PermaThread: Merchant Navy Songs

Subject: RE: Merchant Navy Songs
From: kendall
Date: 31 Mar 08 - 02:45 PM

I used to know a couple of merchant seamen who were older than I, and one of them used to sing a song he learned in Sheep's Head Bay.

Oh the money that they pay us they say is mighty fine
They give us 50 dollars and take back 49
Oh, I don't want no more of Sheep's Head Bay
Oh how I wanna go home.

The shoes that they gave us they said was mighty fine
You ask for number 7's they give you number 9's oh I don't...etc.

The donuts that they fed us they said were mighty fine
Mine rolled off the table and killed a pal of mine...

The chicken that they fed us...etc
Mine jumped off the table and started marking time...

Subject: RE: Merchant Navy Songs
From: maldenny
Date: 31 Mar 08 - 01:24 PM

In the Blue Funnel Line (the Welsh navy) we used to sing "Pack my bag, pack my grip" with similar verses to the Clan Line, except that we sang the name of the various ships at the end of the verse -

"F*** the mate, the old man too
They both know what they can do
Bye bye Perseus".

We used to sing songs in the halfdeck (the midshipmen's and cadets quarters). One midshipman sang a blues:-

I came to sea 'cause I didn't have anything to lose,
But an old sea dog he quickly changed my views.
He said listen to me son and I'll tell you why
I've seen grown men break down and cry
Just like the sea moves to the sky, they're blue.
I've got those black-top Blue Funnel blues.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE BANK LINE SONG
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 31 Mar 08 - 12:32 PM

THE BANK LINE SONG
Collected (Ron Baxter) from John Bailey of Fleetwood, 1999.

Tune:- Land of Hope and Glory

Blue for the colour of the ocean,
Red for the colour of our sweat;
There's the white line of starvation,
To help us to forget.
You think you're a merchant seaman,
When you're only a Bank Line bum!

Bank Line's house flag is half red, half blue with a diagonal white line.

RJC

Subject: Lyr Add: THE BARON LINE SONG
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 31 Mar 08 - 12:20 PM

THE BARON LINE SONG (adapted for singing by Ron Baxter & Ross Campbell, from the DT version)
^^
(Chorus)….Roll along you hungry bastards roll along.
To Basra, Hong Kong, Rio or Chittagong
"Ropey Ropners" may be fine,
But give me the Baron Line,
Roll along you hungry bastards roll along.

Oh, you may have sailed on Coasters,
And you may have been on Tramps,
You may have sailed on Trawlers,
On the great Newfoundland Banks,
You may have been on Tankers,
And had a terrible time,
But you've never yet, come through the 'Mill',
Till you've sailed the Baron Line.

(Chorus)….Roll along you hungry bastards roll along.
If you think you're going home, you're bloody wrong,
British Tankers may be fine,
But give me the Baron Line,
Roll along you hungry bastards roll along.

The First Mate was an ex-con,
And was 'spying' for a ship,
He saw the "Baron Murray"
Lying beside an old Coal Tip,
He asked the Skipper for a job,
Who said, "You'll do damn fine,
For we've plenty of room for bums and stiffs,
In the good old Baron Line".

(Chorus)….Roll along you hungry bastards roll along,
To the turning of the screw, we'll sing this song,
"Blue Star Fliers" may be fine,
But give me the Baron Line,
Roll along you hungry bastards roll along.

The Skipper came from Tokyo,
The Third Mate from Tiree,
The crew came down from Glasgow,
And the Greasers from Dundee,
Stewards off the Hong Kong Coast,
Apprentices from the Tyne,
Oh, you've never seen such a mixed up lot,
Till you've sailed the Baron Line.

(Chorus)….Roll along you hungry bastards roll along.
With the sweepings of the Pool this tub is thronged,
Though the London Greeks are fine,
Just give me the Baron Line,
Roll along you hungry bastards roll along.

Notes (RJC)

Ron had been looking for the Baron Line Song for quite a while. There was a related thread going for some time in the Mudcat forum which produced a couple of single verses before someone (anon GUEST whose father Arnis Boika sailed on the Baron Glenconner in the late '50s) supplied a more complete version. He referred to another website where he had found the words. I recall finding it at the time, but that seems to have disappeared since. We augmented the choruses and I came up with a tune which just seemed to fit.

RJC

Subject: Lyr Add: THE PHYLLIS BOWATER
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 31 Mar 08 - 12:09 PM

THE "PHYLLIS BOWATER"
^^
The "PHYLLIS BOWATER" sailed out from New York,
Gleaming and shining in her new painted coat.
For three days the crew had been working like mad,
To cover the rusty old patches she had.
For three months and more she'd been on the run;
From New York to "Newfie" and back she had come.
And each time the crew went out on the spree,
Up to Times Square, the ladies to see.

They'd had a good time, but just as we feared,
Venus's measles they soon appeared;
These "New York Gals" had taken their cash,
And in return gave them all a rash!
And so to the doctor they made their way;
He gave them the cure but they all had to pay.
So off to Times Square no longer they went,
For the Doctor and the ladies took every last cent.

As the "PHYLLIS BOWATER" pulled out of Brooklyn,
The Coast Guard Captain called "Get back on in!
You cannot sail away, painted like that!
So get back to your mooring! Do you hear me, Mac?"
Well, the "Old Man" could not understand
Why he'd been ordered back to the land;
But when he walked to the bow, he gave a great cry -
For in front of the name "PHYLLIS" was painted "SY"!


Phyllis Bowater: Notes (RB)

Tune: Villikins and his Dinah/Sweet Betsy from Pike
(adapted slightly for the second four lines of each verse)

The Bowater Paper Company's boats (mostly named for female members of the Bowater family) ran from Newfoundland, up the Great Lakes and down the east coast of America, carrying newsprint from the up-country paper mills to the various population centres.

This ballad appeared from nowhere across the Bowater fleet, and I believe it is based on fact. For the rest of the season, the Phyllis Bowater was known amongst the other ships' crews as the "Syphillis"!

RJC

Subject: Lyr Add: SHAW-SAVILL'S BUCCANEERS
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 31 Mar 08 - 11:59 AM

^^SHAW-SAVILL'S BUCCANEERS
(Coll. Ron Baxter, 1972)

As down the quay at half-past three
Came Shaw-Savill's drunken crew -
They'd spent their sub in a dockside pub,
Having a beer or two;
But the time draws nigh, and a shout nearby,
That they all dread to hear;
"Come on, you bums, sailing day has come
For Shaw-Savill's Buccaneers!"

There was Dan McCool from Liverpool,
He was bo'sun of the gang.
For him you'd work - and you dare not shirk,
Or else your head he'd bang!
But Geordie Dick gave him some lip,
And we all shook with fear;
As Dan's mighty paw it broke the jaw
Of that Shaw-Savill's Buccaneer.

Now Bert and Joe were London boys,
And when drunk got fighting mad;
They'd knock you down for half-a-crown -
I tell you, they were bad!
But between these two, and I'll tell you true,
There was something mighty queer -
For they dressed in skirts, did those two flirts
Of Shaw-Savill's Buccaneers.

Now "Slow Starvation and Agony"
Is the firm with whom we sail.
And from Cardiff Bay out to Bombay,
We make all others quail;
So if you aren't rough, and if you aren't tough,
Then brother, don't come near!
If you value your life, don't sail, by Christ!
With Shaw-Savill's Buccaneers.

Shaw Savill's Buccaneers: Notes (RB)

Obviously this is a parody of "McAlpine's Fusiliers".

Shaw, Savill & Albion, a.k.a. "Slow Starvation and Agony", a.k.a."Shit and Shovell" traded from the U.K. to India and Australia.

I got this from two A.B.s on the M.V. King James in 1972. Each had a different version, and they almost came to blows over which was superior. Regrettably, I can't recollect the separate versions, and this is thus a collated representation of what they sang. One alternative line in the first verse ran "Come on, you cunts, get out of your bunks!"

Most of my songs I got from officers; "Shaw Savill's Buccaneers", "M.V. Hardship/M.V. Statesman" and "The Old Man is a Bugger" were collected from A.B.s, and they have a feel of the fo'c'sle rather than the quarterdeck.

"Shaw Savill's Buccaneers" has been recorded by Hughie Jones on his latest CD.


Ron adds:-
"I'm afraid I am not a very good "collector", as I didn't realise at the time that that is what I was doing. I just liked the songs, and made a point of asking if anbody knew more; when I found any, I either kept them in my head or occasionally wrote them down, I never bothered to record them at the time, or even to note the name of the singer(s). Even the year, and the ship or pub I got them from are mainly guesswork.

Along with the songs I have put down here, I used to have about six more written out, all non-Clan-Line songs (the reason I wrote them down). Unfortunately the book containing them all was stolen, along with my watch, in Lourenço Marques. One song was about the Blue Funnel Line, but that's about all I can now recall."

RJC

Subject: Lyr Add: KING LINE CAPTAIN
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 31 Mar 08 - 11:52 AM

^^KING LINE CAPTAIN
(Coll. Ron Baxter, 1966)

The King Line Captain sings this song;
"Balls up! Balls up!
The bloody engine has gone wrong,
So get those black balls up!"

Broken down again!
Broken down once more!
If the pig-iron polishers can't get it right -
Soon we'll be ashore!

Tune: Camptown Races

King Line Captain: Notes (RB)

King Line were B.& C.'s "tramp" outfit - in both meanings of the word!

The international signal for "I am not under command", i.e. "I have broken down" was two black balls, one over the other - this is the derivation of the term "balls up" - not many people know that!

RJC

Subject: RE: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 31 Mar 08 - 11:47 AM

Cheers, Joe, and thanks, Greg and the button.

As I said above, any memories, songs, verses or just odd lines that anybody can come up with will be very welcome. The smallest thing can trigger somebody else's recollection.

Ross

Subject: Lyr Add: BLOOD ON THE ICE (SOUTH OF SOUTH GEORGIA)
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 31 Mar 08 - 11:39 AM

^^BLOOD ON THE ICE (SOUTH OF SOUTH GEORGIA)        
(Ron Baxter/anon)
(based on a fragment heard on the M.T. Hector Hawk)

Now our business is bloody,
The truth for to tell.
We're just a slaughterhouse,
Out on the swell.
There's no romance
As in times long gone by -
It's "Fire the harpoon!"
And another whale dies.

Then it's "Tow him alongside!"
And winch him on board.
Then the flensers get cutting
And the blood around us pours.
With the aid of the winches
His blubber it is torn,
Then he's stripped of his flesh
Right down to the bone.

Now the blood of the whale
And the white of the ice
Are there on our funnel,
As our fleet's device.
Though our business is bloody,
When all is done and said -
We all have our families
At home to keep fed.

Here on the Balaena,
We are stuck for eight months;
It's work, work and more work,
Then collapse into your bunks;
We're cruising around
In the snow, hail and sleet,
South of South Georgia,
On Hectors' whaling fleet.

Blood on the Ice: Notes (RB) :-

I heard an incomplete version of this on the M.T. (Motor Tanker) Hector Hawk, from an Ulsterman 2nd Engineer who had sailed many years before with the vessel's original owners, Hector Whaling. The company had been formed in 1938 when the Norwegian firm "Hektor" relocated to London. The tankers would sail to the South Atlantic laden with fuel oil for the start of the whaling season. While the catchers and the factory ship were working, the crew would clean tanks and return to London at the end of the season with a cargo of whale oil. When the company abandoned the whaling trade in the late fifties, its tankers were bought by Cayzer Irvine.

The Balaena - was the factory ship where the captured whales were brought for processing.

"---our fleet's device" - the Hector's house flag, painted on the funnel, was a rectangle divided diagonally, and coloured red on the top left, white on the bottom right.

Due to the fragmentary form in which I collected the song, I felt I should write some lines so that it made sense. Verses in italics* were definitely the ones I collected; some of the other lines may be too, but after this time I can't remember which were original and which were mine. Sorry! The original fragment was sung to the hymn tune "Slane" (Be Thou My Vision).

I believe (though with no evidence) that this is the last song "made up" on the British Whaling Fleet. I would guess it was made in the early fifties.

"Blood on the Ice" has been recorded by Hughie Jones on his latest CD "Seascape". The same track features on a compilation CD (titled "Blood on the Ice") of Ron Baxter's songs by various artists, both CDs available from The Chantey Cabin (http://www.chanteycabin.co.uk/).
Hughie used the "Slane" tune on his recording. For Red Duster's CD "Farewell to the Clan Line", Ross Campbell reset the song to his own tune.

Note (RJC):- John Bailey of Fleetwood continued working in the Merchant Navy until a couple of years ago. He relates the story of a young apprentice being left with the maintenance crew to over-winter at the whaling-station in South Georgia (cf Harry Robertson's "Wee Pot Stove" for the sort of conditions to be found there). The relief crew turned up in the spring as expected. However, somebody decided it would be a good joke to tell the apprentice that his trip home would have to wait till the next year. Before anyone realized what was happening, the boy took a shotgun, went round the back of the hut and killed himself.

RJC

italics* - pasting in lost my Word formatting - don't know the html for that - collected lines as recalled by Ron were:-
Verse 3, lines 1-4, verse 4, lines 1&2, 6-8

Subject: RE: Merchant Navy Songs
From: greg stephens
Date: 31 Mar 08 - 11:31 AM

Great stuff, Ross, very interesting. Keep it coming.

Subject: Lyr Add: BYE BYE CLAN LINE
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 31 Mar 08 - 11:24 AM

^^BYE-BYE CLAN LINE
(Coll. Ron Baxter 1966) Tune: Bye, Bye, Blackbird        

Pack my bag, pack my grip,
I'm not coming back next trip -
Bye-Bye, Clan Line!
Goodbye Second, Goodbye Chief,
On the quay stands my relief,
Bye-Bye, Clan Line!

No more "Stations!" in the early morning;
No more stand-bys in the light of dawning;
Very soon will come the day -
To Sir Nick you'll hear us say,
"Clan Line, Bye-Bye!"

No more scrubbing decks with soap,
No more rolling round Good Hope,
Bye-Bye Clan Line!
No more sights that just won't work,
No more Mates who bawl and curse,
Bye-Bye, Clan Line!

No more hanging round for dates of sailing,
No more stopped in fog with fog-horns wailing;
Very soon will come the day -
To Sir Nick you'll hear us say,
"Clan Line, Bye-Bye!
(I'm joining Ben Line!)
Clan Line, Bye-Bye!"

Bye-Bye, Clan Line Notes (RB)        

Heard first on S.S. Clan Sutherland, 1966; I subsequently heard versions of this on every ship I sailed on. The version above is how we presented the song in the "Farewell to the Clan Line" show. Alternative verses follow:-

Packed my bag, packed my grip;
I'm not coming back next trip.
        Bye, Bye, Clan Line.
No more scrubbing decks with soap,
No more rolling round Good Hope,
        Bye, Bye, Clan Line.
No more running up and down the hatches;
Or crawling up the "Cut" on double watches.
Goodbye, Second; Goodbye, Chief;
On the quay stands my relief;
        Clan Line, Bye, Bye.

No more going round the bend;
Six weeks anchored off Southend.
        Bye, Bye, Clan Line.
No more sights that just won't work;
No more mates who bawl and curse.
        Bye, Bye, Clan Line.
No more "Stations!" in the early morning;
No more "Stand-by!"s in the light of dawning;
Goodbye, "McDonald", "McDougal" too,
"Clan McScrapheap", goodbye to you,
        Clan Line, Bye, Bye.

No more drawing cargo plans
That somehow are always wrong;
        Bye, Bye, Clan Line.
I won't miss the heavy lifts,
Or the "Oh Five Hundred" shifts,
        Bye, Bye, Clan Line.
No more pig-iron polishers complaining;
No more stuck in fog with fog-horns wailing.
No more trips round to Madras -
You can stick that up the purser's arse.
        Clan Line, Bye, Bye.

Tell "Boozie Bowsy" and "Mad Mac";
Tell "Honourable Bill" I won't be back.
        Bye, Bye, Clan Line.
I will write to Captain Harte
A "Dear John" letter and then depart,
        Bye, Bye, Clan Line.
Farewell to Cape Town's bloody stupid Yarpies;
Farewell to L.M.'s "black hams" - (thieving harpies!);
Another thing that I won't miss;
"Mother" Harper gave me a kiss,
        Clan Line, Bye, Bye.

From this mob, I must go,
I think I'll sign with P.&O.
        Bye, Bye, Clan Line.
This Scots Navy is so hard -
The Old Man thinks he's with Cunard,
        Bye, Bye, Clan Line.
I've had enough of days with engine breakdowns;
I've had enough of the "Rummage Squad" and their shakedowns.
I'll say "Bugger off!" to the Old Man,
Come tomorrow, when I'm gone.
        Clan Line, Bye, Bye.

"Just three months", Head Office said;
But it's a "double-header" to the Med.
        Bye, Bye, Clan Line.
And then straight out to Chittagong,
Where Clan Alpine got it wrong!
        Bye, Bye, Clan Line.
There's only one thing now that can save me;
It's to see the last of Mr Cayzer's navy.
Very soon will come the day,
To Sir Nic you'll hear me say;
        Clan Line, Bye, Bye.
(I'm joining Bank Line!)
        Clan Line, Bye, Bye.

Another verse began;-

Cape Town, P.E, Durban too;
I've seen enough of all of you;
        Bye, Bye, Clan Line.
To Calcutta and Colombo,
To Bombay no more I'll go;
        Bye, Bye, Clan Line.


Notes (RB):-

This was probably the best-known and widest-spread of all the Merchant Navy songs. Like many shanties, there was and is no definitive version. The first couplet was usually as given, although it too would vary according to the line, eg "Bye, Bye, Ben Line/Glen Line/Bank Line/BP, etc. Different companies, runs, ships, masters, cargoes; all gave rise to appropriate verses. I heard up to seventeen different verses in ten years at sea, all with the one company.

"Cut" - the Manchester Ship Canal - you were on watch all the way from the Mersey.

"Six weeks anchored off Southend" - the fruit boats were frequently used as floating warehouses.

"cargo plan" - diagrammatic plan of the ship showing where all the different bits of cargo are (or are supposed to be!)

"Stations" - your duty position on leaving or entering a port.

"Stand-by" - as above, but in the engine room.

"---McDonald, McDougal" - two very old Clan Line vessels.

"Clan McScrapheap (or Clan McBagpipe) - general term for any Clan boat.

"Boozie Bowsy" - Captain Bosanquet (he was newsreader Reginald Bosanquet's brother).

"Mad Mac" - Captain MacGregor.

"Honourable Bill" - Captain Sir William Coddrington (Bart.)

All the above were Clan Line Masters..

"Captain Harte" - Captain Harte, D.S.C., R.N.; the Fleet Captain based at Head Office.

Yarpies (Jarpies) - Afrikaaners.

L. M. - Lourenço Marques in Mozambique.

"black hams" - Mozambique girls.

"Mother" Harper - Jimmy Harper, a famous Chief Steward (and homosexual).

"sign with P. & O." - an ironic threat! There's an old saying: "There's three sorts of ship at sea; the Merchant Navy, the Royal Navy - and P. & O."

"Scots Navy" - Clan Line.

"Rummage Squad" - the Customs team that searched the ship.

"Double-Header" - U.K.-Cape, Cape-Med, Med-Cape, Cape-home.

"Clan Alpine" - as a result of a storm surge, this ship ended up in a paddy-field.

"Mr Cayzer's Navy" - Clan Line.

"Sir Nic" - Sir Nicholas (later Lord) Cayzer, Managing Director of Cayzer-Irvine (British & Commonwealth Shipping).

"joining Bank Line" - another ironic threat! Bank Line boats were frequently away from home for two years or even longer.

RJC

Subject: RE: Merchant Navy Songs
From: the button
Date: 31 Mar 08 - 11:09 AM

Absolutely fascinating, Ross -- keep it coming.

Subject: Lyr Add: BLESS 'EM ALL (CLAN LINE VERSION)
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 31 Mar 08 - 11:02 AM

^^BLESS 'EM ALL (CLAN LINE VERSION)
(Coll. Ron Baxter, 1966, source singer unknown)

There's a Clan boat just leaving Bombay,
Bound for old Blighty's shore;
Heavily loaded with bum engineers,
Bound for the land they adore.
She's down by the head, she's listing to port,
She's making three knots with the tide;
But you'll get no enjoyment in the Clan Line employment,
So come on, me lads, bless 'em all!

Bless 'em all, bless 'em all;
The Tindal, the Kasab and all;
Bless all the "Sparkies", they're all round the twist;
Bless all the pursers, and their limp wrists!
If the engineers can get us home,
The "Kali Pani" no more will I roam;
'Cause you'll get no promotion, this side of the ocean,
So cheer up, me lads, bless 'em all!

There is the "Old Man", he's counting the days
'Til they will let him retire;
There stands the Chief; he's gnashing his teeth -
All the coal that he's bought just won't fire.
But there's many a 'prentice just starting his time,
There's many a fool's just begun -
That's signed with "Scots Navy" for four years of slavery,
Out here on the Hooghli run.

Bless 'em all, bless 'em all;
The Engineers, Two, Three and Four;
Bless the Kalasi and Secuni,
Bless the Serang and the Bhundari.
Though the Burra Sahib says "When we dock -
You won't see me back with this lot!"
Next trip you'll find, he'll be back with Clan Line;
So cheer up, my lads, bless 'em all.
RJC

Bless 'em All (Clan Boat leaving Bombay): Notes (RB)

I heard this first on the S.S. Clan Sutherland, 1966. It was known on every other ship I sailed on, with slight variations. I have no doubt there are other company versions.

Clan Line had Lascar crews (the term "Lascar" was never used at sea, at least with Clan Line; the crew were variously referred to as "the crew" (!), "the men", or collectively as "Abdul". Consequently, bits of Hindustani frequently crept into Clan Line songs.

"The Malim Sahib's Hindustani", first published in 1920 as an aid to officers working with Indian crews, is still in print (4th reprint, 2007, ISBN 978-0-85174-187-1) and available from the original publishers, Brown, Son & Ferguson, Glasgow (http://skipper.co.uk/books/bn1871.htm) – who also publish Capt. W. B. Whall's "Sea Songs and Shanties".

"Bum engineers" - "duff" or "useless" engineers - nothing sexual in the term.

Tindal - 2nd Bo'sun

Kasab - lamptrimmer

Sparkies - radio officers (not electricians!)

Chief Stewards (sometimes Pursers) - all regarded as potential homosexuals

Kali Pani - kali (pronounced "kala") = black; pani = water, i.e. the ocean

"the coal that he bought just won't fire" - the Chief Engineer used to be given an allowance to buy coal. If he could make a profit by buying cheaper grades, nobody minded as long as the ship continued to steam. The Chief Steward was similarly responsible for the food rations for the trip.

"Four years of slavery" - the duration of the apprentice's term.

Scots Navy - Clan Line

Engineers , 2, 3, and 4 - the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Engineers

Secuni – quartermaster

Jhemadar - a rank with no equivalent in the Merchant Navy; a sweeper, also known as Topas

Kalasi - seaman/A.B.

Serang – bo'sun

Bhandari - cook

Pani Wallah - water-man (boiler hand)

Bhurra Sahib - Chief Officer, 1st Mate (Bhurra Malim Sahib)

The last Clan boats built as coal burners came into service in the 1930s. The last coal burners went out of service in the early '50s

Subject: Merchant Navy Songs
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 31 Mar 08 - 10:48 AM

This is an edited PermaThread® on Merchant Navy Songs, edited by Ross Campbell. Feel free to post to this thread, but remember that all messages posted here are subject to editing or deletion.
-Joe Offer-

---

The aim of this thread is two-fold:-

a) to set out the songs and fragments that my colleague Ron Baxter collected during his time in the British Merchant Navy (1966-1974 with Clan Line and other companies belonging to British & Commonwealth Shipping), along with other material he composed then and more recently.

b) to draw out any other songs/verses/fragments from the memories of anyone who may have come across similar material.

First, an introduction from Ron Baxter (from a hand-out we use when presenting these songs):-

Songs of the British Merchant Navy - an introduction.


The mate bawling out "Who's the bloody nightingale?" to a gang of hungover shellbacks as they warped themselves out of the dock is now only a folk memory. Shanties, as living, working songs, died with the last of the commercial windjammers - but did sailors stop singing about their trade? Well, not quite!

In 1966, a skinny 17-year-old clad in a navy rain-coat two sizes too big boarded the S.S. Clan Sutherland. The watchman promptly told him, "Don't be a bloody fool, son - go back home to yer mam!" This was my welcome to the Merchant Navy. But it was on that first trip that I was introduced to a class of songs virtually ignored by folk-song collectors - the Merchant Navy songs.

Now, don't get me wrong. They are not a treasure-house of unknown ballads. The songs are hardly on a par with the "Child" Ballads, or Stan Hugill's shanties, or Cyril Tawney's songs of the "Grey Funnel Line". Most were parodies, or used well-known popular tunes. They were frequently bawdy, sometimes downright obscene - and many not of any great literary merit...

        "I may be right, I may be wrong.
        But I'm perfectly willing to swear -
        That a Cunard steward mooned at me -
        Trousers down and bottom bare!"

However, as examples of social history, I feel they should be preserved. On that first trip, I heard and noted several "Clan Line" songs. I soon discovered that other companies had their own versions. The best known and most widespread song was "Bye, Bye, Clan Line" (or Ben Line, B.P., Cunard, etc.) Like many shanties, there was no definitive version - apart from the opening couplet, which always began;

        "Packed my bag, packed my grip;
        I'm not coming back next trip!
        Bye, Bye, --------------------------"

Over my time at sea, I must have heard twenty or so verses - but unfortunately I didn't note them all down! Different runs, cargoes, masters - all were grist to the versifier's mill. Another parody was "Clan Boat leaving Bombay";

        "...bless the khalasi and the jhemadar,
        Bless the secuni and the pani wallah.
        The burrah sahib says "When we dock -
        You won't get me back with this lot!
        But next trip you'll find that he's back with Clan Line!
        So cheer up, my lads, bless 'em all!"

Clan Line had British officers, while the crews were Indian or Bangladeshi. Consequently, lots of their songs had bits of seaman's Hindustani worked in. One of Clan Line's sister companies was King Line. They were a tramp outfit - in both meanings of the word!

        "Oh, the King Line Captain sings this song -
        Balls up! Balls up!
        The bloody engine has gone wrong, so get those black balls up!"

Two black balls, one over the other, is the international sign for "I am not under command" - i.e. "I have broken down". On several ships I sailed on, you could add "again!"

Clan Line was part of Cayzer Irvine's British and Commonwealth Shipping Group, which also included King Line, Union Castle, Scottish Shire Line and Hector Whaling. Hector's had ceased their bloody trade some years before, but still operated a couple of tankers. It was on one of these, the Hector Hawk, that I obtained what I believe may be the last song to have been written in the British whaling fleet - "Blood on the Ice";

        "Now the blood of the whale and the white of the ice
        Are there on our funnel as our ship's device;
        We are cruising around in the snow, hail and sleet,
        South of South Georgia, in the Hector Whaling fleet."

All the above examples I collected from other crew members in the company I sailed with. But during my Mid-Apprentice course in London. I came into contact with cadets from many other firms. From them I learned their versions of songs I already knew, but also some new ones - many of them the nautical equivalent of rugby songs, but also one or two interesting pieces, such as the Trident Tankers Cadet Song to the tune of "Gilly-gilly-ossenpeffer-katzenellenbogen-by-theSea". I also picked up several "navigational aids" in the form of rhyming couplets;

        "If to starboard Red appear, 'tis your duty to keep clear -
        But if to port you can see red, all is safe, go back to bed".

But when would the songs be sung on board a busy ship? Well. of course it varied from vessel to vessel. You would invariably hear "Bye, Bye, Clan Line" from Biscay onwards when we were heading home. But in the main, they were sung in port, after a few (or many!) beers. They would be interspersed with "Eleanor Rigby", "Little Red Rooster", "White Christmas", or anything else someone fancied singing. Although I do remember "Jervis Bay" being sung, ballads were very rare; I did encounter a couple during my voyages. One arose from an incident we first heard about over the radio. The Royston Grange was in collision with a tanker in the mouth of the River Plate, and all on board were lost;

        "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."

In a far lighter vein, the misadventures of the crew of the M.V. Phyllis Bowater during a visit to New York produced the following;

        "Well they had a good time, but just as we feared,
        Venus' measles they soon appeared.
        So off to Times Square no longer they went,
        For the Doctor and the "ladies" took every last cent!"

Most of the songs I collected from officers, mainly because I didn't understand Hindustani sufficiently well to follow the Khalasi's songs. On white-crewed vessels, once the lads knew that I had this strange hobby, they would come and ask me "Have you heard this one?" One such was the "M.V. Hardship";

        "When we got to Kiwi, we all went ashore;
        Off to Ma Gleeson's to get us a whore.
        But when we got there, the pickings were poor,
        'Cause the P.S.N.C. Lads had been there before!"

This is an odd one; over the years I found two further versions, one about Union Castle (though I never heard it on a Union Castle vessel), and a Harrison's version which is repetitively vulgar without being any more amusing. Something that was amusing was to find a verse sung to the tune of "The Manchester Rambler";

        "I'm a tramp ship, I'm a tramp ship, on no regular run;
        I go wherever the cargoes may come.
        It may be to Lagos on Sunday -
        But they'll change it to Sydney come Monday!"

The bloke I got that from had never even heard of Ewan MacColl! I also found it funny to see two A.B.s almost come to blows as to who had the "proper" version of the parody "Shaw Savill's Buccaneers".

To sum up, my collection (mainly made between 1966 and 1974) is a mixture of crude, unpolished, light-hearted parodies, although there are several gems. The majority decry the Company, the Master, the Officers, and the engines. They frequently poke fun at gay stewards, though I can't remember ever meeting any homophobics at sea.

Why were they sung? I suppose because they were our songs, we could all relate to them; we understood the slang, the technical terms and the foreign words. There was also a parallel with the sea-shanty; a chance to get frustrations off your chest. Though they may be pale shadows of the fore-bitters of the past, they are part of our nautical heritage, and as a confirmed "traddy", I am very glad to have heard, collected - aye, and sung - these songs.

        "Goodbye, Second; Goodbye, Chief;
        On the quay stands my relief;
        Clan Line, Bye, Bye!"

Ron Baxter
Fleetwood, 2000

Footnote: Some years ago Ron Baxter and Ross Campbell formed "Red Duster" to create and perform thematic shows to illustrate aspects of Britain's maritime heritage. The songs which Ron collected at sea form the basis of their show "Farewell to the Clan Line". Together with Red Duster's own compositions and other contemporary songs, they give a picture of what life was like in the British Merchant Fleet in the years before its near-terminal decline.


Back to me (Ross)
I'll follow this over time with

a) the collected songs (complete versions) and accompanying notes from Ron.
b) the collected songs (fragments, odd verses, alternates, etc)
c) Ron's compositions
d) some contemporary songs we used in the "Farewell to the Clan Line" show

Ross