Lyr Add: Windlass Chantey

Subject: Lyr Add: WINDLASS CHANTEY
From: Charley Noble
Date: 27 May 02 - 02:53 PM

Here's my reworking and expansion of a sea poem by Lincoln Colcord, brother to Joanne Colcord, into a nice modal sea song. Sounds great with concertina or Irish banjo (4/4 time?)(Copy and repaste into WORD/TIMES/12 to get the chords right):

WINDLASS CHANTEY
(After a poem by Lincoln Colcord (1883-1947) From Sea Stories from Searsport to Singapore Adapted & added to by Charlie Ipcar – © 1999 Key: Fm(Gm/7))


Am
Oh, soon she'll bite the swells, the breeze is singin',
--------F
We'll be sinkin' Sandy Hook in the morn,
Em-Am
So, walk 'er up, me lads, the pawls are ringin',
F ------------------------------Am
Soon we'll be rounding ol' Cape Horn.


Them Northeast Trades will keep our halyards singin',
We'll be sinkin' Sandy Hook in the morn,
We'll be rolling down to Rio, stuns'ls wingin',
Soon we'll be rounding ol' Cape Horn.*

Them gals in Callao will all be waitin',
We'll be sinkin' Sandy Hook in the morn,
When we're 'longside there'll be no hesitating,
Soon we'll be rounding ol' Cape Horn.*

"The mudhook's up and down!" the bosun's callin',
We'll be sinkin' Sandy Hook in the morn,
"So, break 'er out and cat 'er!" now he's bawlin',
Soon we'll be rounding ol' Cape Horn.*

"Goodbye, me love, a year we'll be a-sailin',"
We'll be sinkin' Sandy Hook in the morn,
"So, sheet ye tops'ls home, the dawn is palin',"
Soon we'll be rounding ol' Cape Horn. (REPEAT)
F------------------------------Am
Soon we'll be rounding ol' Cape Horn!

* New verses

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Windlass Chanty
From: treaties1
Date: 27 May 02 - 03:07 PM

Great one Charley I'll look forward to learning this one, Thanks for posting it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Windlass Chanty
From: Celtic Soul
Date: 27 May 02 - 03:50 PM

Wow! Very nice indeed. So, who do we ask if we wanna borrow it?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Windlass Chanty
From: MMario
Date: 27 May 02 - 04:24 PM

CS - "Charlie Ipcar" is "Charley Noble" and vice-versa - He's posted a couple of others that you might want to look up too!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Windlass Chanty
From: Charley Noble
Date: 27 May 02 - 05:16 PM

Yes, PM me if you're planning to use it in some commercial way and if you come up with extra verses or significant changes I'd be interested in knowing what your "improvements" are.

Cheerily,
Charlie Ipcar, aka Charley Noble
Roll & Go

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Windlass Chanty
From: Charley Noble
Date: 30 Aug 04 - 10:17 AM

Doing some tidying up of my old sea music threads.

Here's the original words to Lincoln Colcord's poem:

By Lincoln Colcord (1883-1947)
From Sea Stories from Searsport to Singapore, p. 207
North Country Press, 1987

Windlass Chanty

Oh, soon she'll bite the swell, the breeze is singing,
Sandy Hook is dropping fast astern!
Come, walk her up, my boys, the pawls are ringing,
And the long low coast goes down.
Then it's good-bye, and a year we'll be a-sailing,
Sandy Hook is dropping fast astern!
So, sheet your topsails home, the dawn is paling,
And the long low coast goes down.

And here's a link to my personal website where you can access a MP3 sample file of how I sing this song:Click here!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Windlass Chanty
From: EBarnacle
Date: 30 Aug 04 - 07:56 PM

Lady Hilllary and I were in Searsport last month. The only book they had relating to the Colcord writings and family was a book of correspondence, recently published. Considering how important the family was to the town and Museum, I found it surprising that there was essentially no recognition of their involvement and no effort to carry the work onward.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Windlass Chanty
From: Charley Noble
Date: 30 Aug 04 - 09:46 PM

Eric-

The director Stackpole certainly knows and respects the work of both Colcords, and I actually picked up Lincoln's book at the Museum some 10 years ago. It's probably out of print now but worth searching for on the used book websites.

It is sad that the Museum makes no effort that I'm aware of to sponsor any nautical music special events. And it is not from lack of effort on the part of the nautical music community in raising that question.

Charley Noble