This is, to the best of my knowledge, a Carribean shanty. The Essequibo river is in,I think, Surinam. I could be wrong,but it's one of those countries in that area. I'm geographly impared.

Essequibo river is the king of rivers all.

boddy tanna na we are somebody-o

Essequibo river is the king of rivers all.

Boddy tanna na we are somebody-o

Somebody-o Johnny,somebody-0

Boddy tanna na we are somebody-o

Essequibo captain is the king of captains all etc.

Bo'sun, Mate, Cookie, Sailor, etc

Essequibo Judy is the queen of judies all etc.

Yes, the tune is a variant of John Kanaka. I learned it from a man who was living on a 30-foot sloop with his wife and daughter. He knew a lot of shanties, some of which I had never heard. Essequibo River was one of them.

troll