit, you mentioned a seamen's strike in the sixties. Was there an earlier one too, possibly late fifties? I seem to remember my father having to get a plane home one year to make sure he got back to work in time.

Correction, June 16 2009:- The ships we travelled on would have been the MV "Royal Scotsman" and MV "Royal Ulsterman", pictured here with links to further information:- http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/GB_Pass_PCs_B.html

The "Duke of Argyll" was one of LMS's Heysham-Belfast ships, which had the next berth down along Donegal Quay. I also remember its sister ship "Duke of Lancaster", but can't say I ever saw the "Duke of Rothesay". After 1967 when the overnight services ceased, Burns & Laird brought in the Ro-Ro ferry MV "Lion", operating from Ardrossan, further down the Clyde. Very efficient (four hours instead of ten), very modern, but not half as much fun.

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Fidjit
Date: 11 Apr 09 - 03:38 AM

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Leadfingers
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 08:12 PM

Does doing several trips on Ferry Boats qualify ? Working , NOT passengers ! LOL .

And 100

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Fidjit
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 12:33 PM

Hi Sailor Ron.

Just looked up my Merchant Seaman Record book. More dust!

Joined May '66. There was a Seaman's strike on so we were on Standby in Southampton until June. Sleeping on the Windsor Castle. Had a look where they hid the Gold on the Capetown Castle whilst we were there.
Good story pity they got caught.

Then 4 trips on the SA Vaal. Then 1 on the Alice Bowater. 3 on the Rowan Castle. and 2 on Clan Malcolm. August '67 - April '68

Signed off 19th April '68

Our paths must have crossed. Small world.

Chas

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Charley Noble
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 08:49 AM

Absolutely great!

Keep 'em coming.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Sailor Ron
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 06:11 AM

Fidjit
My 'shipping list'
Clan Sutherland, Clan Malcolm, Clan Sutherland [again], Argylshire,
Hector Hawk, Nina Bowater, Rothsey Castle,Tintagel Castle,
King Charles,Clan Malcolm [again],King Malcolm, King James.
plus odd weeks 'standing by' another 5 or 6

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Fidjit
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 05:56 AM

Mick Ryan & Pete harris

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Fidjit
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 05:53 AM

Just to add that you can get to Channels recording via this site
or Wild Goose Records


a href="http://www.mickandpete.co.uk/">Mick Ryan & Pete harris


Chas

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Fidjit
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 05:44 AM

Here you go Ross.

"Channels" Written by Graham Penny
Pete Harris recorded on, 'Widows Promise' TERRCD008

Well It's Nearly Six Months To The Day Lads
When The Anchor Was Straight Up And Down
And We Waved Our Farewells To the Quayside
As We Sailed Out Of Southampton Town

Now I Can't Say That It's Been A Good Trip This Time
The Old Man Has Given Us Hell
The Watch Keepers Slaved Whilst The Day Workers Skived
I Think Next That Time I'll Sign On The P & O Line

But Now,
We're On The Downhill Run
Southampton Here We Come
Twentyfour Hours And Then
There'll Be Tears Ther'll Be Kisses
The Kids And The Missus
I'm Getting The Channels Again

Now The Lump In The Engine Department
Is Much Tougher Than Most People Think
At The End Of Your Watch You Are Shattered
You Just Crash Out When You've Had A Drink

Now If I Had A Nice Cushy Number
Same As The Lecky Or Even The Mate
Or The Purser, The Purser, Well They're All The Same
They've Got Cash On The Brain
Sell Their Granny's For Gain

But Now,

In The Morning We'll Be Off The Island
And The Junior Watch We'll Arouse
And We'll Slow To Take On The Sea Pilot
For The Run From The Needles To Cowes

Now The Rummager's With Him They're Really Bad News
A Scruffier Lot I've Not Seen
The Rummager's Rummage Wherever They Choose
And Your Job You Can Loose
If They Find All Your Booze

But Now,

Now My Gear Has All Been To The Cleaners
I've Filled Out My Customs Form Too
So We Might As Well Start On the Pour Out
Till Tomorrow there's No More To Do

Now, We'll Slow Down At Fowey It Won't Be Long Then
Till We're Passing The Old School At Cowes
We'll Be Signing Off Articles Round About Ten
Down The Gangway And Then
We'll Be Shore Side Again

But Now,
We're On The Downhill Run
Southampton Here We Come
Twentyfour Hours And Then
There'll Be Tears Ther'll Be Kisses
The Kids And The Missus
I'm Getting The Channels Again


Chas

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 05:17 PM

Thanks for that, Fidjit. Sounds a lot like Ron's tales of Cadet days. Your times with Cayzer Irvine must have overlapped. Did you ever sail on any of Ron's ships? (I think there's a list somewhere above). I'll mention this to Ron tomorrow night at the Steamer

I don't think I've come across "Channels". Please post if you have it handy (and any verses, fragments, etc that you might have disturbed on the way to the bottom of the song bag).

Ross

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Fidjit
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 08:29 AM

Now Ross you've got me raiding my song bag right to the very bottom. Lot of dust up my nose, but finally came up with a song I wrote for the cadets concert on board.

Have to just say that I did a stint as Lecky with Cayzer Irvine in'66 - '68.
S.A Vaal, Elizabeth Bowater, couple of Castle line cargo boats too.
One trip as Lecky on the, "Clan Malcolm" which was a boat for Officer Cadets.

So here was what I came up with.

"Voyage 28"
Tune. Early in the morning before the break of day.

When I Was Dumb And Very Young
I Went For A Trip On The Clan Malcolm
I Thought I would A Captain Be
And So I Joined The Company
I Joined The Company (x3)
Before The Break Of Day

We Sailed From London It Is True
The Sea And Sky Looked Very Blue
But In The Bay It Could Be Seen
All The Cadets Looked Very Green
Oh! They Looked Very Green (x3)
Before The Break Of Day

On The Cape You Can Have A Good Time
The Weather There Is Always Fine
Don't Fall Out With The T/O
Or You'll Have The Line To Toe
You'll Have The Line To Toe (x3)
Before the Break Of Day

A Visit To A National Park Was Planned
Many, Many Miles Inland
In The Morning they Wanted Us
Up Very Early To Catch The Bus
Up Early in The Morning (x3)
Before The Break Of Day

We Went From The Cape To The Medi Blue
There Were many Things To Do
Ski-ing Soccer And Believe You Me
It's A Very Full Life On The Malcolm C
Oh! It's A Very Full Life (x3)
On Board The Malcolm C

Back To The Cape Just For Fun
We Had To Have Another Run
L.M Beira Round Again
This Is The Life On The Rolling Main
Life On The Rolling Main (x3)
Before The Break Of Day

One Had A Night Out in L.M
Sure He Won't Do That Again
We All Know He'll No More Roam
His Shore Leaves Stopped
Till We Get Home
Oh! No More Will He Roam (x3)
Until The Break Of Day

And Now We're On The Homeward Run
We've had Good Craic And Lots Of Fun
We're All Proud Of The Time We've Done
All Aboard The Clan Malcolm
Aboard The Clan Malcolm (x3)
Before The Break Of Day.

P.S
I've always liked Graham Penny's, "Channels" and can associate my time at sea with that song. I have the words if you want.

Chas

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Sailor Ron
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 06:09 AM

As, at present the thread seems to have dried up I thought I'd post one or two of my own.

North from Buenos Aires

With wheat from the Argentine filling all five holds
But just two layers of gunny sacks, and no shifting boards
Lets hope it settles even as ythe grain is shaken down
As north from Buenos Aires to the Mersey we are bound.

Steam coal from the Rhondda we carried to the Plate
But our bunker's full of rubbish, full of shale and slate
Six knots [on a good day] we get from our compound
As north etc

She's leaking like a colander, it's pump her every watch
The bilges all clogged up with grain, and rust chokes the strum box
Just hear those rivets popping every time she pounds
As north etc

Just an ancient long haul tramp built long before the war
Not the one against the Kaiser, no, the one fought 'gainst the Boers
She's steering like a drunkard staggering round the town
As north etc

All on board are longing to sight that 'landfall buoy'
Not that the owners care; they're insured with Lloyds
They'll still get their money if we sink or run aground
As north etc

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Mar 09 - 01:19 PM

Ron-

Very interesting! I bet more will be coming out of the woodwork or the bilge or whatever.

Don't you love the world wide web!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: MartinRyan
Date: 20 Mar 09 - 10:09 AM

Click here for the songs and verse page Sailor Ron recommends above.

Regards

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Sailor Ron
Date: 20 Mar 09 - 09:54 AM

I have recently found a source of 'wonerful' M.N. songs. Go to 'British India Shipping' [Google]. There is a section 'songs'. Enjoy it!

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 07:26 PM

Thanks, Robert

Additional verses/tunes/stories/details always welcome. The Baron Line Song appears earlier in this thread in the form that Ron and I adapted it for me to sing. The tune I used is a bit like "The Soor-Milk Cairt". We based the lyrics on a version in the DT:-
Baron Line Song

Ross

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Charley Noble
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 07:21 PM

refresh

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: GUEST,Robert (squeezebox) Hilton
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 12:25 PM

Six weeks off Southend sounds to me like the situation of many vessels in the late 50's when London docks were strike bound. Many ships spent weeks at anchor there. I was there with a vessel of the South American Saint Line (offices in Mountstuart Square, Cardiff. After that trip we worked from Bremen, Hamburg and Antwerp.

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: GUEST,Robert (squeezebox) Hilton
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 11:42 AM

I remember hebridean sailors in the 60's inn the Queen Vic singing to its own strong tune:

When I was skint in Glesga toon and didna have a bob,
I went on board a tramp ship for to get myself a job.
The Mate he looked me over and he saie, "Ye'll do just fine,
"For we take all bums and down and outs in the good old Baron Line."

Refrain:
Well you may have been in sailing ships, you may have been in tramps.
You may have been in whalers on the great Newfoundland Banks.
You may have sailed around the Wurrld and had a Hell of a time,
But you've never been in tramp ships 'til you've sailed the Baron Line.

I have most of another verse got from an AB in the 90's. I don't know how to send you the tune, but could find out.

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Sailor Ron
Date: 08 Dec 08 - 12:09 PM

Wonderful! As you say the 1st one is a varient of the MV Hardship family of songs. I believe that BI also had a version [to add to the Harrison, Union Castle and now Shaw Saville] I am currently trying to track it down. Sorry I can't add any verses, but as has been said before on this thread there are no definitive versions, i.e. in the song 'Shaw Saville's Buccaneers' that I collected on board the M.V. King James the two A.Bs I got it from nearly had a stand up fight as to which was the 'proper' version [ the version posted is a collation of their two].

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: GUEST,Ian Wallace
Date: 08 Dec 08 - 11:55 AM

I am trying to source the words to a song, possibly a version of 'The MV Hardship'and specifically related to 'Shaw Savill'. Sung to the tune of 'Villikins and his Dinah'/ Sweet Betsy from Pyke'.

I can only remember two of the verses, plus half another one. What I can remember goes as follows:

We went down the Pool at a quarter to nine,
They told us to join the Shaw Savill Line.
They paint their ships black and they paint their ships white,
And they work you like B******s from morining 'til night.

Chorus

Heave away, heave away, from London to Kiwi's a bloody long way.

The Mate on the foredeck his name it was Jim,
And I threw a rotten tomato at him.
Now, a tomato's alright when it's in a skin,
But it's no bloody good when it's still in the tin.

Heave away, heave away, from London to Kiwi's a bloody long way.

The Cief Engineer was a drinkin' his beer,
When he got hit in the ear by some grease from the gear.
?????????????

Does anyone know any of the other verses?

Another 'Shaw Savill' ditty went as follows:

(Sung to the tune of 'Galway Bay')

If you ever go across the sea to Aussie,
And time it comes to tell your boss,
That you've gone and booked a passage with Shaw savill,
to sail upon the good ship 'Southern Cross'.

There are times when you may feel down hearted,
Sick and almost on the verge of tears,
But my girl before you think you've been forgotten,
You'll find youself amongst the Engineers.

Now the Engineers will try and teach you their way,
Fill you full of whisky, rum and gin,
And before you're very much older,
You'' fnd yourself on the road to a life of sin.

If you feel you want to change your mind now,
The time it is so very late,
And if you think the Engineers are awful,
Just wait until you meet te bloody Mate...the bloody Mate.

I would be grateful for any feedback on both the above offerings.

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Snuffy
Date: 22 Sep 08 - 07:28 PM

Not necessarily a MN song - could just as easily be the Andrew: Cyril Tawney obviously knew it. CHINESE MAIDEN'S LAMENT

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Sep 08 - 05:58 PM

I heard this song sung in Blue Funnel ships in the 1960s, it's sung to the tune of "what a friend we have in Jesus". With apologies to American Mudcatters!

Me no likee British sailor,
Yankee sailor come ashore.
Me no likee British sailor,
Yankee sailor pay ten dollars more.

Yankee sailor call me honey darling,
British sailor call me f****** whore.
Yankee sailor have one jump then finish,
British sailor jump for seven more!

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Charley Noble
Date: 14 Aug 08 - 08:48 PM

Ron-

I have been listening to the BLOOD ON THE ICE CD for much of the summer; it's in my van so I listen to it whenever I'm on the road. I find the concept of this recording fascinating, and I'm greatly impressed with the new songs that have been introduced on this CD which fill a major gap in Merchant Navy history, and belay the claim that "no songs were being created by sailors after 1900." Ceril Tawney would certainly have appreciated this CD!

The CD does have technical problems, uneven quality of recording, but I'm really more interested in the songs themselves.

My personal favorite has to be "Tramps" (shanty for steam) which is brilliantly arranged and sung by Fore 'n' Aft. I love the technical words having to do with feeding the boilers of these old steamers. And one could easily imagine the Black Gang singing such a song.

But then there is "White Feather" a world War 1 era song which I find particularly haunting about a merchant captain who is upbraided in the bar because he is "not serving his country."

Another haunting one is "Old Dublin Fireman" which doesn't answer all its questions but leaves one thinking about them.

"The Cook and the Deckies" for its classic humor, with the clash between those who serve and those who eat.

"Common British Tars" is a long overdue tribute to the sailors who died at Trafalger, and again beautifully arranged and sung.

"The Bite of Benin" which deals with the 19th century slave trade is another haunting song which I keep going back to; it would be nice to follow this song with one of the songs which commemorates the slave rebellion aboard the Amistad.

And "Farewell to the Clan Line" is a wonderful poetic tribute to the men and ships who worked in the post World War 2 period to the late 1960's. And it's a hard driving song.

The title song for the CD I have mixed feeling about; it's certainly well sung and it's an attempt to portray the unromantic work of whaling in the 20th century; it does that but I'm not sure if it works well as a song.

There are many more songs on this CD but these are the ones I keep returning to.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Charley Noble
Date: 24 Jun 08 - 09:20 PM

Ron-

Finally sent off a set of my CD's today, and listened to the BLOOD ON THE ICE CD on our decent set of speakers here in the office; I usually listen to CD's in my van and they really don't do justice to most CD's, although the van is an excellent standard to judge how a CD fares at its lowest common denominator!

"Farewell to the Clan Line" is certainly my personal favorite. My other favorite is "Tramps." And then there's ...

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: GUEST,SAILORON
Date: 02 Jun 08 - 07:33 AM

Charley, sorry in the delay in replying but I've been on holiday. Glad Blood on the Ice arrived, hope you've enjoyed it. No I have not rec'd a CD from you.   Ron

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Charley Noble
Date: 24 May 08 - 08:45 AM

Err, the above post should have been addressed to "Ron" rather than "Ross."

Too ear-lye in the morning!

Charley Ignoble

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Charley Noble
Date: 24 May 08 - 08:43 AM

Ross-

Thanks so much for the CD Blood on the Ice.

Dod I ever send you one of my CD's? I'm losing track of where I've sent them.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Charley Noble
Date: 02 May 08 - 09:12 PM

Ross-

I did do a drive-through by Fleetwood with Ken Lardner when I was doing my Liverpool run back in 2006. I didn't realize you folks were in residence at the time, and clearly missed out on another wonderful session.

As C. Fox Smith once remarked (Mariquita) "The ports I knew grown strange" is probably an apt description of the Fleetwood harbor area that we viewed. Reminds me of many of our traditional fishing ports here in Maine.

Mudcat is a great place to post your songs and your notes, but do consider working it up as a songbook. Cyril Tawney's GREY FUNNEL LINES is a good model, and you've actually collected more good material than Cyril was able to come up with at the time (before Mudcat and the World Wide Web).

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 01 May 08 - 09:31 PM

Charley, I wouldn't be surprised at all - these things can continue whether observed or not. However the customer/crew interface so far hasn't allowed any investigation in that line. What I have found while casting around the net for additional info is that there are quite a few websites and chat forums where members of the merchant navy fraternity discuss ships, people, lines, routes, places, stories - I've come across a couple of sites where people have turned some of these stories into poems or songs - I intend to at least link to these sites, and if permission can be obtained, to present such material here eventually.

We hadn't thought in terms of a book. When we had the show worked out (about ten years ago now), our main ambition was to get the results on CD. The late Dave Ryan of Fleetwood Folk Club helped us to achieve that. Beyond that, I always felt that the material we didn't use still deserved to be recorded somewhere and that's what I've tried to do here.

Aside from the Merchant Navy material, Ron's creative energies have been expended in many different fields. Fleetwood as you know was formerly the major west coast fishing port in the UK, and Ron grew up here in a period when the fishing industry was still the driving force of the town's economy. Hundreds of ships, thousands of fishermen and thousands more men and women on shore got their living from the sea. I can imagine you would find all that hard to believe, seeing the place as it is now. Just from Fleetwood and the fishing industry, Ron must have written upwards of fifty songs, poems, monologues, as well as scripts for a dozen shows on different aspects of the town's history. Two other Fleetwood Folk Club members, Dave Pearce and Dick Gillingham have also contributed some powerful material to this body of work. When I get through the Merchant Navy material, I intend to start on the fishing songs - probably a "Fleetwood and Fishing" thread - and if I get that far, another thread on the local history stuff. Much of this is unfortunately in unsorted paper form, ie not yet committed to computer. And having "lost" my first hard drive some years back, I am aware of the fragility of this medium. I do take back-up precautions, but one of the things I value about this Mudcat thread is the opportunity to get Ron's material out to a wider audience, in a place where it might continue whether I'm around to present it or not, and where it could get the appreciation I think it deserves. I sincerely thank Max, Joe Offer and the Mudcat Cafe for the chance to do this, and thanks to all for your contributions.

Ross

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Charley Noble
Date: 01 May 08 - 07:08 PM

Ross-

I certainly hope you're going to publish these songs as a book. You and your friends have produced some wonderful songs that deserve not to be lost. And you've already made a great start with what you've posted to date.

One does wonder what "the crews (that) have been variously Spanish, Polish and whatever East European nation is flavour of the month" are singing to amuse themselves. You just might be surprised that the tradition continues on.;~)

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: Lyr Add: FAREWELL TO THE CLAN LINE
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 01 May 08 - 09:16 AM

FAREWELL TO THE CLAN LINE
(Ron Baxter)
Tune: Ross Campbell

When I think on the years that I spent a'sailing,
Thoughts of past times they drift back to me;
The dangers, the joys, the mayhem, the boredom,
The tears and the laughter, the sky and the sea.

Chorus:-
        But these times are long gone and so are the vessels;
        The House Flag's been lowered for the very last time.
        It's "Farewell" to Hector's and Union Castle,
        To King and Bowater's and to the Clan Line.

For I've seen the sun rise o'er Mauritius in glory,
The Southern Cross 'gainst a black velvet sky;
I have sailed under the Mighty Hunter,
Seen golden sunsets off Ascension's Isle.

I've drifted for days with engine breakdowns,
Was nearly washed over in a gale in Biscay;
But I've roared, sung and drunk in mansions and shanties,
And once I was rolled in a dive in Marseilles,

I've tramped with crude from the Black Sea to the Baltic,
Run shiploads of apples from Tasmania's strand;
Oft to the Cape with general cargo,
Or newsprint for Charleston from Newfoundland.

I've seen sperm whale sounding, the albatross soaring,
Both the Auroras and Saint Elmo's fire;
The sun and moon's halos, flying fish gliding,
And I have heard dolphins sing like a choir.


NOTE (RB):- After ten years at sea, I came ashore. Within four years, Clan Line had ceased to exist. Along with scores of other famous lines it fell victim to containerisation, rising costs and unfair competition from "brass plate" companies flying flags of convenience.

NOTE (RJC):- This was used to close Red Duster's show "Farewell to the Clan Line". It's on the CD of the show, and also on a compilation album ("Blood on the Ice") that Ron put together of recordings of his songs by various artists. A few years ago the Lancaster Easter Maritime Festival produced a limited-edition CD of Festival guests. This was Red Duster's contribution. At last Easter's Glasson Maritime Festival we had the pleasure of hearing the song sung by festival guests Bitter End.

I've heard people comment after hearing the song "Did he really see all those things? And how could you be happy with life ashore after a life like that?" Well, that was the point of the show. That kind of life at sea was available to thousands of men on hundreds of ships in the fifties and through the sixties, when Britain still considered itself to be very much a maritime nation. But changes in trading and transport methods have led to the British Merchant Fleet being reduced to a shadow of its former self. Even the ro-ro ferries that go from Fleetwood to Larne are registered in Bermuda. Their officers are still British, but the crews have been variously Spanish, Polish and whatever East European nation is flavour of the month with the company accountants.

In the face of these changes, it's not just the individual that's affected. Our place in the world has radically altered. We are still very much dependent on goods and services coming in from abroad, but I feel that our impression of all these things is much more blurred than it was when a guy down the street could come waslking back from a voyage with his bag on his shoulder, carring strange objects and tales from distant lands. We all lost something with these changes, not just the guys whose jobs disappeared.

Ross

Subject: Lyr Add: THE VOYAGE TO NEWFOUNDLAND
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 01 May 08 - 07:13 AM

THE VOYAGE TO NEWFOUNDLAND
(Ron Baxter)
Tune: Ross Campbell

The glass was low, but the sea was high.
The bows they soared to meet the sky.
A'hogging and a'sagging and a'rolling there,
Not one day out from old Cape Clear,
As to the West-Nor-West we stand
On a voyage out to Newfoundland.

O the wind it blew, way past Force Eight,
And solid water we began to take;
Crashing and a'smashing through the pounding sea,
The cargo it was working free;
The Auto went, the wheel was manned,
As we headed out to Newfoundland.

We took it white, we took it green,
We looked more like a submarine!
Pitching and a'listing, leaking down below,
With the telegraph stuck on "Dead Slow";
We wondered if we'd e'er see land,
As we staggered out to Newfoundland.

The gale blew out, then, off the Banks,
We met the fog so thick and dank.
Creeping and a'crawling through the drifting gloom,
And listening out for the fog-horn's boom;
At last, with joy, on the starboard hand,
We saw the cliffs of Newfoundland.

The pilot cutter came to our side,
As through the Heads we did slowly glide;
"Let go! Let go!" So we dropped our hook
In the pleasant bay of Cornerbrook.
Then "Finished with Engines!" the Old Man rang -
And we'd done with our voyage to Newfoundland.



Notes (RB):- I did a trip on one of Bowater's small paper-carriers. The Nina Bowater was a wonderful little vessel, but not the sort you'ld like to cross the Atlantic in - as I had to!

Note (RJC):- there are pictures of the Nina Bowater and other Bowater's ships at the Merchant Navy Nostalgia Bowater Gallery page http://iancoombe.tripod.com/id47.ht

Subject: Lyr Add: THE RED DUSTER (DUBLIN FIREMAN)
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 30 Apr 08 - 11:26 PM

THE RED DUSTER (DUBLIN FIREMAN)
(Ron Baxter)
Tune: Ross Campbell

Stitched up in canvas, a weight at your feet;
Wrapped in the Red Ensign, consigned to the deep.
The engine was silent, the wind played an air,
As it blew through the rigging, as they left you there.

You old Dublin fireman, you told them the tales -
Of the convoys, the U-boats, the Bear Island gales;
The tankers a-blazing, turning night into day -
You old Dublin fireman, you sure earned your pay.

But why did you sail, then, beneath Britain's red flag?
The Free State was neutral, and peace could be had.
You'd no love of Britain, as your Fenian songs tell;
Yet you sailed on those convoys, to Murmansk and Hell.

This question they'd ask, you'd reply with a smile,
"You can't sail a tanker across Erin's Green Isle!"
You'd then change the subject, and shoot them a line,
And leave them all guessing the reason you signed.

You sailed forty years, now your voyage is through;
But marked on the chart is the spot they left you.
Stitched up in canvas, your beads in your hand,
Wrapped in the Red Duster, far from Erin's Green Land.



Notes (RJC):- During the Second World War, many thousands of seamen from the neutral Irish Free State served under the "Red Duster" - even despite deep Republican convictions. Their reasons for doing so were sometimes never revealed, even to close shipmates.

Subject: Lyr Add: ROYSTON GRANGE
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 30 Apr 08 - 02:01 PM

ROYSTON GRANGE
(Ron Baxter et al)
Tune: Ross Campbell

You men that sail the ocean, come listen to my song;
And find a lesson, if you can, in a voyage that went wrong.
For when you leave the land behind, your luck may quickly change -
Sit down, I'll tell to you the tale of the vessel "Royston Grange".

Her cargo it was frozen beef, sent from the Argentine;
Her crew they hailed from London, from Glasgow and the Tyne.
Off the River Plate they met the fog, and in that lies the blame;
For through that fog there came a ship - the doom of the "Royston Grange".

The RADAR was revolving, for an echo could be seen;
Coming fast, but it would pass by on the starboard beam;
But that heavy-laden tanker, for reasons never found,
Put her helm to starboard and the "Royston Grange" ran down.

Though the Captain called for "Full Astern" and the wheel was spun around,
The tanker's bows drew nearer, and through her sides they ground;
No explosions lit the sky, no tanks went up in flames,
But silent as a marble tomb, lay the "Royston Grange".

For her Phreon tanks had ruptured and the gas had quickly spread;
And all within a minute, the whole of the crew was dead.
And though they searched from stem to stern, no-one was left alive;
More than eighty men were dead, not one of them survived.

So let's drink to their memory, as another song we sing;
But don't forget today, lads, what tomorrow it might bring;
For Death, she stalks silent, and she strikes both swift and strange,
As when she took into her arms the crew of the "Royston Grange".




Notes (RJC) The Royston Grange

Approaching each other in a narrow channel of the River Plate, seven miles from the port of Montevideo, Uruguay, two freighters collided on May 11, 1972. A violent explosion devastated both ships and killed eighty-four persons. Destroyed were the Houlder Line's Royston Grange, a British cargo ship carrying grains and refrigerated meat to London, and the Liberian-flagged tanker Tien Chee carrying 20,000 tons of crude petroleum.

How the collision came about was never determined; all aboard the Royston Grange, ten passengers and sixty-three crew members, were killed; ten on the Tien Chee were never found. The ships locked bows, and the Liberian ship's holds were ruptured, causing tons of oil to spill into the Plate and spread out for miles onto the Uruguayan beaches. Fire then erupted, and the oil-coated water was soon aflame.

No time was available for either ship to lower lifeboats, and only thirty-one of the Chinese crew on the Tien Chee managed to jump overboard and swim through the fiery waters before the two ships disappeared in a titanic explosion. One of the desperate swimmers was so badly burned that he died only minutes after being dragged from the flaming water. Despite the immense damage, both ships remained afloat and were later towed away to be scrapped.

See also Wikipedia: STV Royston Grange for fuller details and a crew list, and http://www.shawsavillships.co.uk/royston.htm for a couple of pictures.

The British Merchant Navy website has a picture of the ship, a poem by Capt. J.S. Earl, and a picture of the memorial window:- http://www.merchant-navy.net/Pictures/royston%20grange.html

Captain Earl's poem:-

S.T.V. Royston Grange

Worse things happen at sea they say, worse things happen at sea,
In `72 this came true with the tanker `Tien Chee`,
Within dense fog near the River Plate, she collided with a freighter,
Crude Oil gushed from shattered tanks exploding seconds later.

The other ship the `Royston Grange ` in fatal rendezvous,
Lost seventy four razed on her - all passengers and crew,
Full cargo holds of butter ignited overall,
Fused in mighty fireball that left no chance at all.

Ten thousand tons of vessel went up in lethal blaze,
No time then for rescue or warning sound to raise,
Montevideo close at hand, bodies still entrapped,
The Houlder`s ship towed away and later on just scrapped.

By the Tower of London in All Hallows Church,
There is a stained glass window - if carrying out research,
In commemoration colour with burning red repands,
Depicting Royston Grange in memory of all hands.

Worse things happen at sea they say,
Worse things happen at sea.

Capt J S Earl
2005


The BBC World Service was an important link to the wider world for the crew on board a tramp ship. Ron was at sea when the initial reports came through of the Royston Grange disaster. He and some colleagues (he can't remember any names) put some verses together based on what they heard. Later investigations showed things happened slightly differently, but we have left the song in its original form.

Ross

Subject: Lyr Add: OUT ON THE OLD TRAIL
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 30 Apr 08 - 12:57 PM

OUT ON THE OLD TRAIL
(Ron Baxter)
Tune: Ross Campbell

Let go your stern line, heave on the back spring;
Single up for'ard and ring "Slow Astern".
Take in your head-line, wheel hard a'starboard;
The rudder's biting, now take off a turn.

Chorus:-
        'Cause we're out on the old trail,
        Out on the new trail,
        The land falls away with each turn of the screw.
        Six months or more now lies before us,
        We're out on the old trail that's always new.

Her bows are turning, at the tug's urging,
Away from the land, away from the quay.
Cast off the tug, and ring "Half Ahead" now,
Heading down river and out to the sea.

Over the bar now, dropping the pilot,
Make fast the anchor, ring "Full Away";
Set normal watches, the voyage has started,
But when we'll return, well, we cannot say.

Note (RJC):- The chorus says it all - for a working seaman, every voyage is at the same time a new adventure and the same old routine. Even if you've been on the same "run" a score of times, it's still a new trail; you never quite know what way the trip's going to turn out.

Ross

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 30 Apr 08 - 12:40 PM

Thanks, Charley - no matter how much I think I've read through the Cicely Fox-Smith material, there's always one that I haven't appreciated.

Thanks, Sean, for the Fleetwood Folk Club link - the page has some songs from various members of the club, all songs by Ron, tunes various (usually the singer). most are Fleetwood/fishing songs, but there is one related to this thread.

"The Old Trail" is the introductory song from Red Duster's show "Farewell to the Clan Line".
The singer is me. Lyrics follow.

Ross

Subject: RE: PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 30 Apr 08 - 09:15 AM

That Jig-a-Jig song has definite echoes of Fake Mexican Tourist Blues by Kevin Ayers.

Hey, mister, would you like my sister
Her name is Juanita,
I think. you'd like to meet her.
She's a little bit risky,
Drinking always whiskey.
But she's really a tiger
Take you right inside her.

Hey, mister, got another sister
Her name is Dolores
She likes pretty colores;
She's a little bit silly,
Eating always chili;

But she's very sexy,
Take her home in a taxi.

Hey, Juanita, Juanita banana
Hey, Juanita, would you hold my banana;
I'd like it now, I don't mean manana.

Hey, brother, what about my mother
She's only just forty
She's especially naughty.
She knows a lot a tricks,
More than the younger chicks.
And if you don't like my mother,
I got a very nice brother.