CHEERLY MEN
(Halliard Shanty)

Oh Nancy Dawson-
I-oh-cheerly men!
She's got a notion-
I-oh-cheerly men!
She'll have our bosun-
I-oh-cheerly men!
Oh hauly-i-oh, cheerly men!

Oh pretty Kate-
I-oh-cheerly men!
She likes our mate-
I-oh-cheerly men!
Early and late-
I-oh-cheerly men!
Oh hauly-i-oh, cheerly men!

Haul all together-
I-oh-cheerly men!
Haul for good weather-
I-oh-cheerly men!
Oh now belay there!
I-oh-cheerly men!
Oh, hauly-i-oh, cheerly men!

Notes by CFS:

This is one of those shanties regarding which collectors are wont to drop such dark hints as to the "unprintable nature" of its words, that one might think the mere mention of it in a mixed gathering would be calculated to bring a blush to the manly cheek of the embarrassed sailorman.

In point of fact, as is very often the case, its Rabelaisian character has probably been very unnecessarily emphasized. No doubt there were dirty words sung to it, but not always. The fact that it was sung in the passenger ships of John Company, and, later, of Green and Wigram, proves it beyond a doubt, since indecent shantying was always taboo in the presence of passengers. In this view I am confirmed by Mr. Ridley James, who often heard it sung in Green's ships.

The tune is one which lends itself very readily to improvisation, and any little happening which took the fancy of the crew was liable to be embodied in it by the shantyman- sometimes in rather embarrassiing fashion. On one occasion, for example, a young woman passenger named Kate had been noticeably "éprise" with one of the officers. Imagine her confusion when she came on deck one day in time to hear the topsail being mastheaded to the strains of:

Oh pretty Kate
She loves our mate-
O-illi-i-o-cheerly men!"

This is probably a very old shanty; it is certainly one of the most primitive of all, being only one stage further developed than the 'strange wild cries" of the men hauling on the ropes alluded to by Dana.

[Richard Henry Dana, 1869, TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST, Ch. 29

The sailors' songs for capstans and falls are of a peculiar kind, having a chorus at the end of each line. The burden is usually sung, by one alone, and, at the chorus, all hands join in, - and the louder the noise, the better. With us, the chorus seemed almost to raise the decks of the ship, and might be heard at a great distance, ashore. A song is as necessary to sailors as the drum and fife to a soldier. They can't pull in time, or pull with a will, without it. Many a time, when a thing goes heavy, with one fellow yo-ho-ing, a lively song, like "Heave, to the girls!" and "Nancy oh!" "Jack Crosstree," etc., has put life and strength into every arm. We often found a great difference in the effect of the different songs in driving in the hides. Two or three songs would be tried, one after the other, with no effect; - not an inch could be got upon the tackles- when a new song, struck up, seemed to hit the humor of the moment, and drove the tackles "two blocks" at once. "Heave around hearty!", "Captain gone ashore!" and the like, might do for common pulls, but in an emergency, when we wanted a heavy, "raise-the-dead" pull, which should start the beams of the ship, there was nothin like "Time for us to go!", "Round the Corner," or "Hurrah! my hearty bullies!" ]

X:1
T:Cheerly Men
C:C. Fox smith 'A Book of Shanties' p 41
M:3/4
L:1/8
K:F
A2A2G2|F2F2F2|(F4G2)|D3E F2|
w:Oh Nan-cy Daw-son I-oh_-cheer-ly men!
C2E2F2|G2c2A2|(G4B2)|A3G F2|C2F2G2|A2c2B2|
w:She's got a no-tion I-oh_-cheer-ly men! She'll have our bo-sun I-
A6|B3A G2|c4-c2|c2B2A2|(g4B2)|A3G F2
w:oh-cheer-ly men!Oh_ haul-y-i-oh,_ cheer-ly men!

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